[Kerrowdown]

The largest slr I've ever seen!

Just imagine for one moment... the tripod you need to lug around with you for this.

[JensE]

I have read about that, but I haven't seen an actual camera that was responsible for the phenomenon. Were there any others, apart from the Graflex?

The imagery were so powerful that artists have been using it ever since to give an illusion of speed.

As TwoUptons stated, this happens with basically all focal plane shutters. The time, which the curtain slit needs to travel is, by today's construction of the slit consisting of a first and second curtain, basically the flash sync time. So while the Graflex with its incredibly large curtain has a very pronounced effect, sure other's do - at faster speeds. E.g. my Pentacon Six has X-sync marked in between 1/30 and 1/15 seconds. But you'd have to turn it sideways for the effect as the shutter travels horizontally and you'd get a stretch limo with oval wheels instead in regular orientation.

How about a K-1 with electronic shutter? The sensor readout, and thus electronic shutter, is similarly slow as the old curtain, on the order of 1/5 s for the K-1. The following was shot on my 33rpm turntable, about halfway from the center. I had to turn the camera upside down because of the direction which shutter travels (bottom to top, picture is upside-down in the camera) in order to make the wheels lean forward. Sorry for the banding, I didn't have a strong constant output (non-PWM, DC-powered) lamp at hand ...

[RGlasel]

The following was shot on my 33rpm turntable, about halfway from the center. I had to turn the camera upside down

Wow, this is brilliant!

---------- Post added 01-05-20 at 06:07 PM ----------

Just imagine for one moment... the tripod you need to lug around with you for this.

All the pictures of this "field" camera that I've seen are of it being used handheld. That's why the viewfinder points up, so the user can hang it on straps around his neck.

[mlt]

...All the pictures of this "field" camera that I've seen are of it being used handheld. That's why the viewfinder points up, so the user can hang it on straps around his neck.

Or bring a scissor lift to bring it up to eye level once you found a pentaprism large enough to cover 5x7

[g026r]

Or bring a scissor lift to bring it up to eye level once you found a pentaprism large enough to cover 5x7

A rare case where I'd accept a pentamirror as more usable than a pentaprism, just due to the weight differences.

[mlt]

A rare case where I'd accept a pentamirror as more usable than a pentaprism, just due to the weight differences.

And still be lighter than a 5x7 evf with a battery to power it up

[Wasp]

And still be lighter than a 5x7 evf with a battery to power it up

There is no reason for any EVF to be the same size as the sensor. It is sized to work with the human eye. Most are half an inch or less in size.


Mirrorless EVF Sizes | Neocamera

[barondla]

Lots of great tips and comments. Can't imagine trying to shoot sports with the beast. Here's the engraved shutter speed plate on the Graflex 5x7 slr.
thanks,
barondla

[g026r]

Production dates listed online for the 5x7 cameras are a bit all over the place, but from that plate we can definitively say your model was produced between 1905, when Kodak bought Folmer & Schwing, and 1926, when Kodak was forced under anti-trust law to divest itself of the division.

(Well, probably a range that's a year or 2 later than 1926. That year was when Kodak was ordered to divest themselves of the division; I'm not certain when it was actually finalized.)

[barondla]

Production dates listed online for the 5x7 cameras are a bit all over the place, but from that plate we can definitively say your model was produced between 1905, when Kodak bought Folmer & Schwing, and 1926, when Kodak was forced under anti-trust law to divest itself of the division.

(Well, probably a range that's a year or 2 later than 1926. That year was when Kodak was ordered to divest themselves of the division; I'm not certain when it was actually finalized.)

Wow, this camera is around 100 years old. Don't know if the shutter has any light leaks, but other wise this camera seems to work as it should. Thanks for the extra information @g026r. Helps fill in the history of the camera.

Thanks,
barondla

[Lord Lucan]

Reminds me of Frank Hurley (photographer/the Shakleton Endurance Antarctic Expedition 1914-15) and the kind of camera he used during the expedition. Glass plate negatives and a weight of about 10-15 kg. with tripod.

Whatever Hurley used, my father bought a used smaller (half-size?) version as a young man, and years later gave it to me in my teens as my first camera, together his remaining stock of glass plates which by then were no longer obtainable. I still have the developing tank for the plates.

I don't remember what happened to my camera (left behind when I left home?) but I think it was an Ensign, an SLR in a brown leather covered cube of sides about 8". It had a cloth focal plane shutter. I was writing about it a few days ago in What got YOU into photography? - Page 4 - PentaxForums.com . I learned all about handling dark slides and the sequence of the various levers and dials for each shot. I only ever used it on a tripod.

Frank Hurley's camera is AFAIR in the Science Museum, London, and I did once find a web page on it; but despite searching I cannot find it again.

The story of Shackleton's Antarctic expedition, in his memoir South , is IMHO one of the greatest stories of adversity, bravery and determination ever. It is amazing how, in this, Hurley managed to keep taking pictures and save his equipment and precious plates, while probably thinking that no-one and nothing would survive. Some of his photos, including some of his WW1 photos, have become familiar icons of which most people are unaware of the photographer. What is striking is the quality of the pictures taken by this kit.

[barondla]

Found some paperwork that came with the Graflex. Fascinating stuff.

Thanks,
barondla

[barondla]

And a plastic exposure calculator. Unlike the fragile paper brochure, this looks brand new.

Thanks,
barondla