Graflex
The Graflex was a large-format camera, which was built in its first version in 1901 by the Folmer & Schwing Manufacturing Company, New York with a wooden housing. Photographer they appreciated due to their resilience, their fast shutter speeds and in later versions due to their versatility, as they were able to use both sheet film as well as 36 -mm roll film.
Already in 1905, bought Kodak Folmer & Schwing on. From this point on there produced a limited edition of the expensive cameras. 1926, the company again by Kodak became independent and was called now " Folmer Graflex Corporation ". In the second half of the 1920s, the manufacturer was considered the " non plus ultra" in the large-format cameras.
But the compact cameras have a serious competition for the small manufacturers the latest in the 1940s and in the professional area. Despite their size, they took even war photographer Damien Parer and George Silk with. To its location in Egypt and Guinea, however, where they soon were able to appreciate the benefits of flexible Contax
1948 were built with the Super D Graflex a final modification, production has been stopped ten years later.
The standard lens of this camera was a Kodak Anastigmat F4.5, which could be replaced. In this version of the already mentioned roll film, single negative strip, sheet film, modern " pack " or the old glass plates could be used. 25 different exposure times were possible, with the fastest shutter speed is 1 /1000 second was. The sharpness of the recordings is also today still appreciated by collectors.
The company has developed or acquired a number of other camera models, before it was forced to declare bankruptcy in 1973.
The last new development was the XL, which was intended as a press camera and in its approach strongly resembled the Mamiya Universal. There were three models, with and without rangefinder and a wide-angle version. Eight lenses from Carl Zeiss and Schneider were offered.
After the bankruptcy, the Japanese manufacturer Toyo bought (today Toyo View) the tools of Graflex Speed and offered it from 1979 to 1985 under the name Speed Graphic on.
Trivia
- The director Stanley Kubrick began his career as a teenager with a Graflex, a gift from his father.