Assignment 4: Classic (Classy) Equipment

The Graflex Speed Graphic (1912-1968)

This award winning camera was first produced by Graflex (a camera plant near Rochester, New York) in 1912. It was manufactured in many sizes. The 4x5” was the most common size, and the 2.25 x 3.25”, 3.25x4.25”, and the 5x7” were also popular. It became the ultimate portable professional camera from the 1930’s to the 1950’s. This camera produced high quality work that most photographers today cannot repeat. Many consider this camera to be America’s first and last great camera. The Speed Graphic was the camera used for stills in the World War II, and was also used in the recent movie “Capote”.

This camera was designed to be used for commercial photography such as product, portraiture, documentary, wedding, advertising and lanscape photography-which makes it an incredibly versatile and valuable piece of equipment.

Unlike our camera’s today, the Speed Graphic has three viewfinders - the optical, the wire frame, and the ground glass, and it has two shutters - focal plane and the in-lens shutter which provided extra versatility. Only one shutter can be used at a time. This camera may look scary and complicated, but supposedly it is on of the most practical and simplest camera made. Because nothing on this camera is automated, the photographer has complete control over everything that happens while taking the photograph. The flash for this camera consists of a bulb filled with foil or wire made of aluminum or magnesium (available in many different strengths), and a reflector that sits directly behind it. This reflector is used for more than flash. Because of the possiblity of the bulb expolding, it serves as a shield for the photographer. Extra caution is used by placing the subject 6 feet from the flash for the same reasons. These flash bulbs produced shutter speeds from 1/8 s to 1/200 of a second. Once the shutter is released, a poof is heard and the material inside is burned. Because the combustion is so fast, the glass of the bulb doesn’t shatter because it has a coating of lacquer (a clear, or coloured coating).

I was drawn to this camera particulalry because of the they way it used flash. I had seen the movie “The Aviator” where press photographers were snapping photographs of celebrities and all you heard was a ”poof” and the falsh bulbs were shattering all around the celebrities. I was quite fascinated that the celebrities would just walk over this glass, and that no one was injured from flying glass! In modern day, this would never happen. It was quite neat to see a camera from that time in history, and to see just how far we’ve come with our camera today.