Graflex Pacemaker Speed Graphic 4x5
Manufactured between 1912 and 1968 by Graflex, Inc. Based on serial number, focusing knobs and bellows, this example is a Pacemaker Speed Graphic and was manufactured between 1947 and 1968. All Speed Graphics have focal-plane shutters in the back. The Pacemaker has a metal lensboard, two focus knobs on the metal drop-bed. A built-in body release has a cable that runs along the bellows. It has a telescoping sportsfinder, tubular viewfinder and a Kalart range finder. It has a 4x5” “graflock” back. On this example, it has the attached Graflex flash (with #25 press bulb) and reflector, a Kodak Ektar f/4.7 127mm lens set in a a Graphic Supermatic shutter (made by Eastman Kodak for Graflex).
One of the longest living lines of cameras, it became “the” press camera of the first half of the 20th century. Now follow me here: To use this camera, you had to wind the shutter after each shot to ensure the proper exposure. Your film was sheet film can came in slide in plate packs that had two sheets (one on each side). To take a picture, you had to do all the “normal” camera stuff (focus, compose, calculate exposure) then ensure that the front shutter was open (most of the lenses for the Graphics were mounted in some form of shutter), slide in the film pack into the back, pull the dark slide out, fire the shutter (which went off with a thud!), put the dark slide back in. To take another, you had to pull the pack out, flip it over (or get another one), and repeat. If you’ve ever used a view camera, you know this is not a fast process. Now, consider this quote from the exhibit “FLASH! The Associated Press Covers the World” from the 2002 Truman Presidental Museum & Library: “The zeppelin is late. Photographers grow uneasy in the waning light. The Hindenburg drifts into view at 7:20 p.m. A few minutes later the German airship bursts into flames. Murray Becker swings his heavy 4x5 Speed Graphic. One shot, two shots, seconds ticking as he struggles for a third, all the while murmuring ‘My God! My God!.’ Thirty-six passengers and crew die. Becker shoots until the last victim is led away. Then he leans back and begins to cry.” The airship went down in 45 secs! Of those now famous shots, Becker shot a total series of five shots of the airship on fire during those 45 secs. That’s at least 4 reloads and 3 plate packs—in 45 secs!
See also: graflex.org
Graflex Pacemaker Speed Graphic 4x5
Manufactured between 1912 and 1968 by Graflex, Inc. Based on serial number, focusing knobs and bellows, this example is a Pacemaker Speed Graphic and was manufactured between 1947 and 1968. All Speed Graphics have focal-plane shutters in the back. The Pacemaker has a metal lensboard, two focus knobs on the metal drop-bed. A built-in body release has a cable that runs along the bellows. It has a telescoping sportsfinder, tubular viewfinder and a Kalart range finder. It has a 4x5” “graflock” back. On this example, it has the attached Graflex flash (with #25 press bulb) and reflector, a Kodak Ektar f/4.7 127mm lens set in a a Graphic Supermatic shutter (made by Eastman Kodak for Graflex).
One of the longest living lines of cameras, it became “the” press camera of the first half of the 20th century. Now follow me here: To use this camera, you had to wind the shutter after each shot to ensure the proper exposure. Your film was sheet film can came in slide in plate packs that had two sheets (one on each side). To take a picture, you had to do all the “normal” camera stuff (focus, compose, calculate exposure) then ensure that the front shutter was open (most of the lenses for the Graphics were mounted in some form of shutter), slide in the film pack into the back, pull the dark slide out, fire the shutter (which went off with a thud!), put the dark slide back in. To take another, you had to pull the pack out, flip it over (or get another one), and repeat. If you’ve ever used a view camera, you know this is not a fast process. Now, consider this quote from the exhibit “FLASH! The Associated Press Covers the World” from the 2002 Truman Presidental Museum & Library: “The zeppelin is late. Photographers grow uneasy in the waning light. The Hindenburg drifts into view at 7:20 p.m. A few minutes later the German airship bursts into flames. Murray Becker swings his heavy 4x5 Speed Graphic. One shot, two shots, seconds ticking as he struggles for a third, all the while murmuring ‘My God! My God!.’ Thirty-six passengers and crew die. Becker shoots until the last victim is led away. Then he leans back and begins to cry.” The airship went down in 45 secs! Of those now famous shots, Becker shot a total series of five shots of the airship on fire during those 45 secs. That’s at least 4 reloads and 3 plate packs—in 45 secs!
See also: graflex.org