Editing Graflex (section)

==History==
William F. Folmer, an inventor, co-owned the Folmer and Schwing Manufacturing Company, founded in [[New York City]] as a [[gas lamp]] company. As the gas lamp market declined, the company expanded into other areas including [[bicycles]] and photographic equipment, leading to the release of the first Graflex camera in 1899.<ref name=Schilling>{{cite book|last1=Schilling|first1=Donovan|title=Made in Rochester|date=2015|publisher=Pancoast Publishing|location=Victor, NY|isbn=978-0983849667|page=76|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rCauCAAAQBAJ&q=william++F%2C+Folmer&pg=PA76|accessdate=30 January 2016}}</ref> As the company's success grew, it chose to focus on photography and dropped its other manufacturing lines, and in 1905 was acquired by [[George Eastman]], in 1907 becoming the Folmer Graflex Division of [[Eastman Kodak]]. After a succession of name changes, it finally became simply "Graflex, Inc." in 1945.<ref>Kingslake; [[Hendersonville, North Carolina|Hendersonville]] Camera Club</ref> Eastman Kodak made all of the Graflex cameras in their professional equipment manufacturing plant on Clarrisa street in Rochester NY. In 1926, as a result of violations of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act (Comp. St. § 8820 et seq.) Kodak was forced to divest itself of its professional equipment division, which became Graflex Inc. This company existed under independent ownership until 1958, when the company was bought by the [[General Precision Equipment]], which operated it as an independent division until 1968, when it was sold to the [[Singer Corporation]], who also operated it as a division until 1973, when it was finally wrapped up and its tooling sold to the Toyo Corporation.<ref name=Schilling/><ref name="FAQ"/>

From 1912 to 1973 Graflex produced [[Large format (photography)|large format]] and [[Medium format (film)|medium format]] [[press camera]]s in film formats from {{convert|2+1/4|x|3+1/4|in}} to {{convert|4|x|5|in}} .<ref name="graflex.org">{{Cite web|url=http://graflex.org/speed-graphic/graphic-models.html|title = Graflex Graphic Models}}</ref> They also produced [[Rangefinder camera|rangefinder]], [[Single-lens reflex camera|SLR]] and [[Twin-lens reflex camera|TLR]] cameras in a variety of formats ranging from 35mm to {{convert|5|x|7|in}}.<ref name="FAQ"/>

The Rochester Folmer plant also manufactured the [[Century Studio Camera]], which was marketed under both the Kodak and Graflex nameplates. However, because Graflex printed separate catalogs for its studio and portable offerings, many erroneously believe the Century Studios to have been manufactured elsewhere.

===Graflex Reflex cameras===
[[File:Folmer-Schwing-banquet-camera-1914.jpg|right|thumb|190px|1914 ad for the Folmer and Schwing "Banquet Camera"]]

The first of the Graflex-branded cameras, released in 1898, was the Graflex camera, also known as the Graflex Reflex, or Graflex single lens reflex (SLR). This camera used the same [[History of the single-lens reflex camera|swinging-mirror, through-the-lens viewing mechanism]] as modern [[single lens reflex camera]]s, introduced many decades later, and quickly became popular for [[sports]] and [[News media|press]] [[photography]] in the early 20th century due largely to its use of a [[focal plane shutter]]. To produce [[shutter speed]]s fast enough to appear to freeze rapid motion, early Graflex cameras employed a cloth shutter with a narrow slit that quickly moved across the film plane, exposing only one small strip at any given moment in its travel. To set the shutter speed, the photographer wound the shutter spring to one of a series of calculated tensions using a key, and selected the slit width with another control. A table on the side of the box gave the shutter speed for each combination.  The Graflex Reflex was also popular among early 20th Century fine art photographers, leading several lens manufacturers to design special soft-focus lenses, including the famous [[Wollensak]]'s Verito, to support the camera's creative potential.
[[File:5x7 Press Graflex camera, produced by the Folmer & Schwing Division of Eastman Kodak Co. held by Germany Schaefer, Washington Senators April 1911 LOC 2162646403 (cropped).jpg|left|thumb|5x7 Press Graflex camera in 1911]]

===Speed Graphic and Crown Graphic press cameras===
{{Main|Speed Graphic}}

Graflex [[Speed Graphic]] folding cameras, produced from 1912 to 1973 also employed a focal plane shutter, but omitted the SLR swinging mirror and through-the lens viewing, replacing it by an external viewfinder, while retaining a [[view camera]]'s traditional [[Ground glass#Photography|ground glass]] for static subjects. This allowed the camera to be considerably lighter, and fold into a rugged boxy shape.  These cameras could also be used with [[Diaphragm shutter|"between-the-lens" shutters]] mounted to the front lens board as more typically seen on [[large format camera]]s.<ref name="FAQ">{{cite web|title=The Graflex Speed Graphic FAQ|url=http://www.graflex.org/speed-graphic/FAQ.html|website=Graflex.org|accessdate=30 January 2016}}</ref> The Speed Graphic became even more popular than the Graflex Reflex as a press and sports camera, so much so that to this type of classic press camera features in the masthead of the [[Daily News (New York)|New York Daily News]].<ref name=Vaughn/> The top-to-bottom motion of the focal plane shutter exposed the upper portion of the film first (i.e., the bottom of the inverted image as seen at the focal plane), so many photographs of [[automobile racing]] taken with Speed Graphics depicted the wheels of cars in an oval shape leaning forward. This feature was so ubiquitous in racing photography that it came to be a conventional graphical indication for speed, influencing many [[cartoonist]]s who drew wheels in this same style to indicate fast motion.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Bebbington|first1=David H.|title=Circular distortion in old race car photos|url=http://www.apug.org/forums/forum44/25601-circular-distortion-old-race-car-photos.html|website=Analog Photographers Users Group (APUG)|accessdate=30 January 2016|date=12 March 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160204152845/http://www.apug.org/forums/forum44/25601-circular-distortion-old-race-car-photos.html|archive-date=4 February 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Speed Graphics have also been used with success by many fine art photographers, as they work quite well with special un-shuttered lenses that were manufactured originally for the Graflex Reflex. Speed Graphics are still widely used by modern fine art photographers because of their unique image creation capabilities and simple, easily serviced mechanical design.<ref name="NYT">{{cite news|last1=Durniak|first1=John|title=The Old Speed Graphic is Alive and Clicking|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/06/15/arts/camera-the-old-speed-graphic-is-alive-and-clicking.html|accessdate=30 January 2016|work=The New York Times|date=15 June 1986}}</ref>

The [[Press camera|Crown Graphic]] models of this same period were similar in overall design to the Speed Graphics, but omitted their focal plane shutter, allowing Crown Graphic models to be about one inch (2.5&nbsp;cm) smaller and 1 pound lighter (.5&nbsp;kg) Furthermore, their lack of a focal plane shutter allowed lenses to be mounted closer to the film plane, enabling the use of wider angle lenses on these models.<ref>{{cite web|title=Pacemaker Crown Graphic|url=http://graflex.org/speed-graphic/pacemaker-crown-graphic.html|website=graflex.org|accessdate=30 January 2016}}</ref>