Two New (Very Old) Cameras

[KevinBarrett]

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?

[pakodominguez]

Black and White only, I don't believe the lenses are corrected for color -Enjoy!

[bakubo]

Cool. How about posting photos of the 2 cameras?

[Dusty]

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

[KevinBarrett]

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.

[bakubo]

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.

Have fun with them!

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.

[artington]

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.

[bakubo]

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 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.

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.

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.

[pakodominguez]

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.

If you shoot RAW+JPG, you don't get a "full" RAW and a square JPG?
It is what happens when you shoot 9:16 on Sony cameras: a full RAW and a panoramic JPG.

[KevinBarrett]

I finally got around to shooting a picture of these beauties...


My Father's Cameras by Kevin_Barrett, on Flickr

[Dr. Harout]

I'll go with Pako. Shoot B&W, or even rephrasing that: begin with B&W.

[Birma]

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

[Dr. Harout]

...You should turn some heads out on the street with those

... and they will ask you if these are some new kind of smartphones

[KevinBarrett]

... and they will ask you if these are some new kind of smartphones

It actually doesn't draw much attention at all--there's enough development going on around here, perhaps they think it is surveying equipment!