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Trying to identify this camera

timn420

New member
I've been looking at getting a 4x5 film camera for doing portraits on the go when I came across this camera. Does anyone have any idea what this camera might be?

 

Oren Grad

Active member
It's a Graflex, with the viewing chimney replaced with a folding focusing hood and what appears to be an Aero Ektar adapted. You can cobble together your own, too, though the Aero Ektar tends to be pricey. Garden-variety 4x5 Graflex Super D's with the standard 190/5.6 Ektar can usually be found without too much difficulty.

Have you worked with large format before?

EDIT: Looks like it's this one, or someone else who did the same thing:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/48246025@N07/
 

timn420

New member
I have a crown graphic which I use occasionally. I was a little lost confused because of the waist-level finder. I've never seen one on a 4x5 like that. So I then thought it might be a 6x7 but it looks too big for that film size. It would be nice to have one like this for doing street photography and portraits.

Thanks for the link. That's a sweet setup.
 

MGrayson

Subscriber and Workshop Member
Here's the master of old cameras, Geoffrey Berliner with one of his many Graflexes with waist level finder


And here's Mark Mann photographing Rami Malek with another one.


Hard as hell to focus unless the light is very bright!

--Matt
 

timn420

New member
John Minnicks buillt the camera that was posted in the first image, if anyone wants to know, an sells them online. The cheapest version of the camera that he builds runs around $4000, which is a little on the high-side for me, but might be helpful for someone else. Looks to be a really cool camera that would provide some unique results for portraits, which is what I am interested in.
 

MGrayson

Subscriber and Workshop Member
Thanks for that. It makes sense. It looked too new for a Graflex. I certainly don't recognize all their models.

--Matt
 

Oren Grad

Active member
With a bit of patience you can find a Graflok-converted 4x5 Super D, the latest model, with the standard 190 Ektar, for less than $1000. It's really not suited for run-and-gun hand-held snapshooting - the yield of sharp, in-focus pictures under anything short of ideal conditions will be pretty low. But if you are thinking of slowing down a bit and tripod mounting it as in the picture you showed to launch this thread, it can be lots of fun.
 

timn420

New member
With a bit of patience you can find a Graflok-converted 4x5 Super D, the latest model, with the standard 190 Ektar, for less than $1000. It's really not suited for run-and-gun hand-held snapshooting - the yield of sharp, in-focus pictures under anything short of ideal conditions will be pretty low. But if you are thinking of slowing down a bit and tripod mounting it as in the picture you showed to launch this thread, it can be lots of fun.
Yeah, The super D with the 190 sounds like a good compromise and more within my budget. None are on eBay at the moment but I'll keep a lookout for them.
 

Shashin

Well-known member
I would stay away form Areo Ektars. They are radioactive.

You could also look for a 4x5 Gowland Flex TLR. He also had made 8x10 versions. Polariod rangefinders have also been converted to 4x5 handheld cameras.
 

Oren Grad

Active member
For completeness, there are Graflexes in 2 1/4 x 3 1/4, 3 1/4 x 4 1/4, 4x5 and 5x7 formats, and IIRC also the 3 1/4 x 5 1/2 "postcard" format. Graflex.org will have a full list.

You can get a functioning Graflex with lens for only a few hundred dollars. The catch is that the standard-issue cameras take special slotted film holders; the 4x5 slotted holders seem especially difficult to find, which is why spending the extra to have a 4x5 that's Graflok-converted so it can accept standard 4x5 holders can make sense. I have a mix of Graflexes in my user-collection - three different 3 1/4 x 4 1/4 models, a Graflok-converted 4x5 Super D, and a 5x7 Press Graflex.

Peter Gowland made TLRs in three different formats: 4x5, 5x7 and 8x10. The design evolved, with late models having a parallax correction feature. I've previously owned an early and a late-vintage 4x5, currently have a 5x7 Gowlandflex. The advantage, of course, is that there's no shutter lag or finder blackout at the moment of exposure. The main disadvantage is that the cameras are quite bulky - not "on the go" cameras at all IMO.

Several vendors offer conversions of Polaroid 110A/B and occasionally other Polaroid rollfilm models to 4x5, with various bells and whistles depending on the vendor. The benefit of the 110A/B conversion is the coupled rangefinder. For a while I owned a Dean Jones "Razzle" conversion. I found the handling a bit awkward, and the standard 127mm Ysarex didn't really cover 4x5 adequately at the apertures I wanted to use for hand-held work. Not necessarily a problem, depending on the kind of pictures you want to make.
 

jbaxendell

New member
I am pretty sure that is a picture of Mark Tucker. A very talented lifestyle photographer who used to contribute many interesting posts to this and other fora. He was once famous for his plunger cam - Hasselblad plus toilet plunger many years before the Lensbaby.

If you Google "mark tucker graflex" you will see a very fuzzy Vimeo video of him using his Graflex Aero Liberator. I think some of the pictures he did on mydaywith.com were shot with that camera.
 
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