Hunting a Speed Graphic.

[Marley's Ghost]

According to the post I linked it appears one option is to set up the rangefinder for shorter distances and sacrifice infinity - seeing as this is going to become a portrait/street portrait machine then I really don't mind sacrificing infinity to GG work - so long as I can get moderate head and shoulders. It's a tool not a museum piece, so modification is fine in my book. My father was a REME trained army optical engineer for 20+ years - he taught me there's not much that can't be bodged or re worked to make it operate in the way you want. He always joked that REME meant Rough Engineering Made Easy.

 

[Nas]

I thought you were looking for something like this, Pentac?
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/127700639187?_skw=pentac&itmmeta=01KJ5C3ZRKZJB2TST30WKGDDNS&hash=item1dbb8d1dd3:g:8ekAAeSwN2tpnFE3&itmprp=enc:AQALAAAA4GfYFPkwiKCW4ZNSs2u11xCD92ieHHbJCC0QxXlk52FWee1hJNxAXwBFqfhk8g4Pb48fpfRJIhy6Vh6NyiC1ClKdY2vke7+W11MnUAuMdk3SzTSQ8AlGkgHuU+gnYEGYl/MI5LKaBJ1hcoXqoVg2cBfRzXjoq71NSRpgmaOei1Yds6hY2D9teaV6/836i12b+Xv8GR/C5tc6X9djj5HwxMB/LiAdap2QDRiLTVB59/btZxlu1CWvhwH9vfyrTtdnsCXGJGJPl93y+rL5hf7Iwb37p9GXJpgKZbBub5CERvFq|tkp:Bk9SR6b9j6yRZw&keyword=pentac&sacat=0&relatedSearch=true

Some advice if you're planning on using one of these lenses on your SG... make sure you get one with a flange that can unscrew. The one in this listing is the type that doesn't. They also weigh a lot more than the ones with a removable flange.

 

[Marley's Ghost]

Some advice if you're planning on using one of these lenses on your SG... make sure you get one with a flange that can unscrew. The one in this listing is the type that doesn't. They also weigh a lot more than the ones with a removable flange.

This is why I love the community!

 

[Brian Berry]

Well as part of a project I will be shooting towards a RPS distinction I want to shoot hand held portraits on the street ... and I think the tool I need is a Graflex Speed Graphic as I will want to use a barrel lens. But my goodness it's a minefield trying to find one ... no chance of getting one in the UK ... pretty much all the ones on the dreaded flea bay in the US are 'sold as seen' and while I don't mind a little work ... I don't really fancy having to try and rebuild a curtain shutter. It's also a bit off putting when you see obviously smaller format Speed Graphics being advertised erroneously as 4x5!
Anyone got any good advice?

Try Lens and Repro in New York City

 

[Brian Berry]

Well as part of a project I will be shooting towards a RPS distinction I want to shoot hand held portraits on the street ... and I think the tool I need is a Graflex Speed Graphic as I will want to use a barrel lens. But my goodness it's a minefield trying to find one ... no chance of getting one in the UK ... pretty much all the ones on the dreaded flea bay in the US are 'sold as seen' and while I don't mind a little work ... I don't really fancy having to try and rebuild a curtain shutter. It's also a bit off putting when you see obviously smaller format Speed Graphics being advertised erroneously as 4x5!
Anyone got any good advice?

Try Lens and Repro in New York City (on 14th Street, if memory Serves.) All of us LF geeks in the UL.S. have depended on them for 50 years or more, and now the original owner's son has taken over. They know their stuff, they are patient with amateurs and they are honest. I have purchased Linhof and Agfa view cameras from them in the past, plus innumerable lenses for same. And...think about buying a 3 1/4 4 and 1/4 Speed Graphic. Handheld on the street? Could be good, costs less, and greatly expands your choice of lenses, because you will not be competing with 4x5 users who are looking for maximum lens coverage. They will not sell you a focal plane shutter that needs a rebuild. Brian Berry

 

[Brian Berry]

Well as part of a project I will be shooting towards a RPS distinction I want to shoot hand held portraits on the street ... and I think the tool I need is a Graflex Speed Graphic as I will want to use a barrel lens. But my goodness it's a minefield trying to find one ... no chance of getting one in the UK ... pretty much all the ones on the dreaded flea bay in the US are 'sold as seen' and while I don't mind a little work ... I don't really fancy having to try and rebuild a curtain shutter. It's also a bit off putting when you see obviously smaller format Speed Graphics being advertised erroneously as 4x5!
Anyone got any good advice?

To add to my. last post: 33 W 17th Street Bsmt. New York, NY 10011.

 

[thronobulax]

Try Lens and Repro in New York City (on 14th Street, if memory Serves.) All of us LF geeks in the UL.S. have depended on them for 50 years or more, and now the original owner's son has taken over. They know their stuff, they are patient with amateurs and they are honest. I have purchased Linhof and Agfa view cameras from them in the past, plus innumerable lenses for same. And...think about buying a 3 1/4 4 and 1/4 Speed Graphic. Handheld on the street? Could be good, costs less, and greatly expands your choice of lenses, because you will not be competing with 4x5 users who are looking for maximum lens coverage. They will not sell you a focal plane shutter that needs a rebuild. Brian Berry

4x3 Film is thin on the ground. I think the alternative is a Century Graphic if one wants something smaller than 5x4. The Century will take 3x2 sheet film (of which there are still good options) holders or the RH rollfilm holders that range from 6x6 (RH12) to 7x6 (RH10, RH20) or 9x6 (RH8).

 

[thronobulax]

Try Lens and Repro in New York City (on 14th Street, if memory Serves.) All of us LF geeks in the UL.S. have depended on them for 50 years or more, and now the original owner's son has taken over. They know their stuff, they are patient with amateurs and they are honest. I have purchased Linhof and Agfa view cameras from them in the past, plus innumerable lenses for same. And...think about buying a 3 1/4 4 and 1/4 Speed Graphic. Handheld on the street? Could be good, costs less, and greatly expands your choice of lenses, because you will not be competing with 4x5 users who are looking for maximum lens coverage. They will not sell you a focal plane shutter that needs a rebuild. Brian Berry

I thought they closed or merged with Calumet something like15 years ago. Are they still around as an independent business entity?

 

[David Lindquist]

I thought they closed or merged with Calumet something like15 years ago. Are they still around as an independent business entity?

Yes, I've never been there but it's my understanding they closed up in the fall of 2012.
And Calumet is gone too.

David

 

[AnalogueWendy]

Try Lens and Repro in New York City (on 14th Street, if memory Serves.) All of us LF geeks in the UL.S. have depended on them for 50 years or more, and now the original owner's son has taken over. They know their stuff, they are patient with amateurs and they are honest. I have purchased Linhof and Agfa view cameras from them in the past, plus innumerable lenses for same. And...think about buying a 3 1/4 4 and 1/4 Speed Graphic. Handheld on the street? Could be good, costs less, and greatly expands your choice of lenses, because you will not be competing with 4x5 users who are looking for maximum lens coverage. They will not sell you a focal plane shutter that needs a rebuild. Brian Berry

I work with this format. In the UK we call it quarter plate. Cameras do seem to come up for ale more often. Precut film is available and I also cut down 4x5 film using an old Kodak film trimmer. Plates are straightforward, if expensive, (but less helpful for street photography) and paper negatives are a great option while getting used to a new camera.

 

[Marley's Ghost]

My Speed Graphic or as I like to think of it ... my FrankenGraphic.
I've now processed my first half dozen test shots designed to check the focus adjustment of the rangefinder and the focal plane shutter ... all working ... all good

 

[Marley's Ghost]

Well the first six test shots worked out well - though I have to say the 135mm lens is a bit lacklustre wide open ... I know they really were never designed to be used like that, but hey. Stopped down it's fine. Most folks using a Speed Graphic even today would treat it like a view camera and stop it way down - I'm heading for the portrait path, so as a stop gap I may try my Schneider Kreuznach Symmar-S 210mm f5.6 ... it's pretty solid wide open and is about that 'eight inch' portrait sweetspot. Assuming there are no fitting issues.

 

[HowLarge]

Looking good , for the lens I guess this is where the speedG comes into its own - that you can use anything you can mount on a lensboard, advantage Anniversary models withe easy wooden boards.
But for quick assessment of wide open sharpness it may be useful to use a digital camera mounted on diy grafloc size board , with a cheap adapter for the camera mount , so mount the digicam and lens shutter open - focus wide open even with live view and then stop the lens down to see what happens - maybe self calibrate with known good wide open lens to see how that looks in comparison to a poor one , might even give an insight into focus shift , certainly quick to have a look.

 

[Marley's Ghost]

Wide open test shot.
Black splodge isn't camera/lens related it's using up some old film wuch looks like it wasn't treated very well before I got it.

 

[MartyNL]

Did you try any portraits or anything you might consider at portrait distance?

Also, would you mind expanding a little on "lacklustre" or what it is that you hope to achieve that isn't "lacklustre "?

I don't know why, but I was expecting something a lot worse.

 

[HowLarge]

I like the birds sitting the tree , it’s a great example of “soft” for me

 

[Marley's Ghost]

Okay, I'd consider this as sharp (shott on my MPP now sold) with - I believe my 150mm Fujinon-W



This is at six feet with the Graflex 135mm



Of course this may be my imagination or it may be I've spent a long time shooting 5x7!

 

[HowLarge]

I would agree with your conclusion that the 135 is not sharp wide open , well demonstrated by the consistent unsharpness across the frame at various distances

 

[Ian Grant]

Your 135mm Graflex Optar is a Tessar type lens, at f22 it will give its best results, at f16 corner & edge sharpness begins to fall off slightly. That's from experience, using a 135mm f4.5 Tessar, and a 135mm f4.7 Xenar.

A modern 135mm Plasmat, like a f5.6 Symmar S, is significantly sharper, edges and corners, at wider apertures compared to a Tessar type design. I use my 135mm Symmar S on my Super Graphic, and on my (now sold) Crown Graphic, often for hand held work.

Ian

 

[MartyNL]

I really like the Graflex/Optar photo and prefer it to the MPP/Fujinon!
I think for the purpose of portraits, I don't see an issue although perhaps slightly wide.