Graflex Graphic 35 CLA

[thuggins]

I was lucky enough to find a beautiful Graphic 35, but it needs a good CLA. I took it to the local camera repair shop and set it on the counter. The guy took one look at it and said, "Oh, we don't work on old cameras.". I started to chuckle, because I thought he was joking. It soon became clear that he wasn't. He explained that they only repair digital "cameras". I so badly wanted to ask why anyone would want to repair a digital "camera", but I bit my tongue.

Can anyone out there recommend some place that does work on old cameras? It's such a pretty little thing, it deserves another 50 years.

 

[jolefler]

KEH camera in Atlanta does repair/CLA work. They're somewhat pricey, though. There was a member here called "Greyhoundman" that did quality work on rangefinders at a reasonable price; rumor had it he's been ill & not doing as much lately. I remember coming up with a couple of places via internet search when I was looking for help, but can't vouch for any of them.

Sit tight, I'm sure there'll be more replies on the way. You might ask over at the Rangefinder forum, as well.

Jo

 

[luke_h]

Greyhoundman is active over on rangefinderforum.com. I'm guessing he could repair this camera. I have two of these and they both work fine. I like them because few people seem to have ever used or even seen one. The push button rangefinder and the shutter release are my favorite features. I also like the split image rangefinder.

Just FYI, I paid 40 dollars (on rangefinder forum) for this camera which also includes it's leather (nice) ever ready case. So don't get too crazy with the CLA bill, or you might be in over your head if you ever want to sell it:

Enjoy it though!

My 2nd camera I actually purchased first, but it's not as nice. I think I paid $25 for it at an antique store. Interestingly enough, the lens is an f3.5 and the other is an f2.8. Again, it works just fine.

As for how they work? I like the contrasy single coated look they produce. The results out of that 'lesser' model are very sharp! Here's a sample:

Bigger version: http://farm1.static.flickr.com/120/256123207_97b654699f_b.jpg

 

[thuggins]

For future reference: I sent the camera off to Frank Marshman at camerawiz@msn.com. He did a great job and charged a reasonable price. Most amazing thing was the camera was back in my hands two weeks to the day from when I had mailed it off! (Another well known camera tech recently took 11 weeks to do a similar job.)

I've packed up two more cameras to send off to him.