Front Tilt on a Pacemaker Speed Graphic

Andrew Sillett · Aug 6, 2021

I would love to experiment with front tilt (forward) to achieve a dramatic focus fall off from the face with a portrait, but the Pacemaker Graphic only has back tilt.

I have seen a video of someone reversing the front standard, but I can't remove the screws around the front shutter release.

Another option is apparently is to "drop the bed and correct for the front fall by using front rise. Use front tilt backward to compensate for the maximum tilt obtained by the bed drop."

Has anyone had any experience of doing either of these?

Dan Fromm · Aug 6, 2021

Andrew Sillett said:
Another option is apparently is to "drop the bed and correct for the front fall by using front rise. Use front tilt backward to compensate for the maximum tilt obtained by the bed drop."

Has anyone had any experience of doing either of these?

This works, but with a limited range of focal lengths and focused distances.

If you want what a view camera can do, get a view camera.

I have 4 Pacemaker Graphics. They are useful cameras but have their limits. In particular, their only generally useful movement is front rise.

Donald Qualls · Aug 6, 2021

Dan Fromm said:
If you want what a view camera can do, get a view camera.

Yes. This.

A Graphic View is inexpensive, and uses the same lens boards (hence any already mounted lenses, as long as they have a shutter) as the Anniversary and Pacemaker speed (in 4x5, at least). Graphic View II has centered movements (no or little refocusing after adjusting tilt) and a Graflok back, but the original model is usually 25-40% less money, and unless you use roll film holders or Grafmatics regularly, lacks only a little convenience in using movements. Both have easily removed/replaced bellows that are likely to be in good condition even after 60-70 years.

bdial · Aug 6, 2021

Minor correction on the above, the Pacemaker graphics use a different board, there is an adaptor around to use Pacemaker boards on a Graphic View however.

As to the OP's question, yes, you can drop the bed then use the back tilt to control the amount of forward tilt. It's a bit fussy and true view cameras make life much easier for doing that, but it's workable. I did it quite a lot doing some furniture product photography for woodworking friends way back when.

Some people have modded the lens standard by milling the back-tilt slot to allow forward tilt. Guides for doing it are probably around somewhere, but I've not seen it referenced in a very long time.

removed account4 · Aug 6, 2021

the pacemakers have a tripod hole on the side of the body as well as the bottom, if you a sure about your tripod and how you mount things, you can side mount the camera, and tilt the tripod head so the camera is basically upside down and do you shift that way. I always use the side mount if it isn't overcast and use the bed as a sunshade ... and when I want to slow the FP shutter down a tiny bit at 1/30th ( working against gravity ). YMMV

hashtagquack · Aug 6, 2021

If it is only tilt to achieve a tilt shift effect narrowing the focus then the tilt available on the graphic is sufficient. The front tilt leaning forwards is more useful in terms of technical product photography or landscape work in which you want to have focus on both near and far

shutterfinger · Aug 6, 2021

The movement knobs and body release cable connection are on staked studs. One has to file down the staking to remove the knobs.
Super Graphics have both front and rear tilt. They take the same size lens boards but the Super lens boards have lock bumps on the sides as well as the top and bottom and the ones with the electrical release linkage are hard to come by.

hsandler · Aug 6, 2021

I reversed the standard on my Pacemaker. You have to shift the front standard a mm or so to one side to slide it back into the body or else it will run into the Kalart side rangefinder cam. The amount of forward tilt you can get is significant. With the standard 135mm press lenses you will run out of image circle in the top corners of your frame before you run out of tilt, and therein lies a problem with reversing the standard. A little front fall to recentre the image circle when tilting would be useful, but it isn’t there this way. Also, reversing is not the way to go if you will be using a wide angle lens with a flange to focal plane distance of more than 90mm (like the modern Super Angulon or Fujinon 90mm lenses) as the standard will sit on the front rails and you can’t drop them. When I had an old Optar 90mm WA it just sat on the very end of the back rails so I could get away with dropping the bed.

I also have a Graphic View II. Of course you can bend that into all kinds of pretzels. It also has much more bellows extension for close in portraits in a studio situation.

maltfalc · Aug 6, 2021

shutterfinger said:
The movement knobs and body release cable connection are on staked studs. One has to file down the staking to remove the knobs.

mine just unscrewed without any issues. a tiny bit of oil on the end threads to help reform them would be the most i would expect to be needed.

maltfalc · Aug 6, 2021

jnantz said:
the pacemakers have a tripod hole on the side of the body as well as the bottom, if you a sure about your tripod and how you mount things, you can side mount the camera, and tilt the tripod head so the camera is basically upside down and do you shift that way. I always use the side mount if it isn't overcast and use the bed as a sunshade ... and when I want to slow the FP shutter down a tiny bit at 1/30th ( working against gravity ). YMMV

that's what i'd recommend too, or an L bracket if you want to keep your camera centered over your tripod.

maltfalc · Aug 6, 2021

hsandler said:
I reversed the standard on my Pacemaker. You have to shift the front standard a mm or so to one side to slide it back into the body or else it will run into the Kalart side rangefinder cam. The amount of forward tilt you can get is significant. With the standard 135mm press lenses you will run out of image circle in the top corners of your frame before you run out of tilt, and therein lies a problem with reversing the standard. A little front fall to recentre the image circle when tilting would be useful, but it isn’t there this way. Also, reversing is not the way to go if you will be using a wide angle lens with a flange to focal plane distance of more than 90mm (like the modern Super Angulon or Fujinon 90mm lenses) as the standard will sit on the front rails and you can’t drop them. When I had an old Optar 90mm WA it just sat on the very end of the back rails so I could get away with dropping the bed.
.

turning the camera upside down gives you forward tilt and front fall without all the compromises and hassle of reversing the front standard..

Ian Grant · Aug 7, 2021

shutterfinger said:
The movement knobs and body release cable connection are on staked studs. One has to file down the staking to remove the knobs.
Super Graphics have both front and rear tilt. They take the same size lens boards but the Super lens boards have lock bumps on the sides as well as the top and bottom and the ones with the electrical release linkage are hard to come by.

There's no Rear tilt on Super Graphics, what you mean is the front standard tilts in both directions forwards and backwards (relative to the top). Linhof Technika and MPP MicroTechnical cameras have rear tilt

Ian

outwest · Aug 7, 2021

I just altered the slots.

Donald Qualls · Aug 9, 2021

hsandler said:
I also have a Graphic View II. Of course you can bend that into all kinds of pretzels. It also has much more bellows extension for close in portraits in a studio situation.

If I didn't already have a first-gen Graphic View, I'd be watching eBay for a GVII -- I might look for one with next year's tax refund, and plan to sell my first-gen (got a number of spare parts for it, too) to cover part of the cost.

Edit: Okay, I lied. Just happened to look after posting this, and bought this one. For about what the Graflok back would cost by itself, never mind the lens and shutter in a board, and five (more!) film holders.

I'll have a Graphic View with spare parts on For Sale when I can get some photographs and figure out what it'll cost to ship...

shutterfinger · Aug 9, 2021

https://www.graflex.org/articles/graphic-view/

hsandler · Aug 9, 2021

Donald Qualls said:
If I didn't already have a first-gen Graphic View, I'd be watching eBay for a GVII -- I might look for one with next year's tax refund, and plan to sell my first-gen (got a number of spare parts for it, too) to cover part of the cost.

Edit: Okay, I lied. Just happened to look after posting this, and bought this one. For about what the Graflok back would cost by itself, never mind the lens and shutter in a board, and five (more!) film holders.

I'll have a Graphic View with spare parts on For Sale when I can get some photographs and figure out what it'll cost to ship...

Looks like a great deal. The one downside of the GVII to watch out for is the longer bellows makes wide angle work difficult. See
https://www.graflex.org/helpboard/viewtopic.php?t=7200

Donald Qualls · Aug 9, 2021

Yep, minimum draw. I have a spare first gen bellows (I think), and I recall it being fairly quick to swap bellows. If they interchange, I might keep the slightly shorter one around -- though at present the widest lens I have that covers 4x5 is a 90 mm Angulon, and I'm pretty sure the GVII will let me focus infinity with that (and it has no spare image circle at infinity, so movements are moot). Also, my Speed is an Annie, so the lens boards interchange; no extension for an adapter. And, since I have a 3D printer, I can always print a mildly recessed lens board if needed.

shutterfinger · Aug 9, 2021

A 90mm on the GVII requires the front standard near the front edge of the rail to keep the rail out of the image but that extra rail length in in your chest while composing.
The same is true for other monorails.

Donald Qualls · Aug 9, 2021

@shutterfinger I'd have the same issue with my current first-gen Graphic View -- or, as you note, with any monorail. Rail in frame is something I'll need to watch for. The widest lens I've used on 4x5 up to now is a 105 mm Agnar (which barely covers at f/16 or smaller, and only at hyperfocal, not infinity), but I've never had it on the Graphic View, only on my Annie. I can see why keeping the rail (or bed) out of frame could be an issue with a 90 mm, though. Even the Agnar is pretty wide compared to the 135 and 150 I use most on those cameras.

I suppose I could cut down the rail, so there's just enough for the standards and tripod grip. Shortening the rack looks like a chore, though.

hsandler · Aug 9, 2021

Donald Qualls said:
@shutterfinger I'd have the same issue with my current first-gen Graphic View -- or, as you note, with any monorail. Rail in frame is something I'll need to watch for. The widest lens I've used on 4x5 up to now is a 105 mm Agnar (which barely covers at f/16 or smaller, and only at hyperfocal, not infinity), but I've never had it on the Graphic View, only on my Annie. I can see why keeping the rail (or bed) out of frame could be an issue with a 90 mm, though. Even the Agnar is pretty wide compared to the 135 and 150 I use most on those cameras.

I suppose I could cut down the rail, so there's just enough for the standards and tripod grip. Shortening the rack looks like a chore, though.

Before cutting the rail, consider the advantages of the longer rail and bellows draw of the GVII: about 1:1 macro with 150-210mm lenses, and head and shoulders portraits with 240-300mm lenses. You can’t do that with an Anny.

Donald Qualls · Aug 10, 2021

hsandler said:
Before cutting the rail, consider the advantages of the longer rail and bellows draw of the GVII: about 1:1 macro with 150-210mm lenses, and head and shoulders portraits with 240-300mm lenses. You can’t do that with an Anny.

I wouldn't consider cutting the rail if I have only one -- but as it happens, I have a spare first-gen rail. I don't know any reason Graflex would have changed the gear pitch when they upgraded to center movements (the only change, other than bellows color, length, and paint, before they started offering the Graflok back), so it's mainly a matter of having an acceptable method of securing the cut end of the rack to the shortened rail. Macro and portrait focus are important options for any view camera (though with my Anny, I'd do macro with the 135 mm -- plenty of bellows to get 1:1 with that lens).

Andrew Sillett · Oct 21, 2021

Thank you so much for your replies. I actually didn't realise the camera had a side tripod hole, which saves me the trouble of hunting for an L-bracket for portrait mode shots. I will try shooting the camera upside down to achieve the tilt effect and report back with the results.

Ian Grant · Oct 21, 2021

Donald Qualls said:
I suppose I could cut down the rail, so there's just enough for the standards and tripod grip. Shortening the rack looks like a chore, though.

My Pre-Anniversary Speed Graphic was modified from new to be a WA camera.

There's still enough extension to use a 210mm lens and focus for portraits. The front of the body ahs been cut away to allow rise and also use of the wire finder. The rangefinder is for a 90mm lens (approx) I use it with an 8" Petzval and a 14" Dallmeyer telephoto.

Before I replaced the bellows.

I have modified a Super Graphic front standard to run on a Pacemaker focus track, this has front tilt both forwards and backwards. I had to grind quite a lot of metal away for it to fit. This will be used for a home built camera to shoot 6x17 with a 75mm lens, I'm using the focus rails and guides from a Quarter plate Placemaker Speed Graphic.

Ian

Jim Jones · Oct 21, 2021

I often used a Burke & James press camera in preference to the various Graflex press cameras. This aluminum body camera had full front movements, a rotating back, and used the 4 inch lensboards common at that time. Build quality of the Graphics was better, and they had some refinements missing in the B&J cameras.

Sirius Glass · Oct 21, 2021

Pacemaker Speed Graphics are great for what they were designed for: hand held 4"x5" photography with limited movement. If you want to use movements, get a view camera that can share the lenses on the same lens boards.

Front Tilt on a Pacemaker Speed Graphic

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