Two New (Very Old) Cameras
- KevinBarrett
- Emperor of a Minor Galaxy
- Posts: 2449
- Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2008 5:32 pm
- Location: Seattle, Washington, USA
- Contact:
Two New (Very Old) Cameras
I recently inherited two Graflex view cameras, a Crown Graphic (4 x 5) and a Miniature Speed Graphic (2 1/4 x 3 1/4). The latter of these holds the most promise of usability, having a 120 roll film holder. I'm eager to use them and I've chosen to figure out the Speed Graphic first due its moderate advantage in accessibility. Any tips?
Kevin Barrett
-- Photos --
-- Photos --
- pakodominguez
- Minister with Portfolio
- Posts: 2306
- Joined: Tue May 22, 2007 5:38 pm
- Location: NYC
- Contact:
Re: Two New (Very Old) Cameras
Black and White only, I don't believe the lenses are corrected for color -Enjoy!
Pako
------------
http://www.pakodominguez.photo/blog" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
------------
http://www.pakodominguez.photo/blog" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Re: Two New (Very Old) Cameras
Cool. How about posting photos of the 2 cameras?
Bakubo http://www.bakubo.com
- Dusty
- Emperor of a Minor Galaxy
- Posts: 2215
- Joined: Thu Dec 18, 2008 5:04 pm
- Location: Ironton, Missouri, USA
Re: Two New (Very Old) Cameras
I have a Crown Graphic and it does just fine with color film. You can't go wrong with 4x5 negatives!
Check out internet sights on using tilt/swing, drop, rise, etc. if you want to get fancy. If you just want to see them take pictures, meter with your DSLR (unless you have a separate meter, like my old Wesson) and then take the shot. It's just like any other film camera in that regard. F-stop, shutter speed, ISO. And of course focus!
Dusty
Check out internet sights on using tilt/swing, drop, rise, etc. if you want to get fancy. If you just want to see them take pictures, meter with your DSLR (unless you have a separate meter, like my old Wesson) and then take the shot. It's just like any other film camera in that regard. F-stop, shutter speed, ISO. And of course focus!
Dusty
An a700, an a550 and couple of a580s, plus even more lenses (Zeiss included!).
- KevinBarrett
- Emperor of a Minor Galaxy
- Posts: 2449
- Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2008 5:32 pm
- Location: Seattle, Washington, USA
- Contact:
Re: Two New (Very Old) Cameras
Thanks guys! I ordered two rolls of color 120 film, ISO 100 and 400, to give myself some flexibility. I'll see about getting a picture of my new kit as soon as I take care of all the current projects.
Kevin Barrett
-- Photos --
-- Photos --
Re: Two New (Very Old) Cameras
Have fun with them!KevinBarrett wrote:Thanks guys! I ordered two rolls of color 120 film, ISO 100 and 400, to give myself some flexibility. I'll see about getting a picture of my new kit as soon as I take care of all the current projects.
I still have a few rolls of 120 Velvia in the freezer (along with various rolls of 35mm film) in Austin. Bought in 1997 and not used since I shot a roll of 35mm Velvia in early 2002 with my brand new Maxxum 7. My Maxxum 7 shot about 3-4 rolls of film and then not long after I bought a Minolta D7i. I never used the 7 again and it is still in a camera bag in Austin. Darn, such a waste of a brand new, nice camera. I still have my Yashicamat 124G also. I guess I should at least shoot up all the film I have left, but it hardly seems worth spending the money for processing and then having to scan stuff. Still, it would sort of be fun to use the TLR a bit.
Bakubo http://www.bakubo.com
Re: Two New (Very Old) Cameras
I too have quite a lot of film in my fridge (not freezer but I imagine it will be ok). While I still have four Minolta film cameras (including two Dynax 7s) it is the medium format film I may have another go with on my wonderful Rolleiflex 3.5F Planar. I am prompted to do this following a recent 4800 ppi flat-bed scan of a lot of 6x6cm slides and am very impressed by the results. These old TLRs are great fun to use and they really slow you down and make you think about composition. As an aside, I have tried cropping suitable DSLR images into square crops and it often works surprisingly well. It is certainly a differentiator in club competitions.
Re: Two New (Very Old) Cameras
I know that that is a beautiful camera. With the change to digital over the last several years it is sort of cool to hold one of the old mechanical cameras. My old Yashicamat 124G is, of course, not at the same level as your Rolleiflex, but it also has such a different feel than the current all-electronic digital cameras. Still, I prefer digital.artington wrote:I too have quite a lot of film in my fridge (not freezer but I imagine it will be ok). While I still have four Minolta film cameras (including two Dynax 7s) it is the medium format film I may have another go with on my wonderful Rolleiflex 3.5F Planar.
I sometimes like the square format too. I think I recall that the E-M5 has a square mode and I suppose it adjusts the view through the EVF. I tend to prefer using the full 4:3 format though and then doing the crop later. If a person is really sure they want a square format from the beginning then the square view in the EVF/LCD would be very helpful, I think.artington wrote: I am prompted to do this following a recent 4800 ppi flat-bed scan of a lot of 6x6cm slides and am very impressed by the results. These old TLRs are great fun to use and they really slow you down and make you think about composition. As an aside, I have tried cropping suitable DSLR images into square crops and it often works surprisingly well. It is certainly a differentiator in club competitions.
Bakubo http://www.bakubo.com
- pakodominguez
- Minister with Portfolio
- Posts: 2306
- Joined: Tue May 22, 2007 5:38 pm
- Location: NYC
- Contact:
Re: Two New (Very Old) Cameras
If you shoot RAW+JPG, you don't get a "full" RAW and a square JPG?bakubo wrote: I sometimes like the square format too. I think I recall that the E-M5 has a square mode and I suppose it adjusts the view through the EVF. I tend to prefer using the full 4:3 format though and then doing the crop later. If a person is really sure they want a square format from the beginning then the square view in the EVF/LCD would be very helpful, I think.
It is what happens when you shoot 9:16 on Sony cameras: a full RAW and a panoramic JPG.
Pako
------------
http://www.pakodominguez.photo/blog" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
------------
http://www.pakodominguez.photo/blog" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
- KevinBarrett
- Emperor of a Minor Galaxy
- Posts: 2449
- Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2008 5:32 pm
- Location: Seattle, Washington, USA
- Contact:
Re: Two New (Very Old) Cameras
I finally got around to shooting a picture of these beauties...
My Father's Cameras by Kevin_Barrett, on Flickr
My Father's Cameras by Kevin_Barrett, on Flickr
Kevin Barrett
-- Photos --
-- Photos --
- Dr. Harout
- Subsuming Vortex of Brilliance
- Posts: 5662
- Joined: Wed May 30, 2007 7:38 pm
- Location: Yerevan, Armenia
- Contact:
Re: Two New (Very Old) Cameras
I'll go with Pako. Shoot B&W, or even rephrasing that: begin with B&W.
Re: Two New (Very Old) Cameras
Those are beauties KB! Looking forward to seeing some results from them when/if you get them working.
You should turn some heads out on the street with those
You should turn some heads out on the street with those
Nex 5, Nex 6 (IR), A7M2, A99 and a bunch of lenses.
- Dr. Harout
- Subsuming Vortex of Brilliance
- Posts: 5662
- Joined: Wed May 30, 2007 7:38 pm
- Location: Yerevan, Armenia
- Contact:
Re: Two New (Very Old) Cameras
... and they will ask you if these are some new kind of smartphonesBirma wrote:...You should turn some heads out on the street with those
- KevinBarrett
- Emperor of a Minor Galaxy
- Posts: 2449
- Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2008 5:32 pm
- Location: Seattle, Washington, USA
- Contact:
Re: Two New (Very Old) Cameras
It actually doesn't draw much attention at all--there's enough development going on around here, perhaps they think it is surveying equipment!Dr. Harout wrote:... and they will ask you if these are some new kind of smartphones
- Attachments
-
- Used: Sony A77, 16-50mm f/2.8 at 50mm and f/8, wireless flash in umbrella
- _DSC3151-1.jpg (619.23 KiB) Viewed 5110 times
Kevin Barrett
-- Photos --
-- Photos --
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 18 guests