How do you identify this on a given lens? I’ve scrounged Google a few times for “(X Manufacturer) Xmm fx.x Copal size” and I get large format discussion board talking about that lens in particular. What, if any, are some reliable databases?

Back in February KEH sent me a Fuji GS645 with a bad shutter. I botched the return, and they were very patient with me while I fixed it, but still…

Today I received another box from them - a 4x5 Speed Graphic with a Graflok back. Or at least that’s what it said on the tag. After I ordered the camera I discovered I had to order a lens, and then realized I needed a different tripod head, which I also ordered. Everything arrived this afternoon.

So I unboxed the lens, and then the camera. The body shutter release was stiff from sitting, but a smidge of fiddling got it going. All in all everything seemed great, but then the lens board I 3D printed didn’t fit. I figured I had downloaded one for a different camera, so I downloaded a new lens board, started printing it, and decided to play with putting my Polaroid pack film holder in the back of the camera, just to test fit it. That was when I realized they hadn’t sent me a 4x5 Pacemaker Speed Graphic. They sent me a 3.25 by 4.25 Speed Graphic, with a paper tag on it that says “4x5 Speed Graphic”.

So now I have to return 3 different things to 3 different places. 🤬

What is up with KEH anymore?

Hello,

I'm planning a trip for next summer and just wondering if anyone knows of have store I can get 4x5 sheets of FP4 from in person, and I'm guessing Dublin and Edinburgh are going to be my two best cities to find anything.

I've used the Zeiss lens wipes for my digital lenses for years. Silly question but are they safe to use with older (30-50yr) LF lens coatings? Any other recommendations if not?

I've recently bought a Toyo Monorail and I've had a bit of a go focussing on the ground glass. I will eventually be using it to do some plate photography with some compatible 3D printed holders.

My question is about focussing correctly.

As I understand it, the ground glass in its current setup gives the correct focus for a film sheet on the same plane as the projection on the glass. If I know the distance between the plane of the film and the plane where the plate holder would be, can I just adjust the focus by this distance?

Hypothetically, if I need 190mm of bellows extension to get correct focus and the plate holder plane is 3mm further back, would reducing to 187mm of bellows extension correct the 3mm discrepancy out?

Could I also make a spacer for the ground glass to hold it out at this further distance already?

Sorry if these are very basic questions, googling around this topic only gives results for film holder in a plate camera, not plate holder in a film camera. Thanks.

Hi all.

I have just picked up yesterday a Graflex Crown Graphic as my first foray into Large Format. Even though it is not ready to shoot on anything yet, I am loving just checking out what everything does. It is so different to anything I have used before. But I do have some questions regarding it that I hope someone can help me with.

I think that I will use this camera 99% of the time on a tripod, and using the rear screen to compose and focus. Because of this I was thinking about removing the side rangefinder, handle and the viewer on top just to simplify it as well as make it lighter. Has anyone who owns this camera done the same, or do you find these useful?? If I do remove them, is there little plugs I can put in the screw holes to stop water / debris getting in??

A couple of jobs I need to do is to replace the bellows as well as fix the side shutter button that is located on the case. I have replacement parts for both of these. The bellows seem straightforward and nessesary as there are pinholes, but the cable replacement for the side shutter seems to need the leatherette to be peeled back and is a little more complicated. Is this worth doing, as I would see myself using a shutter release cable most of the time?

The Graflex 135mm 4.7 lens has a 2 pronged pin for the flash. Is there any way I can use this lens with a modern electronic flash and a sync cable?

The camera comes with infinity stops, but they do not seem to be in the correct place. With this lens, what distance does infinity cover?? There is a building I can see that is about 300m away. If I focus on that using a loupe, would that be ok for marking as infinity and resetting the stops??

For just general servicing, I have cleaned the lens and given it a good dusting, but for the rails etc what is the best lubricant to use??

Thanks again guys.

The Compound 3 shutter only works on B and T so neutral density filters were used to get ~4 seconds indicated exposure which corrected for Shanghai GP3's reciprocity failure is ~12 seconds, hence the movement in the leaves, boats and people.

I'm getting a "Database error" page for the past couple of days.

https://preview.redd.it/9n020h2h99xd1.png?width=901&format=png&auto=webp&s=ad962a54e78a55d7c6dc8dca12ee3481d884a3b8

No filter - f/16 - 1/125 - 200 ISO Frankenstein - Placed the left main branch(darker one) of the tree at Zone IV

Orange filter - f/16 - 1/80 - Same metering as the first image

colored shot for reference only. Shot with phone

Here are reference images for shooting with and without an orange filter. The images were not treated on photoshop neither using the scanner software. Those are as raw as possible.

The tree on the left doesn't have much details in the shot where the orange filter was used but I think it's okay as it still holds tiny details that prevents it from being just a black block.

I went back to shooting after quitting for almost 11 years. Now that I have the money to enjoy this expensive and wonderful hobby, I am starting out by conducting a bunch of tests to build enough knowledge through references.

Hope it will be of any help to anybody. :)