Graflex.org

[whickus]

So, last night I decided to give my new Crown Graphic a thorough cleaning. I ended up removing every screw I could possibly reach, cleaning every part and succesfully reassembling it without any extras lying around at the end. As I was pulling the front standard away from the bellows, I wondered if there were any replacement front standards out there that would give my camera more movements, similar to a field camera, and still fit inside the case. Does anyone know where to get ahold of something like this?

[Les]

I've never heard of a marketed third party front standard for a Graphic. I doubt there ever was a market when the camera was new. Several people have removed the front sport finder to gain rise for short lenses when they focus inside the camera. Others have reversed the front standard to allow for front tilt. The Super Graphic allowed for both front and back tilt by have a slot in both the standard and the lensboard frame. The locking screw could then be moved either to the extreme front or the extreme back, depending on the movement needed.

[disemjg]

There was an earlier discussion about a simple modification that would give a small amount of swing. This was accomplished by trimming and rounding the ends of the locking tabs under the front standard, allowing them to be locked without the standard being square to the rails.

Bear in mind that the Optar and Ektar lenses most often found on these press cameras do not have a lot of covering power. That will limit what you can do with movements in any event.

[bertsaunders]

You can raise and lower, tilt, and shift, drop bed, were all available from the Anniversary model on, the only thing missing was the swing!
Have a nice day......Bert

[ This Message was edited by: bertsaunders on 2007-03-19 13:46 ]

[R_J]

Here's one option:

http://www.adorama.com/NVUBTS.html?searchinfo=novoflex+tilt&item_no=2


Alternatively, drill a tripod hole in the roof of the Graflex to enable reverse mounting and hence forward tilt and downward shift without bed drop.

There is a Novoflex grip (not the bellows above) which 'locks in position: with the front standard free-floating, it is possible to use this grip to 'anchor' the lens in any permutation of shift/tilt/rise, monitoring the effect from the ground glass. At least when I tried it, it is workable - very much in the spirit of the affordable press camera prone to user modification.

However the set-up with a Novoflex grip is fragile and not as desirable as a technical camera.