C41
Kodak Portra 160
Kodak Portra 160 is a professional C-41 color negative film with fine grain, soft contrast, and natural color.
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The Graflex Pacemaker Crown Graphic is a 4x5-inch folding press camera produced by the Graflex Division of Folmer Graflex Corporation in Rochester, New York, introduced in 1947. It is a direct sibling to the Pacemaker Speed Graphic introduced in the same year, sharing the same folding flatbed body and "Pacemaker" designation but omitting the focal-plane shutter that defined the Speed Graphic line. The absence of the focal-plane shutter makes the Crown Graphic lighter and mechanically simpler, relying entirely on lens-mounted leaf shutters for exposure control.
Reference
Recommended film stocks for the 4x5 format your camera takes.
C41
Kodak Portra 160 is a professional C-41 color negative film with fine grain, soft contrast, and natural color.
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Ilford HP5 Plus is a flexible ISO 400 black-and-white film with classic grain and strong push-processing tolerance.
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Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
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Before you buy used
About this camera
The leaf-shutter-only version of the Speed Graphic - lighter, simpler, and better suited to modern lenses without the focal-plane shutter bulk.
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Format | 4x5 in (sheet-film holders, Grafmatic, Graflok roll-film backs) |
| Mount | Graflex lensboard (4-inch square, spring-mounted) |
| Years | 1947 - ~1973 |
| Movements | Front: rise, tilt, shift; Rear: none (Graflock spring back) |
| Shutter | Lens-mounted leaf only (no focal-plane shutter) |
| Rangefinder | Coupled optical rangefinder |
| Viewfinder | Optical wire-frame with parallax marks; ground glass for setup |
| Build | Aluminum alloy, leatherette, steel hardware |
| Weight | ~2000g (unverified) |
| Battery | None |
The Pacemaker Crown Graphic and Pacemaker Speed Graphic together replaced the earlier Anniversary Speed Graphic in 1947. The "Pacemaker" designation marked a significant redesign: a new body with a rotating back (on some configurations), flash synchronization on the body rather than via flash clamps, an improved coupled rangefinder, and a redesigned front standard with more reliable movements.
The Crown Graphic was positioned as the lighter and less expensive variant. Press photographers who worked primarily with flash in synchronization with the lens shutter - which became standard by the late 1940s as electronic flash replaced bulky flashbulb rigs for fast news work - had no practical need for the focal-plane shutter. The Crown Graphic met this use case at a lower weight and price than the Speed Graphic.
Graflex continued the line through approximately 1973, when large-format press camera production ended as 35mm and medium-format cameras with motor drives and faster film took over most press applications. During the production run, incremental improvements were made to the rangefinder coupling and flash synchronization, but the fundamental design remained stable.
The Crown Graphic was the last large production run of a purpose-built American press camera in 4x5. Large numbers were manufactured and survive in working condition, making it one of the most available large-format cameras on the used market.
The Crown Graphic, along with the Speed Graphic, was the defining American press camera of the postwar era. News photographers working for wire services, newspapers, and magazines in the late 1940s through early 1960s used the Graphic series more than any other 4x5 format camera for daily assignment work.
The photographs made on Graphic-series cameras during this period include some of the most widely reproduced news images of the twentieth century. The practical reason was the camera's combination of portability for a 4x5, its ability to use sheet film for individual exposures that could be processed and wired quickly, and the coupled rangefinder that allowed rapid hand-held operation without ground-glass focusing for every shot.
The Crown Graphic specifically attracted photographers who wanted the Graphic form factor but worked entirely with synchronized flash and lens shutters, avoiding the focal-plane shutter's limitations with certain fast lenses and flash units. By the mid-1950s, the Crown Graphic was arguably the more practical choice for most press use as lens-shutter synchronization became universal.
The Crown Graphic uses the Graflex 4-inch square lensboard, which is widely available and accepted by many of the large-format cameras produced concurrently by other manufacturers. A substantial range of period lenses shipped on these boards; modern large-format lenses can be remounted.
BW
Kodak Tri-X 400 is a classic black-and-white film known for strong tonality, visible grain, and documentary character.
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