Graflex?

The Mamiya 645 Pro I bought this summer is boring me. Too much plastic,
no soul. Besides, 645 on an Epson flatbed doesn't exactly blow me away.

Noticed I've never had a view camera and 6x9 this might be fun. Just
seen a Graflex Century on... well... you know where.

Any comments, suggestions, do's or dont's? Can it be used with just any
LF optics provided they have a shutter, like those made for a Technika
etc.?

Ralf

--
Ralf R. Radermacher - DL9KCG - Köln/Cologne, Germany
private homepage: http://www.fotoralf.de
manual cameras and photo galleries - updated April 29, 2004
Contarex - Kiev 60 - Horizon 202 - P6 mount lenses

"Ralf R. Radermacher" wrote in message
...
The Mamiya 645 Pro I bought this summer is boring me. Too much plastic,
no soul. Besides, 645 on an Epson flatbed doesn't exactly blow me away.

Noticed I've never had a view camera and 6x9 this might be fun. Just
seen a Graflex Century on... well... you know where.

Any comments, suggestions, do's or dont's? Can it be used with just any
LF optics provided they have a shutter, like those made for a Technika
etc.?

Ralf

Sure, but the rangefinder has to be matched to the lens focal length or it
won't correctly find the range. The Graflexes with film plane shutter can
use lenses without a shutter. Don't forget your darkslide!

-j

"Ralf R. Radermacher" wrote in message
...
The Mamiya 645 Pro I bought this summer is boring me. Too much plastic,
no soul. Besides, 645 on an Epson flatbed doesn't exactly blow me away.

Noticed I've never had a view camera and 6x9 this might be fun. Just
seen a Graflex Century on... well... you know where.

Any comments, suggestions, do's or dont's? Can it be used with just any
LF optics provided they have a shutter, like those made for a Technika
etc.?

Ralf

Sure, but the rangefinder has to be matched to the lens focal length or it
won't correctly find the range. The Graflexes with film plane shutter can
use lenses without a shutter. Don't forget your darkslide!

-j

J wrote:

Sure, but the rangefinder has to be matched to the lens focal length or it
won't correctly find the range.

But it is still possible to focus using the ground glass, isn't it?

Ralf

--
Ralf R. Radermacher - DL9KCG - Köln/Cologne, Germany
private homepage: http://www.fotoralf.de
manual cameras and photo galleries - updated April 29, 2004
Contarex - Kiev 60 - Horizon 202 - P6 mount lenses

J wrote:

Sure, but the rangefinder has to be matched to the lens focal length or it
won't correctly find the range.

But it is still possible to focus using the ground glass, isn't it?

Ralf

--
Ralf R. Radermacher - DL9KCG - Köln/Cologne, Germany
private homepage: http://www.fotoralf.de
manual cameras and photo galleries - updated April 29, 2004
Contarex - Kiev 60 - Horizon 202 - P6 mount lenses

J wrote:

Sure, but the rangefinder has to be matched to the lens focal length or it
won't correctly find the range.

But it is still possible to focus using the ground glass, isn't it?

Ralf

--
Ralf R. Radermacher - DL9KCG - Köln/Cologne, Germany
private homepage: http://www.fotoralf.de
manual cameras and photo galleries - updated April 29, 2004
Contarex - Kiev 60 - Horizon 202 - P6 mount lenses

If you are going for a view camera I'd suggest going 4x5 rather than 6x9.
You can always crop the 4x5 or buy a 6x9 roll film back. There is
surprisingly little difference in the size and weight of 6x9 compared to 4x5
and I've always thought that if you're going to to to the trouble of
carrying and using a view camera you might as well at least have the
potential to get the biggest possible negative from it. You'll almost
certainly see an improvement in the scans from your flat bed with either 6x9
or 4x5 but more so with 4x5.

I've never used any of the various Graflex cameras so I can't comment on
them. I know they have limited movements and the lenses that came with them
probably aren't quite the equal of today's lenses but many people use and
like them. They can be a relatively inexpensive introduction to large format
photography (I realize that 6x9 is medium format but the camera is a scaled
down large format camera).

You can probably find additional information about this particular camera by
checking the archives at www.largeformatphotography.info.


"Ralf R. Radermacher" wrote in message
...
The Mamiya 645 Pro I bought this summer is boring me. Too much plastic,
no soul. Besides, 645 on an Epson flatbed doesn't exactly blow me away.

Noticed I've never had a view camera and 6x9 this might be fun. Just
seen a Graflex Century on... well... you know where.

Any comments, suggestions, do's or dont's? Can it be used with just any
LF optics provided they have a shutter, like those made for a Technika
etc.?

Ralf

--
Ralf R. Radermacher - DL9KCG - Köln/Cologne, Germany
private homepage: http://www.fotoralf.de
manual cameras and photo galleries - updated April 29, 2004
Contarex - Kiev 60 - Horizon 202 - P6 mount lenses

If you are going for a view camera I'd suggest going 4x5 rather than 6x9.
You can always crop the 4x5 or buy a 6x9 roll film back. There is
surprisingly little difference in the size and weight of 6x9 compared to 4x5
and I've always thought that if you're going to to to the trouble of
carrying and using a view camera you might as well at least have the
potential to get the biggest possible negative from it. You'll almost
certainly see an improvement in the scans from your flat bed with either 6x9
or 4x5 but more so with 4x5.

I've never used any of the various Graflex cameras so I can't comment on
them. I know they have limited movements and the lenses that came with them
probably aren't quite the equal of today's lenses but many people use and
like them. They can be a relatively inexpensive introduction to large format
photography (I realize that 6x9 is medium format but the camera is a scaled
down large format camera).

You can probably find additional information about this particular camera by
checking the archives at www.largeformatphotography.info.


"Ralf R. Radermacher" wrote in message
...
The Mamiya 645 Pro I bought this summer is boring me. Too much plastic,
no soul. Besides, 645 on an Epson flatbed doesn't exactly blow me away.

Noticed I've never had a view camera and 6x9 this might be fun. Just
seen a Graflex Century on... well... you know where.

Any comments, suggestions, do's or dont's? Can it be used with just any
LF optics provided they have a shutter, like those made for a Technika
etc.?

Ralf

--
Ralf R. Radermacher - DL9KCG - Köln/Cologne, Germany
private homepage: http://www.fotoralf.de
manual cameras and photo galleries - updated April 29, 2004
Contarex - Kiev 60 - Horizon 202 - P6 mount lenses

Shelley wrote:

You can probably find additional information about this particular camera by
checking the archives at www.largeformatphotography.info.

Oh, thanks. Didn't know this one. As far as the Graflex goes, I've found
www.graflex.org quite helpful.

Ralf

--
Ralf R. Radermacher - DL9KCG - Köln/Cologne, Germany
private homepage: http://www.fotoralf.de
manual cameras and photo galleries - updated April 29, 2004
Contarex - Kiev 60 - Horizon 202 - P6 mount lenses

Shelley wrote:

You can probably find additional information about this particular camera by
checking the archives at www.largeformatphotography.info.

Oh, thanks. Didn't know this one. As far as the Graflex goes, I've found
www.graflex.org quite helpful.

Ralf

--
Ralf R. Radermacher - DL9KCG - Köln/Cologne, Germany
private homepage: http://www.fotoralf.de
manual cameras and photo galleries - updated April 29, 2004
Contarex - Kiev 60 - Horizon 202 - P6 mount lenses