ward robe advice, Ciro-Flex arrived!

Dave Wooten · Apr 28, 2006

Got myself a pristine Ciro-Flex, complete with manual and the awesome flash.....need to get into period costume and hit the streets....thinking of recording emotional reactions to the visual.....

Bill Bresler · Apr 28, 2006

My suggestion is subtle plaid bermuda shorts, black socks and dress shoes, one of those straw old guy hats... and a pipe.
Good luck with the Ciro-flex. Too bad you can't load it with Super-XX.
Bill

Gerald Koch · Apr 28, 2006

Bill Bresler said:
bermuda shorts, black socks and dress shoes

The old Snuffy Smith cartoon strip would periodically portray "flat land touristers" dressed in this manner with cameras around their necks.

athanasius80 · Apr 28, 2006

Whats your suit size? I'll raid my vintage clothing and see what I can find. Oh yeah, and you need a gaudyass necktie.

Kevin Roach · May 10, 2006

You need either a sombrero or a lens shade with that camera. I cut the top off a medicine bottle. (Actually I think it was a vitamin bottle) And sanded it a little bit to slide over the lens. Nice cheap shade.

art · May 12, 2006

If you really want to make a retro impression, try a 4x5 Graphic!

thebanana · May 26, 2006

Hey Dave, I have one of these babies too, and like to take it out once in a while. Haven't nailed the costume thing down yet, but I like to use it to take shots of old things. My camera came from a collector in Vancouver, and I just recently got an original leather case, box and manual for $12 from a guy in Texas. Enjoy!

DBP · May 26, 2006

I'd love to take the Speed Graphic to swing dances, but it is X-synched, not M. Anybody have a suggestion?

Roger Hicks · May 26, 2006

Dear DBP,

Stick a small electronic flash (I used a 1-cell Olympus) in the middle of your Kalart, MPP, whatever. With HP5 in DD-X (ISO 650) you have to focus more carefully than with a big bulb, but it gives 'the look'. Or subscribe to Ilford's offer to cut Delta 3200 in LF and you can still use f/11.

Cheers,

Roger (www.rogerandfrances.com)

DBP · May 26, 2006

Roger,

I'm honored by the reply, but, in addition to the photographic effects, I'm going for the authentic effect of actually using bulbs around people in 40s clothing listening to Big Bands. It just doesn't seem right to use something as modern as electronic flash. But I will keep that in mind when all I want is the effect of the big reflector. If I use the rear shutter, what shutter speeds would work with a bulb (press 5, 25 or maybe a 22 if I feel like scaring the heck out of people)? I don't really have any FP bulbs.

DBP

Roger Hicks · May 26, 2006

Dear DBP,

Check www.meggaflash.com, who are still making big bulbs including 'long peak' (at a frightening price). Sorry I know nothing about synching with BIG FP shutters but a long enough exposure with the front shutter will still work even with X-synch.

Cheers,

Roger

Dave Wooten · May 26, 2006

J and C has vintage bulbs...give John a call.

Donald Qualls · May 27, 2006

DBP said:
If I use the rear shutter, what shutter speeds would work with a bulb (press 5, 25 or maybe a 22 if I feel like scaring the heck out of people)? I don't really have any FP bulbs.

None of the M type bulbs will give a complete image with any speed on the focal plane shutter in a Speed Graphic (at least not on mine -- the slowest timed speed is 1/10, and the only slit that covers the entire frame is the one for T, which can't be used in "run through" mode). You'll get a cut-off exposure similar to, but less sharp-edged than what happens when you try to use electronic flash a couple stops faster than synch speed on a "modern" SLR.

The Anniversary and older Speeds didn't even have a synch on the focal plane, except a first-curtain synch on the 3x4 Anniversary Speed (though I understand a few were retrofitted with first-curtain synchs).

The advent of flash was the big reason why Speeds started to be sold with lenses in shutter (instead of barrel lenses) starting partway through the pre-Anniversary model run. A front shutter, even if not internally synched, could be used with an external synchronizer, with which the flash fired the shutter (giving the necessary M synch delay) instead of the other way around. The synchronizer was just a low-voltage solenoid and linkage that would jerk the shutter release lever when it received a current pulse -- the same current that fired the bulb.

ward robe advice, Ciro-Flex arrived!

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