Graflex
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Graflex was a manufacturer, a brand name and several models of cameras. William F. Folmer, an inventor, built the first Graflex camera in 1898, when his company was called Folmer and Schwing. Founded originally in New York as a bicycle company, it had branched into making cameras, which then became its main business. That firm in 1905 was purchased by George Eastman. In 1907, the company became the Folmer and Schwing Division of Eastman Kodak. After a few more interim changes of status and name, it finally became simply "Graflex, Inc." in 1945. [sources: Kingslake; Hendersonville Camera Club].
Most sports photography in the early 20th century was done with Graflex and similar cameras with a cloth focal plane shutter. To get shutter speeds high enough to stop fast motion they had to use a narrow slit, which exposed different parts of the film at different times.
The Graflex was an SLR that was viewed through a tall leather hood from above--not through a pentaprism. They came in sizes from 2 1/4" X 3 1/4" (6x9 cm) up to 8" x 10".
To set the shutter speed, you wound up the shutter to one of a series of tensions with a key. Then you selected the slit width with another control. A table on the side of the box gave the shutter speed for each combination.
Speed Graphic folding cameras (made by Graflex) had a similar shutter, although they are often used with a between-the-lens shutter in front.
So, many photographers made pictures with the wheels of cars leaning forward, because a top-to-bottom shutter motion exposed the bottom first. This feature became a conventional indication of speed. Cartoonists drew wheels the same way to indicate fast motion.
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[edit] Pop culture
The 3-cell Graflex flashgun was modified and used as the prop for Luke Skywalker's lightsaber in Star Wars: A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back.
[edit] See also
- Fairchild K-20 (a WWII-era aerial camera made by Folmer Graflex Corp., which became Graflex Inc. in 1945)
- Press camera
- Speed Graphic (well-known "classic" Graflex press camera)
[edit] References
- Kingslake, Rudolf, The Rochester Camera and Lens Companies (Rochester NY, Photographic Historical Society, 1974) OCLC 3335854
[edit] External links
- Homepage of Graflex.Org: "Dedicated to promoting the use and preservation of Graflex Speed Graphics and other classic and large-format cameras."
- Graflex.org: Kingslake historical essay
- Information on the Graflex Press Camera (at a website run by a collector named Jo Lommen)
- Hendersonville Camera Club page on history of photography
