Graflex RB Super D -- film pack adapter?

Thorpelyon · Jul 7, 2017

jnanian said:
super D's have a traditional graflok back not a slotted back, right ?
if it is a super D, these might work: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=graphic+film+pack+adapter+ebay&bext=msl&atb=v71-2&ia=web

bag mags ( at least the ones i have / use ) are for slotted / graflex backs not international / graflok backs, there are grafmatics that work on both.

good luck with your pack film !

The Graflex RB Super D that I have uses the Graflex (slotted) back. But I think GregW has just solved my problem.

removed account4 · Jul 7, 2017

good to read you got your problem solved !
it was news to me that super D's were made to take slotted film holders
i always thought they took regular ones, and that was one of the things
together with the auto diaphragm that made them "super"
i guess they got an "upgrade" later on ( 1960s .. with the graflok )..

thanks, i like being wrong !

ransel · Jul 7, 2017

I guess I have assumed that all of the "RB" Graflex models used the slotted film holders and backs.

choiliefan · Jul 8, 2017

Most Super D's have slotted Graflex backs. The Graflok back was an option.

GregW · Jul 8, 2017

Oh crap, I had not noticed yours was a slotted back. My RB Super D has the Graflock back. That is what I tested the holder with. I am so sorry I've provided erroneous information.

removed account4 · Jul 8, 2017

you might be surprised if you can just tape a regular old filmpacl adapter to the back of your camera and there really isn't much of a
registration issue. you can put a piece of waxed paper on the film gate and focus like it is ground glass and
see how far off your focus is with the other ground glass. i tape a graphic 23 to the back of my series D
and have used it like this for over a decade with no focus issues mostly shooting wide open ( f3.8 ) ..
it might be a cost effective solution if you give up looking for the one made for slotted graphlex backs.

Sirius Glass · Jul 8, 2017

My 4"x5" Graflex Model D was built with a RB. Bert Saunders added a Graflok back for me. I can move my Grafmatic backs and other sheet film holders back and forth between it and my Pacemaker Speed Graphic.

Thorpelyon · Jul 8, 2017

GregW said:
Oh crap, I had not noticed yours was a slotted back. My RB Super D has the Graflock back. That is what I tested the holder with. I am so sorry I've provided erroneous information.

Oh no... and I thought I'd finally found the unicorn.

Thorpelyon · Jul 8, 2017

jnanian said:
you might be surprised if you can just tape a regular old filmpacl adapter to the back of your camera and there really isn't much of a
registration issue. you can put a piece of waxed paper on the film gate and focus like it is ground glass and
see how far off your focus is with the other ground glass. i tape a graphic 23 to the back of my series D
and have used it like this for over a decade with no focus issues mostly shooting wide open ( f3.8 ) ..
it might be a cost effective solution if you give up looking for the one made for slotted graphlex backs.

Waxed paper as ground glass!? Holy fresnel!

Thorpelyon · Jul 8, 2017

Sirius Glass said:
My 4"x5" Graflex Model D was built with a RB. Bert Saunders added a Graflok back for me. I can move my Grafmatic backs and other sheet film holders back and forth between it and my Pacemaker Speed Graphic.

That sounds like the ideal, most inclusive solution. Kind of like those gender-neutral restroom signs I see popping up here in California.

shutterfinger · Jul 8, 2017

choiliefan said:
Most Super D's have slotted Graflex backs. The Graflok back was an option.

Please provide factory doucmentation to support this claim.

ransel said:
I guess I have assumed that all of the "RB" Graflex models used the slotted film holders and backs.

Graflex SLR's were equiped with Graflex backs. Graflex backs take the slotted holders.
Lens and Repo in New York (now defunct) MODIFIED Graflex SLR's by reoplacing the Graflex Back with a Graflok Back as did some indivuals and possibly other repair shops.
http://www.pacificrimcamera.com/rl/00658/00658.pdf
The Graflex back was factory modified with sliders top and bottom which resembles a Graflok but is not. On page 4 of the linked pdf
"New style Locks on the camera back move inward at an angle (Graflok Style), assuring correct fitting of all Graflex film and plate attachments of early and current design."

removed account4 · Jul 8, 2017

Thorpelyon said:
Waxed paper as ground glass!? Holy fresnel!

yup, works perfectly. i've made ULF cameras with waxed paper viewing screens too, works great.

ransel · Jul 8, 2017

Jon, another option for making a "ground-glass" for focusing, which I have not tried but have read - take a suitable sheet of glass, lay it flat, pour a thin coating of 1% milk over one side and let dry over night. The book specified 1% milk.

removed account4 · Jul 8, 2017

ransel said:
Jon, another option for making a "ground-glass" for focusing, which I have not tried but have read - take a suitable sheet of glass, lay it flat, pour a thin coating of 1% milk over one side and let dry over night. The book specified 1% milk.

do i need to grind up some lactaid and powder the glass with it ?
i guess if it works, it works

Cary Lee · Jul 9, 2017

I did this to make a 8x10 ground glass and it work great.

removed account4 · Jul 9, 2017

shutterfinger said:
Please provide factory doucmentation to support this claim.

Graflex SLR's were equiped with Graflex backs. Graflex backs take the slotted holders.
Lens and Repo in New York (now defunct) MODIFIED Graflex SLR's by reoplacing the Graflex Back with a Graflok Back as did some indivuals and possibly other repair shops.
http://www.pacificrimcamera.com/rl/00658/00658.pdf
The Graflex back was factory modified with sliders top and bottom which resembles a Graflok but is not. On page 4 of the linked pdf
"New style Locks on the camera back move inward at an angle (Graflok Style), assuring correct fitting of all Graflex film and plate attachments of early and current design."

hi shutterfinger !
thanks for posting the pacific rim catalog .. !
there are so many back types for these graflex and graphic cameras it is hard to keep them straight
the old fashioned spring back ( graphic back ? )
newfangled international back the current standard ( graflok )
slotted film holder back on slr's ( graflex )
and what they showed in the super d's which was the
original graflok back that had 2 sliders to secure modern and slotted film holders alike !

these back types are almost as hard to figure out as the outsourced and rebadged films of the early/mid 00's

shutterfinger · Jul 9, 2017

jnanian said:
and what they showed in the super d's which was the
original graflok back that had 2 sliders to secure modern and slotted film holders alike !

Actually its a Graflex back with sliders top and bottom. It will not hold standard film holders securly, it will only hold Graflex (slotted) film holders securly.

removed account4 · Jul 9, 2017

thanks shutterfinger
i misread : "New style Slide Locks on the camera back move inward at an angle,
assuring correct fitting of all Graftex film and plate attachments of early or current design"
thinking the "current design" meant the holders with no slots ... its interesting those sliders
look kind of like a pre-curser to the sliders that are on a pacemaker speed graphic, if you remove
the ground glass and are left with the sliders to secure your roll back or graflarger &c...

shutterfinger · Jul 9, 2017

Early Graflex backs had a fixed bar at the bottom and a slider at the top that was parallel to the back until late in camera production then the switch to two sliders that angled inward. The switch occured around 1945-1946.
Its easy to see how one could mistake it for a Graflok just looking at it.

removed account4 · Jul 9, 2017

shutterfinger

i know !
i have an old series D with the single sliding bar ...
and i seem to remember years ago ( just remembered it tonight from seeing the catalog )
that someone said that double sliding bar thing was a graflok back .. cause it was different than the former and latter
what did they call that new style back, any idea ?

shutterfinger · Jul 10, 2017

Its still a Graflex back, no name change.

nosmok · Jul 13, 2017

For my first Graflex RB, I modified a couple Graflok fitting rollholders by having a machinist buddy mill a groove in the appropriate place. A hacksaw in a miter box, carefully done, would probably accomplish the same thing. The first one went too deep, into the film channel, but I put some black electrical tape over it and it worked fine-- no light leaks, no dark slide sticking to the tape. This could be another option, as Graflok pack-film backs are pretty cheap.

Thorpelyon · Jul 15, 2017

An update on the Graflex/Graphic/Graflok adapter discussion... I just received an adapter from choiliefan that fits my particular Graflex RB Super D 4x5 perfectly. My camera has the older Graflex back, and the adapter is labelled "Graflex Film Pack Adapter -- Cat. No. 1134" Again, to be clear, the word "Graphic" does not appear anywhere on the adapter. Thanks everyone for helping me sort through this.

Sirius Glass · Jul 15, 2017

Thorpelyon said:
An update on the Graflex/Graphic/Graflok adapter discussion... I just received an adapter from choiliefan that fits my particular Graflex RB Super D 4x5 perfectly. My camera has the older Graflex back, and the adapter is labelled "Graflex Film Pack Adapter -- Cat. No. 1134" Again, to be clear, the word "Graphic" does not appear anywhere on the adapter. Thanks everyone for helping me sort through this.

Those are hard to find and if you find one the price is high. That is why I had Burt Sanders make one for me. He was a Graflex and Graphic repairman for 26 years.

Thorpelyon · Jul 16, 2017

Sirius Glass said:
Those are hard to find and if you find one the price is high. That is why I had Burt Sanders make one for me. He was a Graflex and Graphic repairman for 26 years.

Is there someone else now who's doing the same kind of work Burt used to?

Graflex RB Super D -- film pack adapter?

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency