Graflex 5x7 SLR

[Guillaume Zuili]

I would like to know who is using it and how you like it (or dislike).
Does it use regular 5x7 holder or special Graflex holder like the 4x5 ?
Thanks for your imput.
Best,
Guillaume

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

I like it. Next time you're in New York, let me know, and you can try it out. Mine is a Press Graflex. There is also the 5x7" Home Portrait Graflex, which has a reversible back. It's awkward to do verticals with a Press Graflex.

Here's a shot made with this camera--

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

Holders and bag mags are hard to find, but it takes Graflex type (wide) 5x7" holders, but doesn't use the Graflex slides--it slips under the groundglass. It also takes 12-exposure plate mags and film mags that are unique to the Press Graflex. The bag mags for aerial cameras don't work. You can recognize Press Graflex bag mags by the two pins on the bottom edge and two clips on the top edge.

The plate mag is quite heavy, and I'd imagine it's really heavy with 12 glass plates. I have film sheaths for mine, and I also have a film mag and two double-sided filmholders.

I've been using this camera quite a bit lately. When I process the film, I'll see if there are any shots worth posting.

 

[Pinholemaster]

I've got a Press Graflex 5x7. I removed the original 5x7 back and installed a modern 5x7 back.

It's a fun beast to use, especially if you get some non-traditional lenses for it. You'll have to make your own lens boards for the non-traditional lenses.

 

[roodpe]

Guillaume,

I have a Home Portrait with the original back. Holders are hard to find but you only need a few to start. The bag mag holds 12 sheets of film and they come up on ebay from time to time.

I have also seen this camera modified with a 5x7 Deardorff back to allow use of standard holders. I wonder how much this costs?

You didn't say whether you have the camera. If you are looking for one, I would recommend getting one that takes lensboards (the bigger the better) so you will have more choices with lenses. My hp takes 5x5 boards so you can fit a fairly large portrait lens. The press and auto versions also take lensboards. The Series B has a small metal board the is permanently attached so you would not easily be able to trade lenses with this camera.

These cameras are more than fifty years old and parts for the shutters may not be available so make sure you get one that has a working shutter.

You can have allot of fun with these cameras or any size graflex slr. The 5x7 size is big and I don't shoot it hand held for now. I thinking about using it with a monopod or a harness for a little more freedom.

I think you would enjoy owning one of these cameras. Paul Strand owned one and he didn't even like the 5x7 format (he used a mask for a more square format). Good luck in finding one.

Pete

 

[Guillaume Zuili]

Thank you for your feedback.
Im looking for one. I mean... Don't know yet and I already have a lot.
But you all know what is it.

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

Since Pete doesn't live too far, we could have a meeting of the Manhattan 5x7" Graflex Society, and you could compare models.

When I've bought Graflex holders at Lens and Repro, they said that there's a portrait photographer in the city who does a lot of work with these cameras and usually buys them up. I don't know who it is.

The standard lens on the Press Graflex is the B&L 5x8" f:4.5 Tessar, which is around 240mm . Other lenses I use on it are a 210/3.5 Xenar, which doesn't quite focus to infinity, so I think of it as my "indoor lens", and a 12"/6.8 Gold Dot Dagor in barrel. I think the longest lens usable with this camera would be about 14" or maybe 16" or a 360mm tele. Lensboards are 4x4", so it can't take huge lenses.

 

[roodpe]

I would be up for a meeting. If we limit it to 5x7 graflex users we may not have too many takers though. I think we should open it up to all graflex users to make it more interesting.

I don't know who is buying all those holders. I missed out on the ones lens and repro had. Jeff Kay of l&r sold his hp a few years ago. Maybe the same guy bought the holders. There is one ny'er (not me) who has two 5x7 home portraits. He also has 13 pinkham portrait lenses. Maybe he got them.

I use a 10" pentac. I spotted it on an ebay 4x5 graflex (it wasn't mentioned but i recognized it) so i got it for the cost of the camera. I also have a kodak portrait lens and a dagor that i plan to use.

Again, if you guys want to meet, i'm up for it.

pete

Since Pete doesn't live too far, we could have a meeting of the Manhattan 5x7" Graflex Society, and you could compare models.

When I've bought Graflex holders at Lens and Repro, they said that there's a portrait photographer in the city who does a lot of work with these cameras and usually buys them up. I don't know who it is.

The standard lens on the Press Graflex is the B&L 5x8" f:4.5 Tessar, which is around 240mm . Other lenses I use on it are a 210/3.5 Xenar, which doesn't quite focus to infinity, so I think of it as my "indoor lens", and a 12"/6.8 Gold Dot Dagor in barrel. I think the longest lens usable with this camera would be about 14" or maybe 16" or a 360mm tele. Lensboards are 4x4", so it can't take huge lenses.

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

I got two Graflex holders and the plate mag from Lens and Repro. Jeff in large format (the other Jeff) said they didn't know what the plate mag belonged to until I brought in my camera, and it had been sitting on a shelf for years.

 

[Guillaume Zuili]

I ring the bell as soon as I take the red eye !

 

[jamie young]

I'm using some 5x7 graflex cameras as well. I started with a 5x7 press that I put a F6 veritar on, along with the 5x8 tessar
I also ended up with a couple of 5x7 compact graflexes, both not working and in need of major restoration. I haven't ever seen a working 5x7 compact on the big auction site or anywhere else. They have a second shutter curtain and often in need of repair. I then got a home portrait because it's the only 5x7 graflex with a revolving back ( I think). I just started using it (hand held) and really like it, though it is BIG. Holders are different, but I've ended up with a good supply. They do turn up on big auction site every so often. Also, you can watch for bag mags made by fairchild for some aerial cameras, which work for 5x7 graflex slrs. The bag mags for the press graflex are a little different in how they go on than the rest of the 5x7 graflex family.
Graflex made at least 5 different 5x7 models, and many updates with the different models over the years. I like the idea of the spontaneity of shooting with the big slrs.
Here are a few pages from an old graflex catalog
http://www.jamieyoungphoto.com/cameras%20graflex%201.html

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

Thanks for posting the catalogue pages, Jamie!

I wonder how fast Kodak Super Speed cut film was. It would have to be the equivalent of ISO 200 to get 1/1500 sec at f:4.5 in full sun.

The Fairchild bag mags don't fit the Press Graflex, but could probably be modified to fit.

I've seen the rollfilm holder for sale once and thought for a moment about trying to spool 5" aerial film, but figured with 2 bag mags and two holders (28 exposures), I've got enough for a day's work.

 

[jamie young]

The roll holder for the 5x7s took 7" film. I have a couple that came with my compacts. I would love to get some 7" film, which would also work in my 7" al vista cameras. I'm rigging up a jig, which I'm about to test, that would slice 9.5" aerial to 7", maybe for both cameras
Also there sure were a variety of bag mags. I have 4 5x7's, all a bit different
One compact came with a lot of holders, including a few for autochrome. The 5" roll holder went on the 4x5.
I had to file a side groove a little to fit the fairchild, but it works. I think the press bag mags were the same except you needed the fittings on top and bottom, as the press has a spring back but no sliding bars. I think the fastest films were around 200 iso. Good question though

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

The Press bag mags have two pins on the bottom edge and two clips on the top.

 

[MenacingTourist]

Since Pete doesn't live too far, we could have a meeting of the Manhattan 5x7" Graflex Society, and you could compare models.

I don't have one but I'd love to come check out the cameras you guys have. I know I have too many cameras but these are intriguing.

Alan.

 

[Dan Fromm]

Alan, every time I pick up a Graflex I'm struck by how light it is for its size. And then I realize that they're hollow and start thinking seriously about getting one.

And every time I think seriously about getting one -- in the mid- to late 30s W. T. Innes, one of my great heroes, took some surprisingly good color photos of fishes in aquaria with a 4x5 Graflex -- I realize that there few lenses for them. No wide angles, a limited range of teles. But they seem to be just fine within those limits.

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

I would shudder to think what a retrofocus wide-angle for a 4x5 graflex would look like. Take the hasselblad 40mm and magnify it by about a factor of 4. Or imagine one of the Kodak Aero-Ektars as a wide-angle. They'd practically rip the front standard off the camera. Actually, there's a thought - take a Hassy 40 with a bum shutter and mount it on a 3x4 or 2x3 RB Graflex. Might actually work, at that. Might work on the 2x3 anyway. The lenses out there that are natural fits on the RB Graflexes are really neat lenses though- really cheap barrel lenses with fairly fast apertures and multi-bladed irises for smooth bokeh. And the close-focus you can do on an RB Graflex is quite amazing, especially with the default lens.

 

[Guillaume Zuili]

I guess it's better to check them in real like at Lens and Repro than pick one on Ebay. What do you think ?

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

You pay a premium at Lens and Repro, but they will be refurbished.

They don't seem to be too complicated (at least the ones with a single shutter curtain), so as long as the shutter is intact and working, there isn't much to go wrong.

I bought my camera from an eBay seller who goes by "nsfw." I gather he's a scientist who teaches at a university in Ohio and collects LF cameras as a hobby. In some of his auction photos you can see a shelf of Linhof Technikas lined up in the background. His prices range from fair to high, and his English is a little awkward, so you have to read and confirm his descriptions carefully, but the equipment is usually in very nice condition.

 

[jamie young]

Buying one from someone who knows enough to say the focal plane shutter works does help. The ones from lense and repro are gone over and probably come with some form of gaurantee that it's working, though you pay a lot for that (which sometimes is definitely worth it). They do know graflexes , from what I hear. The biggest problem with all the older ones is that the rubberized coating on the shutter fabric is usually worn, dry and slowly disintegrating, and you get pinholes of light coming through. I've sprayed a black rubber coating on some of mine, which mostly works ok. The older the camera, the more likely the shutter is like this. I think I would be surprised not to find a shutter from before 1930 without this issue. I think one reason why the super D's are sought after is because they were one of the last models and in much better shape

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

I bought my 3x4 RB Graflex through here, and it was actually nicer when it arrived than I expected it to be. With any of them though, careful inspection of high-resolution pics if buying online, and asking lots of questions, is essential. In general, if you want one, assume the shutter is at least a bit off in speed, if not worse. Plan for a major CLA to be needed, and then budget accordingly when buying it.

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

The Super D's also have a rudimentary flash sync built in that is designed to work with open flash using flash bulbs. This can of course be converted to fire electronic flash, and the Super D's also have the auto-aperture setting with the standard 152mm Ektar lens.

 

[Dan Fromm]

Buying one from someone who knows enough to say the focal plane shutter works does help. The ones from lense and repro are gone over and probably come with some form of gaurantee that it's working, though you pay a lot for that (which sometimes is definitely worth it). They do know graflexes , from what I hear. The biggest problem with all the older ones is that the rubberized coating on the shutter fabric is usually worn, dry and slowly disintegrating, and you get pinholes of light coming through. I've sprayed a black rubber coating on some of mine, which mostly works ok. The older the camera, the more likely the shutter is like this. I think I would be surprised not to find a shutter from before 1930 without this issue. I think one reason why the super D's are sought after is because they were one of the last models and in much better shape

Jamie, some years ago Les Newcomer suggested to me that I'd be better off with a Pacemaker Speed Graphic than with an earlier model because, he said, the Pacemaker focal plane shutter used a better material than older ones. I'd expect that six-speed Graflexes, which use the same shutter as Pacemaker Speeds, would have this advantage too.

Cheers,

Dan

 

[removed account4]

i have a question for those with the 5x7 graflexes ...
or at least the ones where you can rotate the back ...

when the camera is in "horizontal/landscape" mode does coverage get clipped?
my series d it clips the image - since the mirror stays vertical
... because of this, i tend to use it mostly in portrait mode so i don't have to deal, or i shoot/ compose "wide".

just wonderin'

john

 

[roodpe]

I guess it's better to check them in real like at Lens and Repro than pick one on Ebay. What do you think ?

lens and repro has a full time tech who knows these cameras so they will be serviced. they also retrofit the camera backs for modern film holders. my experience with buying these cameras off the web is you can save money but you may end up with a parts camera (or two). being able to hold the camera in your hands before buying or purchasing from a trusted source is a good way to go. a 4x5 camera may be the best place to start. super d's (and non-super d's) are often found in really nice shape. you can also use grafmatic holders with any 4x5. graflex made two types of grafmatics and the 1168 fits the graflex back. 4x5's are also easier to use hand held. you could get a 4x5 now and be patient in your search for a 5x7.

 

[jamie young]

So the 1168 grafmatic back goes on the slr cameras? I didn't know they made grafmatics for the slr cameras. Just 4x5?
Jamie