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- gently.loved.books (117319)- Feedback left by buyer.More than a year agoVerified purchaseGood buyer, prompt payment, valued customer, highly recommended.
- 2***w (28)- Feedback left by buyer.More than a year agoVerified purchaseThe item was shipped very quickly. Excellent packaging. It was exactly as described and photos were representative of the item. I'm very pleased and would purchase from seller again.
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- y***e (403)- Feedback left by buyer.More than a year agoVerified purchaseshipped fast, as described, Needs better packing, minor damage to viewfinder.
- m***t (1378)- Feedback left by buyer.More than a year agoVerified purchaseItem was as described, and arrived safely. -- Awesome Seller. MUCH OBLIGED!!!
- c***i (432)- Feedback left by buyer.More than a year agoVerified purchaseGreat seller, super fast shipping, and accurate product as described
Reviews (7)
14 Jul, 2022
This is a great tripod.
It's a great tripod for heavy cameras and I don't know that there is anything better on the market for what one can be bought for these days. I use it with the heavy duty 3 way 808RC4 head that it came with for big old heavy medium format film cameras and an even heavier 4x5 monorail. It's super sturdy and well engineered. It's way more tripod than is needed for small cameras but in the studio I use it with them, too. I like the tripod I bought 7 years ago so much that I bought another recently in case something happens to the first one.
13 Nov, 2016
The venerable Speed Graphic
The Speed Graphic was produced for a very long time relatively unchanged, definitely a concept that doesn't make good business sense in the modern world of cameras. It is well proven, simple, extremely reliable, and many of the most iconic photographs of the 20th century were taken with a Speed Graphic or Graflex. If you drop a Speed there's a reasonable chance it will still be usable, which will not be the case with any modern digital camera. Any Graphic/Graflex camera I've owned that has the focal plane shutter can be made to work as long as someone hasn't wrecked the shutter curtain, and my oldest is a Graflex RB from about 1938. A CLA, which can be accomplished with basic tools, is not beyond the ability of an average person with basic mechanical skills, and the shutter can be tensioned pretty accurately using a phonograph turntable at various speeds. I used to do it this way but have moved into the 21st century with an app for iPhone.
The main attraction with the Speed in this day and age is probably the focal plane shutter, which allows one to attach any lens to the front of the camera that will fit, so shutterless lenses and even lenses with broken shutters, as long as the blades will stay open, can be used.
Also, the focal plane shutter has a claimed 1/1000 top speed. My shutter tester hasn't been able to prove this, even with a freshly lubed and tensioned shutter, but it's still pretty fast and sounds very impressive as it slices through time. It should be noted that the Supermatics rarely deliver on their promise of 1/400 either, and the 800 shutter which was an expensive option on the baby Speed, if it works at all, never achieves 1/800. I set the focal plane shutter to be accurate at the slower speeds, which is easy to accomplish. I think if the spring was cranked up enough to get to an actual 1/1000, the slow speeds would be too fast.
The 127 or 152 Ektars that they often come with will give great results, and the 152 has considerably more coverage than the 127, which is a 3x4 lens, so in my opinion it's a more desirable lens for a lot of purposes. However, WeeGee used the 127, which is a better press lens. If a person wasn't planning to use the focal plane shutter, the Crown may be a better choice as it's quite a bit lighter and less bulky.
Because they made so many of them, and so many of them are still around and functional, the Speed is one of the most economical choices for someone getting into 4x5.
29 Jul, 2020
Nice shiny growler caps.
NIce shiny caps that fit the dozen growlers I was just given.