Bread & Circuses' photostream  

Another Graflex shot--this one featuring your host, B&C (I'm the one in the sporty hat).

By my estimation, my uncle's Graflex was new--or nearly so--when he made this snapshot. I recall being quite fascinated by his shiny camera as a boy.

- Scanned directly from Kodachrome slide.

...on the film, and my photographic skills, but apparently not so much on the Rodenstock lens which handled the strong backlighting nicely in this shot.

I was shooting at a small apeture (probably f8 or f11) with the sun just outside the shot, and my left hand serving as a lens shade a few inches from the lens.

-Graflex Graphic 35 camera with Rodenstock 50mm f3.5 lens.

- Kodak Ektachrome 100 VC transparency film.

- Scan by North Coast Photographic Services.

There were only a few usable shots from this thirty-six exposure roll of film. A few were lost to poor exposure estimation on my part --incident meters aren't the best tool for landscape photography, especially with unforgiving transparency film.

But most were lost to the unreliable shutter cocking mechanism of the camera. It works perfectly unloaded with the back off, but fails to re-cock the shutter about a third of the time with film loaded. Something to work on in my abundant free time ;-)

-Graflex Graphic 35 camera with Rodenstock 50mm f3.5 lens.

- Kodak Ektachrome 100 VC transparency film.

- Scan by North Coast Photographic Services.

I've been curious--okay, obsessed--about how my very cool looking little Graflex camera performs after fifty-odd years. Here's what make this camera so interesting:

- You focus this camera by pushing the two buttons on either side of the lens.

- The shutter release isn't the usual pushbutton, but a lever on the front of the camera.

- Beautifully crafted Rodenstock lens.

So, how did it perform? To be honest, it had its quirks. The pushbutton focusing is great when you need to rack out to infinity--or closest focus--in a hurry. But actually focusing on anything in between was a bit fiddly, tending to overshoot a lot. And the shutter release required a very long stroke to work, causing the camera to rotate a bit during some shots. Still, I think the focus and shutter release innovations on this camera might have worked well with a bit more refinement.

- Graflex Graphic 35 camera with Rodenstock 50mm f3.5 lens.

- Kodak Ektachrome 100 VC transparency film.

- Scan by North Coast Photographic Services.

Pictured here, a classic Graflex "Graphic 35" model camera from the mid-fifties; just one of the very cool things left behind by my late uncle.

Not quite as intriguing as the WWII Japanese sword he picked up in the Pacific theater, or the 24 foot Pearson Electra sailboat he left in this world for his heirs, but probably my favorite of his gifts... right up there with his sliderule and ubiquitous aviator sunglasses.

Fifty-odd years ago, this camera made pictures of your host, B&C. More importantly, it ignited in me a spark of interest in things photographic.