Graflex Parts and Books
Graflex Parts and Service
Graflex Service, Western Division
In 1993, Graflex Western Division sold their stock of parts to Midwest
Photo Exchange (614-261-1264, fax 614-261-1637). In June 1995, Midwest
sold this stock to Fred Lustig although
they still maintain a stock of parts cameras and still sell plenty of Graflex
items. Midwest refers their customers to Mr. Lustig for parts and service.
Here are prices from Midwest, as of 1995 (prices subject change):
- Graphic Lens boards (for 4x5) $12 + $4 shipping
- Infinity Stops (for Speed Graphic) $19 + $4 shipping
Graflex Canada
Another source for parts is Chris Hale.
Chris now owns all the spare parts from Graflex, Canada. If you are
prepared to deal with customs issues, you can buy parts from him.
Stephen Shuart of Kane, PA
Another good source for Graflex parts is Stephen Shuart. He regularly
has an ad in Shutterbug.
Here is a sample section from his ad:
LENSBOARDS
These are reproductions made of high quality
material, unfinished. Resist warping&shrinking.
Drilling and mounting at a nominal charge All boards
are unfinished. Custom boards made to order.
...
4x5 Pacemaker Crown/Speed $20
...
Stephen Shuart
+1-814-837-2248
See also the list of Commercial Web Sites selling Graflex cameras. Some have parts and books.
Lubricants
For certain parts sch as Adapt-a-Roll film holders, you may need to use graphite (the carbon product, not a Graflex product), or one of the newer alternatives such as Molykote. For more information, see lubricants.
Lens Boards
Lensboards for the Pacemaker and pre-Pacemaker series of Graphics (Anniversary
and pre-Anniversary) differ. The older 4x5 cameras used Graphic ``C'' boards,
which are 4x4 inches; later cameras used the smaller sheet-metal ones.
There are adapters to fit the metal boards on the older cameras and they
show up occasionally at camera sales.
The wooden boards are fairly easy to get or make. The Graphic will also
take 4x4 metal lens boards made for the Graphic View but will not
take the Calumet boards, although the Calumet camera will take everything.
Mamiya has a small quantity of Supergraphic Lensboards with electric
contacts in #1 and #0 sizes. They are available by e-mail at Mamiya@aol.com,
for $75.00 each. Unfortunately, Mamiya has no other parts for the Supergraphic
or Toyo Supergraphic. Toyo, however, still manufactures Graflex rounded
corner lens boards drilled for #0.
Rangefinder Adjustment and Repair
Rangefinders can be tricky to adjust. You can order a copy of the rangefinder
adjustment manual from one of the book retailers listed below. There is
also an online copy for reference,
but you may need the printed copy if you can't follow the online version.
Rangefinder image weak/lacking contrast
Ross Alford owns a Crown
Graphic 2 X 3 in which the moving rangefinder image used to be almost undetectable.
Taking the cover off the rangefinder revealed that the semi-silvered mirror
has become a non-silvered piece of glass. While thinking about beginning
a search for spare parts, he had an the following inspiration, which he
reports is working very nicely.
Instead of making the moving image be brighter, (which would require
a new half-silvered mirror) Ross made the non-moving image darker, which
makes the moving image relatively brighter.
How to do it: Take the cover off the rangefinder and cover the inside
of the upper window (the one that is aligned with the eyepiece tube, if
you happen to still have an eyepiece tube) with a small piece of gray or
colored filter material or cellophane that is dark enough to cut out a
stop or 2 of light. This makes the image from the other end of the rangefinder
relatively lighter, and much more visible. It will now works nicely, even
in normally-lit interior shots (though it might be a bit hard to use in
a very poorly lit interior). Secure the ``filter'' over the inside of the
window using slivers of double-sided sticky tape. This could be done even
more easily by just taping the filter over the outside of the upper window
of the rangefinder, but it would not look very nice.
An alternative Graflex.Org has
discovered for the eternally lazy is simply to place your finger over the
upper window briefly and look for the dim image; remove the finger and
note the shift in location. Repeat as necessary. The effect is like that
of a blink microscope (used in the old days of astronomy for finding comets
and the like).
Books
- The Pacemaker Graphics (Speed Graphic and Crown Graphic "45"
"34" "23") Instruction and Reference Manual
42 pages, GRAFLEX, Inc., Rochester, NY 10/47
- The All-American Cameras: a review of GRAFLEX®, Paine, Richard
P. 78 Pages (used as a source of the historical information up top, as
well as notes on the development of the Graphics)
- Grafmatic Film Holder Instruction Manual 6 pages, GRAFLEX, Rochester,
NY
- Graphic Graflex Photography Morgan and Lester
(1940's through 60's) (200+ pages). An excellent guide to commercial photography,
centered on the Graflex Graphic and reflex cameras. The book was originally
published by Morgan and Lester, but the firm changed its name to Morgan
and Morgan. Morgan and Morgan is still in business, but the book has been
out of print for about 30 years, but you can find one for $10 to $50 at
a photo show or a thrift store, or used book store. The Pacemaker series
appears around the 8th edition or so.
- Press/View Camera Technique, by Paul Wahl. Chilton Company -
Book Division, 1962. This book has The chapter ``A directory of large format
cameras" contains reviews of Pacemaker Crown and Speed Graphics, Super
Graphics and Super Speed Graphics, and lenses. It also includes information
on Linhof Technikas, lenses, etc.
- Graflex Factory Repair manual, ~60 pages, details body repair (not
lenses).
- Infotech in Denver, Colorado (303) 752-9270 sells microfiche prints
of camera manuals.
- Ed Romney has been writing books on Graflex (and other) camera repair
for decades. Check out his new web site.
- McBroom's Camera Bluebook
is a complete and authoritative source for used camera prices.
