Graflex Graphic 35 Given to Me

Lamar · Dec 12, 2014

I had a co-worker give me a Graflex Graphic 35, he bought two at a swap meet a while back and this one just sat around and never got used. Nice looking and sturdy feeling little camera but I was a bit wary of the rocker focusing. The distance scale is off but it appears the rangefinder is in calibration.

Photo taken on Kodak T-Max 100 with a Konica AutoReflex T2:

The following is a link to the first shots. I didn't do much post processing, crop and rezize and a little dodge and burn on a couple of shots. No cleanup though. You can see scratches on nearly all of the scans. I need to find out what is causing those and make it go away. Otherwise it's a nice little camera.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/lamarlamb/sets/72157649309046399/

E. von Hoegh · Dec 12, 2014

I have one of those, they're pretty competent cameras with a good lens. Mine's carefully stored, somewhere, I really need to get it out and use it once in a while.

gone · Dec 12, 2014

Took me a while to see the scratches. It's probably something in the film gate, or maybe the camera wasn't cleaned properly inside and had some grit in it. I would inspect every thing inside, film pressure plate, edges of film gate, etc, and make sure it's blown and brushed out well.

summicron1 · Dec 12, 2014

is this bulk loaded film? If so, check the felt in the film can. Looks to me as if you have a grit-in-felt problem.

Unless you are using a squeegee to dry the film. Then it might be a grit-on-squeegee problem. I never use a rubber squeegee for this very reason.

Lamar · Dec 12, 2014

It's from a standard 135-36 roll of T-Max. I just do one finger swipe with washed and un-dried hands then let the film dry. I'm sure it's the camera.

David Lyga · Dec 12, 2014

Yes, I have a couple of them. The lens is superb. The annoying part is that the two switches used to focus wear off rather easily (I do not like that type of focusing as i prefer the helicoid; the rocker focus is not easy to be precise with.) The scale for the rocker focusing can easily come loose. Make certain that the scale on yours is not, then test at both infinity and closest distance in order to make certain that your RF is synchronized with what is actually on that film plane. - David Lyga

Kirks518 · Dec 13, 2014

I have one as well, and have yet to run some film through it. I think the push button focusing is kind of neat. One of my buttons is deteriorating, which is why I haven't used it. Calibrating the RF is pretty easy, and there is a guide online on how to do it. Enjoy it!

David Lyga · Dec 15, 2014

Kirks518:
Conceptually, the push botton focusing is, as you say, 'kind of neat', but to accurately focus is another matter. You tend to pust a bit too far and then to micro-adjust it becomes trying at best. - David Lyga

Graflex Graphic 35 Given to Me

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