Military LF Cameras

[Fotoguy20d]

I'm going to be shooting with my Eastman 2-D (1941 military model C-1) this weekend and was asked it I wanted to give a talk about it (I don't, but I should). I also have a Combat Graphic (probably badged as a Graflex 45), a 1943 Anniversary Speed (C-3) and a 1950s Pacemaker Speed (PH-47?) that I could bring along (and shoot with since I was going to use my "normal" Speed anyway). Does anyone have information on LF cameras in the military, or history of the Signal Corps, or some links where I could find some information so I'm speaking at least semi-intelligently?

Thanks,
Dan

 

[Ian Grant]

There are some great Military training films on using the Graflex on Youtube, sorry it's banned here in Turkey so I cant';t give you the links.

Ian

 

[Fotoguy20d]

After a fair bit of googling, the best I've come up with so far is from graflex.org.

Ian - I'll check out those videos tonight - sounds like they might be interesting to have.

I remembered that I have the Army Technical Manual for use/maintenance of the Speed, and also the Graflex in the War brochure they put out.

Dan

 

[Ektagraphic]

I would love get my hands on a Combat Gaphic! Best of luck to you!

 

[Sirius Glass]

See ===> http://graflex.org/articles/GraflexAtWar/

Steve

 

[Fotoguy20d]

See ===> http://graflex.org/articles/GraflexAtWar/

Steve

I have an original copy in pretty good condition. If there's interest, I could scan it to a PDF.

Dan

 

[photoncatcher]

It's a shame my Dad passed away. He could have told you stories till you could fill a book. He was in the Signal Corp, and was a photographer in a B-24 squadron. I heard lots of tails of his times with the Folmer-Graphlex "K" series of airel cameras. I still have many of his photos of bomb tests, and shots of the bases he was stationed at during the war. I really need to get them cataloged, and scanned. I had a beautiful Navy combat Graphic, which I got for $35 about 10 years ago. I ended up selling it for $200, and got a couple of nice 35mm RFs with the money.

 

[Ektagraphic]

If I was born 50 years ago, I would LOVE to go into the signal corp!

 

[greybeard]

I was surprised to learn that even officers in the pre-WWII Signal Corps were, or could be, trained in photography; among my father's effects was an ID badge with his picture, as a young lieutenant, authorizing him to take pictures on-post at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey (this would have been in 1939). I knew that the earliest picture of me as an infant was taken with a Speed Graphic belonging to the Army, but until I found the ID badge I had never wondered why he had access to large-format equipment and a darkroom in 1949!

I do remember him telling me that his standing instructions for the men under him were a) always use a flash bulb, regardless of the existing light; b) set the lens shutter at f/8, and 1/100th; and c) DON'T TOUCH THE FOCAL PLANE SHUTTER!. The first two rules pretty much guaranteed a printable negative (although it might be either thin or dense) and the last rule was to insure that the first two rules mattered, because the average GI seemed to be congenitally incapable of remembering to rewind the focal plane shutter. I assume that ground-glass focusing and composition was not a standard procedure.....

 

[Larry Bullis]

I would love get my hands on a Combat Gaphic! Best of luck to you!

Which? Do you mean the funky green 4x5 that was made of wood with no bellows?

 

[Sirius Glass]

If I was born 50 years ago, I would LOVE to go into the signal corp!

You can but it is now known as a tri-glyph.

Steve