This is the 3¼" x 4¼" Graflex Revolving Back Series D camera, a large format single lens reflex camera manufactured by the Folmer Graflex Corporation between 1927 and 1948.
History
The origins of the Graflex SLR begin with the incorporation of the Folmer and Schwing Manufacturing Company in 1887 in Manhattan, New York. This was a joint venture between two Kentucky born businessmen, William F. Folmer and Walter E. Schwing to form a metal working company for the sale and manufacture of "gas lighting equipment and assorted novelties".
William Folmer was the born in 1861 and in his early life lived in Independence, Kentucky. He was the sixth of eight children born to Bridget and Daniel Folmer. By 1880, William Folmer was 19 and working as a farm hand.
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| A photo of William Folmer taken between 1905-1909 He is seen holding an Auto Graflex camera |
Walter Essex Schwing was born in 1856 to William and Sarah Schwing of Louisville, Kentucky. He was the youngest of four children. By 1880, he was working as a retail grocer.
It isn't exactly clear how these two met or raised the capital necessary to form the company. However, what is clear is that Folmer, a perpetual tinkerer and inventor, who accrued approximately 130 patents in his lifetime, would be the creative and design force. Schwing, with his business experience would handle the finances.
According to a 1912 letter by William Folmer, In 1891 Folmer & Schwing began the production of assorted photographic products.
In 1895, the firm employed the Scoville and Adams Co., a New York maker of cameras, to make cameras to their own specifications, for sale in the Folmer & Schwing store, alongside their other photographic products.
In 1897, Scoville and Adams, unable to pay their employees' payroll, went out of business. As a result, Folmer & Schwing opted to begin manufacturing cameras themselves, and brought on several of the former Scoville and Adams employees to do so. They thus introduced the Graphic line of conventional folding plate cameras, that would ensue for many years.
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| Cycle Graphic Advertisement c.1898 |
The Graphic line of cameras were popular, and sold well. Yet Folmer, the perpetual tinkerer was not satisfied.
Again, the history of how the Graflex camera was developed is a bit murky. The Graflex certainly wasn't the first single lens reflex camera.
In 1861, Thomas Sutton of the UK was awarded the first patent for a camera with a movable mirror in the light path of the lens for viewing. However, few were made and it was never put into production. In 1884, American Calvin Rae Smith would market the first production SLR, the Monocular Duplex, which held several plates and used a leaf shutter. This was not successful in the marketplace however, as the US was experiencing a period of economic depression, and the camera retailed for a rather astonishing $75 (greater than $2500 in 2023).
In 1891, Abraham Loman of Amsterdam would introduce a SLR plate camera, which was the first to combine a reflex viewing mirror with a focal plane shutter. Interestingly, and perhaps the reason for its failure, was that it used a pneumatic pump to move the mirror. It seems by 1896, Loman lost interest in the project, closed the camera company, and became a music teacher.
Despite these prior inventions, the recorded history would seem to indicate that Folmer was not aware or interested in these developments at the time.
Instead, it is believed that Folmer came into acquaintance with photographer and naturalist Arthur L. Princehorn. Princehorn was a college educated naturalist with a strong interest in photography. Since 1894, he had worked at the family day resort at Long Island Sound, working to establish a natural history museum. The work consisted of taxidermy, maintaining displays and preparing laboratory classes.
Princehorn became increasingly interested in the use of photography in his work, particularly for the ability to capture animals in their natural habitats and behavior. In 1898, unsatisfied with the current offerings, Princehorn began constructing his own camera, possibly influenced by the examples above, for the purpose of capturing the rapid motion or movement of animals, such as birds in flight.
The camera he built used plates, had a focal plane shutter capable of high speeds and had a reflex viewing mirror and hood.
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| Princehorn Cameras, as depicted in the Vol. 9 Iss. 1 of the Graflex Historic Quarterly available from Pacific Rim Camera |
Princehorn would build 3 such cameras, which he used to good effect for his purposes. He was not secretive or protective when it came to the construction of his camera, as nothing in the design was particularly novel at this point in time. He often showed it to others and encouraged them to build their own examples, and would not patent any part of his camera.
It is proposed that Princehorn and Folmer would cross paths, and Folmer seeing Princehorn's camera design would build a version of his own. This is supported by the fact that later in life Princehorn would donate his camera to what was then the Folmer Graflex Corporation, and they would retain it in their corporate collection.
Folmer would go on to build his own version of a focal plane shutter, large format SLR, with the first Graflex camera (a combination of Graphic and Reflex) appearing in 1902. However, this preliminary model differed from the Princehorn camera with several novel improvements. It would shrink the camera body by integrating the focal plane shutter into the body rather than having it be a separate unit, it would have interchangeable back options for not just plates, but sheet film, roll film and film packs. Furthermore, the 1902 Graflex used a novel focal plane shutter designed by Folmer capable of speeds up to 1/1200th of a second.
Unfortunately, the shutter would be the undoing of this camera. Folmer designed a focal plane shutter with a continuously variable slit width. Using two curtains, the slit between them could be varied to change the shutter speed. This was accomplished by taking the film or plate holder off the camera, and measuring the slit width using a ruler built into the camera back while turning a knob on the camera side, this was then referenced to a conversion chart to determine the shutter speed. This was not only slow and inconvenient, but the tapes which held the two curtains taught had a tendency to snap, rendering the shutter inoperative.
Folmer would return to the drawing board and revise his shutter design, however, while this was happening the company was going through an upheaval. Walter Schwing was either no longer interested or no longer financially able to continue with the company, and he would leave by 1904. Despite his rather short involvement with the company, his name would remain on the company for some time, and even today, all the Graflex cameras are often said to be of Folmer & Schwing manufacture.
Coinciding with Schwing leaving, in 1905 the company would be bought in its entirety by George Eastman of the Eastman Kodak Co. Eastman would move the company to Rochester, NY and rename it the Folmer & Schwing Division of the Eastman Kodak Co. This arrangement seemed to suit Folmer just fine. According to a 1905 letter between George Eastman and a man named Rudolph Speth who Eastman sent to manage the transition of Folmer & Schwing, Folmer was quite happy to be relieved of the administrative and financial duties he had been doing since Schwing left (which Speth mentions Folmer is not aptly suited to), and focus his attention on the factory, design and manufacturing aspect of the company. It certainly didn't hurt that he now had access to the massive technical and financial resources of Eastman Kodak either.
With the company stabilized, Folmer could return to the Graflex shutter issue and in 1906, the Auto Graflex Camera would be introduced with an all new focal plane shutter design. (Auto in that the camera chose the shutter slit rather than the user needing to measure it). Rather than have two curtains with a variable slit width, the new design used a single curtain with five fixed apertures cut into it. By winding past each aperture, one could be selected, and combined with a spring tension setting, one of many shutter speeds could be selected from 1/10th to 1/1000th of a second. This process required setting two controls and still required a speed chart, but was much faster and could be done from the outside of the camera using indicators in windows. Also, because the shutter used a single rubberized silk curtain, it was stronger and much reduced the chance of the curtain snapping.
Various models of Graflex SLR would be introduced and marketed (often simultaneously) over the years, including Stereo Graflexes, Revolving Back Graflexes (which allowed the user to take portrait or landscape orientation photographs without turning the camera), Portrait Graflexes, Telephoto Graflexes, Graflexes as small as 2¼" x 3¼" and as large as 8" x 10".
In 1926, Eastman Kodak would be prosecuted under the Sherman Antitrust Act on account of having spent several decades buying up and integrating most of the East coast photographic manufacturers. As part of this ruling, Kodak was required to divest themselves of the Folmer & Schwing Division. During this time, Folmer had continued his tenure with the company.
As a result of the ruling, Folmer & Schwing would regroup and rename as the Folmer Graflex Corporation, finally recognizing Schwing's departure some 22 years earlier. Folmer would briefly serve as president, before retiring in 1928 due to health concerns. He would however make a rapid recovery and continue inventing, earning another eight patents and starting two companies in other industries until his passing in 1936 at the age of 75.
As a result of Folmer's leaving, the company would be in a bit of disorder before acquiring the leadership of N.L. Whitaker. Whitaker, who would later buy up most of the shares of Folmer Graflex, was once described as a "benevolent dictator". He had no knowledge of photography, but knew how to employ people who did, and earned the respect and loyalty of his employees.
Following the end of WWII, the company would again rename to Graflex Inc. In 1956, N.L. Whitaker would pass away, and after Graflex was briefly run by his son, would be sold to General Instrument Precision Company. General Instrument, in addition to continuing to produce the Graflex and Graphic cameras, began importing and selling foreign 35mm cameras made by Iloca in Germany and Kowa in Japan.
In 1968, Graflex was again sold, this time to the Singer Corporation of sewing machine fame, who chose to discontinue all camera manufacture in 1974, instead focusing on the production of film projectors and audiovisual equipment. What remained of Graflex was packed, shipped and sold to Toyo in Japan, thus ending a long line of quality American produced cameras.
Identification and Sizes
Normally it's easy enough to identify a make and model of camera, but if there is one thing that Graflex was terrible at, it was marking their cameras sufficiently for identification today.
Often, the shutter speed plate identifies the model of camera, but these can fall off, especially if they were mounted on the viewing hood, or the viewing hood was replaced.
So, here's a list and some example photos identifying the most common Graflex SLRs you will encounter today. This is by no means exhaustive, many sub models as well as custom one offs existed. I'm also excluding the rollfilm Graflexes, as they are visually distinct and that's a story for another day.
1905-1923: Auto Graflex - Available in 3x4, 4x5 and 5x7 sizes. Distinctive for thinner control plates with curves cut out of the corners, flip up door on movable front standard. Back fixed in horizontal landscape orientation. Early models have viewing hood opening forwards, instead of backwards as on later cameras.
1914-1924: Auto Graflex Jr. - Only available in 2x3 size. Similar features to Auto Graflex. Distinguishable from later 2x3 Series B Graflex camera due to its focusing knob being higher up on the camera, and having a dedicated front standard with a recessed lens board.
1909-1923: RB Auto Graflex - Available in 2x3, 3x4 and 4x5 sizes. Similar to Auto Graflex, but now with a revolving back to take photos in either the horizontal or vertical orientation without turning camera. Drop down bed and longer range of focus suitable for telephoto lenses.
1923-1952: RB Graflex Series B - Available in 2x3, 3x4 and 4x5 sizes. Distinctive feature is the front flap door mounted to the body and small metal lens board with no front standard.
1928-1947: RB Graflex Series D - Available in 3x4 and 4x5 sizes, similar body to Series B, but front standard has a interchangeable wooden lens board, and sun shade with side panels mounted to the moving front standard.
1941-1963: RB Graflex Super D - Available in 3x4 and 4x5 sizes, similar to Series D, but hardware now chrome plated, has automatic stop down aperture system coupled to mirror release, has flash synchronization, has Fresnel focusing screen.
Another thing that was never marked on Graflex cameras was their size, and unless you are very familiar with them, it can be hard to tell what size camera you are looking at, especially if you only have photos to look at.
The best option would be to have the camera in front of you, and be able to measure the actual back size to determine what format the camera is.
If that is not possible, you can also look at the focal length of the lens to help determine what format the camera is.
2¼" x 3¼" Graflexes tended to use lenses of 5"-6" focal length.
3¼" x 4¼" Graflexes tended to use lenses of 6"-7" focal length.
4" x 5" Graflexes tended to use lenses of 7"-8" focal length.
However, swapping lenses was always possible on cameras encountered today, so this isn't definitive. Because of the length of the mirror box, Graflexes can't accommodate much shorter focal length lenses, but they can take longer lenses to an extent.
One of the more definitive ways of identifying the format is to look at the relationship between the curtain aperture and tension plates on the right side of the camera, because while the bodies changed sized based on format, the plates remained the same size.
Here you can see a 2x3, 3x4, and 4x5 camera side by side for comparison. Notice the distance between the two control plates, as well as the distance between the focus knob and tension plate.
Overview
I had been interested in acquiring a Graflex SLR for a couple of years, but quite a few of them you find today are beat up and not working. Fortunately, after waiting patiently, a nice condition 3¼" x 4¼" Graflex RB Series D showed up locally and I bought it.
Based on a note I found in the bag with the camera, it appears a previous owner serviced it in 1972, which left the viewing hood, bellows and shutter curtain in very good shape by the time I acquired it. As received, it only needed some cleaning and adjustment to be in tip-top working order. Though I did also replace the reflex mirror, as it had damage to the front surface coating from overzealous cleaning.
As packaged for transit, the Graflex condenses down into a leather covered wooden box with a handle on top. It might just look like a normal case if not for the dials, knobs and switches on the side.
To prepare the camera for use, you must first release the latch on the front top of the case and pull up the carrying handle. This will automatically erect the viewing hood.
Turning to the right side of the camera, we find most of the controls used in operating it.
As previously mentioned, in the lower right we find the focusing knob. It is a bit stiff, and this is by design to prevent the front standard from sliding back and forth when the camera is tilted.
Above the focus knob, on the top right of the camera's side, is a brass plaque which identifies this as a RB Series D Graflex as made by the Folmer Graflex Corporation. This also has the chart for setting shutter speeds.
On the Graflex, setting shutter speeds is a two part operation. Rather than having a single dial with marked shutter speeds, the Graflex has a winding key to set the curtain aperture size and knob to set the curtain spring tension. By observing the numbers ⅛, ⅜, ¾ and 1½ in the window marked "F" on the camera you can set the curtain slit width, which incidentally is ⅛, ⅜, ¾ and 1½ inches. There also exist options "T" and "O" which are used for making time exposures. "T" is the position when preparing for a time exposure, and "O" means the curtain is fully open exposing the entirety of the film.
On the lower plate, you can set the spring tension marked from 1-6 in window marked "G". Using these two settings will give fractional shutter speeds of which there are 24 options labeled on the camera from 1/10th to 1/1000th. For example, using curtain aperture ⅜ and tension number 1 would give an effective shutter speed of 1/110th of a second.
On the curtain aperture plate, in addition to the controls already mentioned, are several more. Lever "H" controls the position of the spring loaded reflex mirror. It must be fully down in the viewing position before the curtain aperture can be changed. This prevents the film from being exposed as the curtain changes apertures, since the apertures can never be closed.
Lever "H" also has a sliding switch incorporated into its pivot marked "I" and "T". Normally, it is in the "I" or instantaneous position, which causes mirror lever "H" to hit the shutter release lever "M" when the mirror is released upwards. It can also be slid to "T", which prevents mirror lever "H" from hitting release lever "M", which allows the mirror to be released independently before releasing the shutter, which helps prevent camera shake during time exposures.
When the camera is not in use, it is best to set the curtain aperture to the unmarked position beyond "O" and the tension at 1 to prevent the springs from taking a set.
Also, to the left of the tension plate is an unlabeled push button attached to the camera back. Pushing this button unlocks the revolving back and allows it to be rotated for vertical or horizontal composition.
This camera came to me equipped with the 3¼" x 4¼" Graflex Cut Film Magazine, also sometimes called a "Bag Mag". This back allows the photographer to load and shoot twelve sheets of film and change them in daylight. Each film sheet is loaded into a metal septum, and a lever on the underside and the leather bag on the side allows the septums to be removed from the film plane and shuffled to the back of the pack. There is also a darkslide which allows the magazine to be removed from the camera without losing any exposures. A number on each of the septums and a red window on the back allows the user to keep track of exposures.
Here we can also see the shutter curtain in the normal rest position between curtain apertures. By winding the curtain aperture key, we can see each of the apertures as they pass by.
This is the "O" aperture used for time exposures. It exposes the entire film gate.
Now we move on to the left side of the camera.
The one user control here is a lever marked "E" which is so placed such that you can depress it with your thumb while supporting the camera. This is the mirror release lever and, in effect, the shutter release lever due to the mirror-shutter coupling on the other side of the camera.
On the front of the camera is the lens. The lens is mounted on a wooden lens board that can be fully removed by pushing up and then tilting forward from the bottom, or the lens barrel can be unscrewed.
The lens on this camera is a No.32 Kodak Anastigmat 6 ⅜" f/4.5. This is a good quality, uncoated lens of four element Tessar design. It's just a barrel lens, with no shutter inside. Aperture is manually set and ranges from f/4.5 to f/32. With this lens attached the camera focuses from infinity down to about 20 inches.
The Kodak Anastigmat is the standard lens encountered on the Series D Graflex, however lenses of various manufacture could be custom ordered and fitted. These cam from manufacturers such as Zeiss, Ross, Bausch & Lomb, Taylor & Hobson among others.
Finally, on the top of the camera, we have the viewing hood or "chimney". This blocks light from falling on the ground glass focusing screen.
The ground glass viewing screen exists at the bottom of the hood, and is angled ever so slightly forward, not 90 degrees from the lens. The viewing screen shows the image though the lens, as it is focused, right side up and at the same size as the negative. Because there is only one mirror in the light path, the image is reversed left to right though, the same as on a TLR or other top down focusing SLR.
There are lines inscribed in the ground glass which show the area of the image in both the horizontal and vertical positions, as well as identifying the center of the image. My example has also had the corners blacked out to better visualize the orientations.
Because the lens aperture is uncoupled to the mirror or shutter, you need to either focus wide open and then stop down before making the exposure, or focus and compose stopped down already. I've found that with a new mirror, the screen is bright enough to use in normal outdoor conditions down to f/11. Much beyond that it gets too dim for use. Keep in mind the depth of field also increases as the lens is stopped down, so it becomes more difficult to achieve critical focus when using the ground glass to focus stopped down.
One final note, if you partially fold down the viewing hood, and fold down the top flap, you can find the camera serial number. It can then be referenced to recorded examples here. Since all Graflex cameras were made in a continuous serial number block, this can give a good idea of when your camera was made. My example was made in 1937.
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As this review has become rather long, I'm going to cut it off here and post the second half next week. Included there will be cutting aerial film down to 3¼" x 4¼" sheets, developing those sheets, and example photos. Stay tuned.
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