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Reviews (2)
01 Jun, 2017
Wartime Graflex Speed Graphic Camera
I purchased this camera to use at WWII Living History Crew events at the battleship USS Alabama. There were two focal lengths of lens used on these. It would either be set up for a 135mm lens or a 127mm Kodak Ektar lens. If you purchase a body with no lens, as I did, you will need to know what lens to buy.
Mount the camera on a tripod.
Pull out the front standard to the little blocks..."infinity stops".
Set the focus scale on the bed at infinity and lock the little lock lever on the right.
Take a ruler with a millimeter scale and put it through the lens hole (if you have a lens board)
read the ruler about 1/8" or so in front of the lens board. That should get you in the ballpark to tell you if it needs a 127mm lens, or a 135mm lens. The rangefinder and bed scale are probably already set for one or the other unless someone has moved things.
The black wartime cameras (I believe) had a black finished lens and shutter housing...many are not black, so if you have a black-trim camera (black paint instead of chrome)...try to find a black lens if you can. I am no expert...just relaying things as I understand it. The camera will work well with an old Omega DII or D2 enlarger which handles 4x5 film. The old wooden film holders you find are probably still usable unless the tape has cracked. In use, you might not pull the dark slide out all the way unless you know the light trap is still good. Go have fun!
01 Jun, 2017
Pressure Vessel Handbook by Megyesy
I first used a borrowed copy of this book while doing tank and pressure vessel design for an engineering company several years ago. This has to be one of the most PRACTICAL reference books on the subject out there. Excellent tool.