1A Graflex (1909-1914, with Bausch & Lomb Zeiss Tessar)

[Scheimpflug]

My latest camera find is undoubtedly the coolest yet.

I was visiting my parents last week, and was helping clean the basement where some items from my grandparents were stored. I discovered a box marked: "FRAGILE! Lens boxes, microphones, slides, old cameras", and of course I was curious.

The slides were of nothing interesting, the microphones were microphones, and the lens boxes were just boxes... but the cameras? Well, one of them was this- a 1A Graflex!







From what I have found, the 1A Graflex is a roll-film SLR, with a focal plane shutter with a max speed of 1/1000! The image size is 2 1/2 x 4 1/4 inches, on 1A (116 format) film. They were produced from 1909-1925, although the tall accordion style viewing hood with the metal frame indicates that this is an early model, as does the lack of an Autographic back. Based on these two details, I believe this camera is from somwhere between 1909 and 1914 - making it right around 100 years old.





The lens is a Bausch & Lomb Zeiss Tessar "Series 1c", with no marking of focal length, just the coverage (3 1/4 x 4 1/4). The maximum aperture is f4.5, and the minimum is f32. It has so many aperture blades that I lost count. The lens has a patent date of Feb 24, 1903, printed right on the front ring. It was made by Bausch & Lomb Optical Co., Rochester, N.Y.

The lens is pristine... I wouldn't even need to clean it to use it. No haze, no separation, no fungus, and not even any dust to speak of!

It doesn't look like it in the pictures, but this is a huge camera, and quite heavy as well. My mother doesn't remember it, but my uncle (a few years older) does. He believes that my grandpa inherited it, so this is a camera which has been in the family for four generations.


My goal is to bring this old camera back to life, find some film, and gather everyone together for a family portrait. I'm sure I will need plenty of help along the way, so if anyone knows *anything* else about this camera, particularly in terms of how to operate it, I would be greatly appreciative.

[Nesster]

I have that lens! Good to know what it went with... and severe jealousy over here, that is a treasure!

You'll probably end up adapting 120 film to 116 - it is entirely doable and will give you sort of panoramic views...
The B&L Tessar is an excellent lens, even when used for the small sliver of image in an aps-c format. Back then, USA did not take a back seat to Germany when manufacturing lenses.
Based on reading I've done on this lens, B&L used the name Zeiss on the lenses until WWI, at which time the patents were declared dead - and anti-German sentiment was high. So yours probably dates from WWI or soon after.

Man, you got good genes, that much is obvious

[Nesster]

Bausch & Lomb Tessar Lenses 1921 by Nesster, on Flickr

Here's a sample of what it can do, on a K100D:

Copper: Physalis - Ground Cherry v.2.1680 by Nesster, on Flickr

Damn, I'm excited for you!

[Farside]

Super find!
Congratulations.

[mmelvis]

Here is a good start
http://graflex.org/helpboard/viewtopic.php?t=3242&sid=e0c09297c858cbf7220bdd8e50e524ba


The person in the post has instructions for fabrication. I am not sure if the email address will be good.The board is a good resource for Graflex camera

[luisalegria]

Wow !
It looks like its in excellent condition !
I am green with envy !

The lens FL is probably 5" or 127mm

Its not hard to adapt to 120 film it seems. There are several online examples.

This must be the easiest way -

http://www.flickr.com/photos/43063706@N02/4420228563/

[Minolfan]

Fantastic found! I hope you can get it at work, succes with the project.

[Scheimpflug]

Thanks everyone.

The camera truly is in exceptional condition. My pictures really don't do it justice, as they were just a few quick high-ISO shots on the kitchen counter with harsh lighting. There is very minimal brassing on the camera controls, and hardly any appreciable wear on the leather. The bellows look good as well, although I haven't fully extended them (or the viewfinder shade), as I am trying to be extremely careful with the camera. I suspect that the carrying case had a lot to do with how well it has survived.

Jussi- that photo is fantastic! If that is what the lens can do with APS-C, it should be quite exciting to see it on medium-format film! Thanks again for the great information on the lens!


I found one more bit of information - a few pages from a 1916 Graflex catalog hosted by Camera Eccentric:


Full catalog: http://www.cameraeccentric.com/html/info/graflex_20.html
(Please support Camera Eccentric if you can for your vintage & large format purchases- they provide a great service to the community by hosting these old catalogs!)


This catalog provides a few interesting bits of information:
* The tall articulated viewfinder hood was still available in 1916 (the date for the switch to the short folded style is still unknown to me)
* The Autographic back was available in 1916 (which agrees with what I have read elsewhere, that it was standard from 1915 on)
* The lens board is interchangable! (2 1/4 x 2 3/8 inches)
* The B&L Tessar was one of the two premium lenses, just 50 cents less expensive than the Cooke
* My combo (1A camera + B&L Tessar + leather case) would have cost US $100 in 1916 - equivalent to US $2,030.36 in 2011! (http://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm) Photography definitely wasn't a cheap hobby back then.
* The focusing screen is slightly smaller than the exposed film area
* It has a hyperfocal ("universal focus") marking
* The shutter can't be wound when the mirror is up
* Even though this is a big camera, it sounds as though a huge amount of effort went into making it as small as it is, and Graflex was quite proud of their achievements.


I'll have to keep doing my research. There appears to be very few of these cameras out there, and not a lot of information either.

[Scheimpflug]

In terms of film, I actually managed to find a few rolls of unexposed Kodak Verichrome Pan in 116! They expired in March 1977, so they are 34 years past their time... but considering that Kodak introduced 116 film in 1899 and discontinued it in 1984, these actually aren't *that* old in the big picture. I consider myself pretty lucky to have what I found, but I'll keep looking for more as well.

I read the links (Thanks!) on re-spooling 120/220, and it sounds like the biggest snag people hit is that they don't have the original 116 backing paper. I should be OK now in that respect, as I can keep the paper from these Verichrome Pan rolls.


I took the back of the camera off last night to examine the shutter. I did this in a changing bag, and I'm glad I did as the camera had a roll of film in it! Puzzlingly though, the film was a bit loose and uncoiled (so it would have definitely been ruined if opened in the daylight), and located on the *supply* side and not the takeup side. More puzzlingly, there was no empty takeup spool. The supply side doesn't have any provisions for winding, so there is no way that the film could have been exposed and then rewound to the left. But then again, I could feel film under the backing paper right up to the end - so it didn't have the long paper leader like the start of an unexposed 120 roll would have.


I wound the film up a bit tighter on the spool and placed it in a black light-proof bag for now, until I can figure out what it is and what to do with it. If anyone has any theories, I am all ears. I had first thought to look at the printing on the backing paper, but the film actually sticks out a touch past the end of the backing paper, so I would expose a bit of the film if I took it out in the light.

[Scheimpflug]

Since the information is so limited and scattered, I'll add an out-of-sequence post here to collect links to all of the 1A Graflex and related resources I have found, as well as those that you fine folks here have sent me.

This is mostly to help me keep my bookmarks organized, but hopefully others will benefit as well.



===================================================================
1A Graflex:
===================================================================
http://historiccamera.com/cgi-bin/librarium/pm.cgi?action=display&login=1agraphlex
* Basic information, with an illustration of an early 1A Graflex

http://camera-wiki.org/wiki/Graflex_reflex_models
* Basic Graflex info (all models)
* (camera-wiki.org is the not-for-profit branch of Camerapedia after Camerapedia went commercial)

http://www.southbristolviews.com/graflexchange/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=591
* Graflex serial number list, including one 1A reference (sn 47402 - 1915 approx.)

http://graflex.org/helpboard/viewtopic.php?t=466
* Another 1915 date reference for the same 1A (s/n 47402), but with a B&L Tessar s/n of 2646488 listed as well

http://graflex.org/helpboard/viewtopic.php?t=3242
* Potential source of 1A repair information?

http://www.apug.org/forums/forum147/24577-shutter-curtain-material-thinner-than-micro-tools-stuff.html
* Discussion on replacement 1A shutter curtain material

http://www.craigcamera.com/ib_defg.htm
http://www.craigcamera.com/lit_gh.htm
* Potential source for a 1A Graflex instruction manual (1923 Reprint), as well as early Graflex catalogs (1908, 1910, 1913, 1921) that would help with dating, although unfortunately ordering is no longer possible as the website owner has passed away.
* (As far as I know, this would have been the only 1A manual available from any source.)

http://www.cameraeccentric.com/html/info/graflex_20.html
* 1916 Graflex catalog with two pages about the 1A

http://books.google.com/books?id=bMMGAAAAYAAJ&lpg=RA1-PA67&ots=B6Q6QSoVS8&dq=%221a%20graflex%22&pg=RA1-PA67#v=onepage&q&f=false
* 1A Autographic advertisement in Kodakery magazine (May, 1915). Illustration shows the tall articulated viewfinder hood.


===================================================================
Lenses:
===================================================================
Bausch & Lomb Tessar Lenses 1921 by Nesster, on Flickr
* 1921 Advertisement

Copper: Physalis - Ground Cherry v.2.1680 by Nesster, on Flickr
* Great sample image from a B&L Tessar on a K100D DSLR


===================================================================
1A (116-format) Film:
(including the related 616 format, and re-spooling of 120/220 and 70mm film stock)
===================================================================
http://camera-wiki.org/wiki/116_film
* General 116 & 616 film information

http://www.flickr.com/search/?w=all&q=116+film&m=text
http://www.flickr.com/search/?w=all&q=616+film&m=text
* Search results for '116 film' and '616 film' on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/43063706@N02/4420228563/
* A simple way to adapt 120 film spools for use in a 116 camera

http://www.vintagephoto.tv/autofilm.shtml
* Information about Kodak Autographic film

http://www.nwmangum.com/Kodak/FilmHist.html
* History of Kodak roll film numbers


===================================================================
1A Graflex - Recent Sales & Other Known Cameras:
(ordered from earliest to latest where possible)
===================================================================
Click here to see on Ebay
* Serial number: unknown
* Last patent date on film back: unknown
* Condition: In need of repair & restoration (shutter inoperative, missing & peeling leather, stiff viewfinder bellows, missing red lens on film back, etc.)
* Viewfinder: Tall articulated type
* Lens: 5" Series II Cooke Anastigmat 4.5
* Lens Serial Number: 4xxxx? (hard to read in photo)
* Autographic?: No
* Year: pre-1915 (no Autographic feature)
* Sale price: US $227.50 (Buy-It-Now?) on Mar 30, 2011

http://graflex.org/helpboard/viewtopic.php?t=466
* Serial number: 47402
* Last patent date on film back: unknown
* Condition: unknown
* Viewfinder: unknown
* Lens: B & L Tessar
* Lens Serial Number: 2646488
* Autographic?: unknown
* Year: 1915 (approx)
* Sale price: n/a

Click here to see on Ebay
* Serial number: unknown
* Last patent date on film back: Nov 7, 1916
* Condition: Good (working shutter, minimal brassing, separation in rear element of lens, split in viewfinder hood, broken clip for film back, bent frame for lens plate)
* Viewfinder: Short folded style
* Lens: B & L 1c Tessar (Not "Zeiss Tessar") f/4.5
* Lens Serial Number: 3167960
* Autographic?: Originally yes, but a leather patch is covering the former slot in the back cover
* Year: 1916+ (due to Autographic feature and patent date)
* Sale price: US $331.39 (11 bids) on Apr 04, 2011

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:q4jwRGJKc1IJ:cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll%3FViewItem%26item%3D290516512977+ebay+290516512977&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&source=www.google.com
* Serial number: unknown
* Last patent date on film back: 1916
* Condition: Good (moderate brassing, one piece of missing leather, missing red film window, seller unable to test other functionality)
* Viewfinder: Short folded style
* Lens: 3-1/4 x 4-1/4 Bausch-Lomb Tessar series 1C Pat. Feb 14, 1903
* Lens Serial Number: 3130316
* Autographic?: Yes, includes stylus in holder
* Year: 1916+ (due to Autographic feature and patent date)
* Sale price: US $171.50 (13 bids) on Jan 04, 2011
* Accessories: None



It is also somewhat confusing in that not all of the sources have correct information, so you can't necessarily trust everything from a given reference.
For example, many sites imply that all 1As are Autographic (which mine is not), some say that the viewfinder coverage is full (which contradicts the 1916 Graflex catalog), and there appears to be some confusion of which style of viewfinder hood came first.


I'll edit this post to keep it current if I find any more good links.