FYI: the "Graphic Graflex Photography" classic book

jay moussy

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This may not be news to most of you but I will throw it in:
An early version on the "Graphic Graflex Photography", book is available at the Internet Archive site archive.org
Fourth edition, 1942, so newer cameras may not be covered in detail.

I borrowed a local copy of the actual book from a nearby university library, but the PDF file will be handy.
The PDF diagrams are not super clear, but better than no reference at all.

Other: I you want to keep classic books available on public library shelves, it is a good idea to borrow them occasionally, so that they don't end up on the "sleeper" (= discard) list!
 

Donald Qualls

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We had a copy of that book (a later edition, 1960s vintage, I'm pretty sure; I recall it including information on using the movements and changing the RF cam on a Super) in the school library where I attended grades two through eight. It was one of the inspirations for my interest in photography, as well as my long-running desire to own a Speed Graphic. Mind you, I'm not at all sure how it got into that library; I don't recall any of the teachers or school board being photographers (and this was a tiny parochial school in semi-rural northern Idaho). but there it was, looking brand new when I first spotted it (at age 8 or 9 in the late 1960s).

Hmm. Maybe my uncle, he was a doctor, his kids (several years older than me) attended that school, and I recall him having some kind of camera that used film packs (besides his big old Polaroid, which was a roll film model), but I don't have clear enough memories to know if it was a Graflex/Graphic, B&J, or something else entirely...
 

cjbecker

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Is it a rare book? I got one a while back and its got lots of great info.
 
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jay moussy

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cjbecker said:
Is it a rare book? I got one a while back and its got lots of great info.
Click to expand...

I had to go to the state level libraries to find and borrow my copy.
Used earlier editions, not covering the later Pacemaker era, seem to sell for less.

I got interested in the book as it was mentioned on the forum, probably on thread about classic reads.

While I was at it, I borrowed "The Photographers Master Printing Course"!
 

Sirius Glass

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I have a copy of it too.
 

Dan Fromm

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cjbecker said:
Is it a rare book? I got one a while back and its got lots of great info.
Click to expand...

Not particularly. I just looked on alibris.com, found ten (10) copies of various editions at various prices.
 

xya

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the price depends on the edition. the early ones could be reasonably priced. AFAIK only the 11th edition from 1958 deals with the pacemaker and super graphic rangefinders and their cams. it took me a while to put my hands on one. I also have a newer edition which is a re-edition of an older one, so no rangefinder cams in there.
 
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AgX

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Thank you for your hint. I got a lot of texts from that archive, otherwise inaccessible over here. That one I already got some time ago.

As a side note, has someone of you experience in "borrowing" from that archive?
 
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jay moussy

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AgX said:
Thank you for your hint. I got a lot of texts from that archive, otherwise inaccessible over here. That one I already got some time ago.

As a side note, has someone of you experience in "borrowing" from that archive?
Click to expand...

archive.org, a non-profit, offers free access to the material available on he site.
Some folks contribute money, as it is a unique resource.
The servers are not super fast.
 

AgX

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My point was "borrowing".
Due to legal restrictions (and maybe other reasons) quite some books (especially basic textbooks) cannot be downloaded, nor read online. One has to apply to get a special access by that being granted a time-limited read-only access.
 

fabulousrice

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Can you share the archive dot org link?
 

urnem57

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FWIW - The US Navy’s “Photographer’s Mate 3&4” Book is a great source of info for Speed Graphics. I have pretty much bought every book on this subject. It is written for the guy who got this gig but doesn’t know beans about photography. That’s where it’s beauty lies - it breaks things down into simple, yet highly practical & useful terms. Copies of it on EBay are pretty inexpensive. It’s a great counterpoint to some of the very technical books filled with charts & graphs. Although it does have those as well.
 

BrianShaw

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urnem57 said:
FWIW - The US Navy’s “Photographer’s Mate 3&4” Book is a great source of info for Speed Graphics.
Click to expand...
Very true. I have a 1966 edition and have found it very useful over the years.

At some point the content changed and LF was deleted. I also had a later edition but recycled it at some point in history.
 

Donald Qualls

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Jim Jones

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I've never seen an edition 1 through 3 of the Graphic Graflex Photography book, dated January 1940 to May 1941. However, the fourth edition is plentiful, probably because of the photographers trained for WWII. It is interesting for articles by some of the prominent people in photography of that time, including Ansel Adams. The next major change comes with the 8th edition of June, 1947 which introduces the side rangefinder Pacemaker series of cameras. The top rangefinder Pacemakers and the Super Graphics first appear in the 11th edition of September 1958. Other changes include information on a variety of Graphic equipment from 35mm to 120 film cameras and lighting equipment. However, the size has shrunk from 400+ pates to 240.
 

Dan Fromm

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Jim, sending you a digitized image of the front page of my first edition seems pointless. I hope you'll trust me when I tell you I have one.
 

rjbuzzclick

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The 10th edition has an additional paperback booklet that fits into the rear cover that covers the Pacemaker series of cameras. My local library has this.

I have a second printing (May 1940) copy, and an 11th edition that does indeed have less pages.

Hmm...looking at the edition page on the above fourth edition .pdf, they changed 'second printing May 1940' to 'second edition May 1940', so mine is a second edition then.
 
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jay moussy

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A side question that came up, reading my library- borrowed ninth edition:
The book has chapters on criminology and such fields.
Why didn't these types of applications adopt the easier 35mm camera equipment sooner?
 

choiliefan

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I too have a 1st edition of the book.
It's 408 pages whereas the 11th edition is a mere 256 pages.
The 1954 10th edition is 424 pages but only a few paragraphs on the Graphic Ciro 35 camera or 35mm in general.
Wonder if there are newer editions with sections on the XL and Norita?
 

MattKing

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The link posted above by AgX respecting Graphic-Graflex Photography appears to no longer work. If you quote it in a post, your post may be held back.
 
  • toulcaz31
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