International Camera Museum : Blue Moon Camera and Machine

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Graflex RB Super D - 4x5

The 4x5 version of the Graflex RB Super D was produced between 1948-58. It was an update on the popular Series D that came before it.

One of the biggest changes is flash synchronization with the focal plane shutter for more robust flash photography.

Perhaps the coolest upgrade is the automatically stopping down aperture mechanism that allows for the presetting of the aperture before firing, but keeps the lens wide open during composition and focusing. The mechanism is not fully automatic - it requires a reset after each exposure, but still, that's not something you typically see on large format cameras.

The Super D has interchangeable lens boards; the common "standard" lens is the Ektar 190mm f/5.6.

These cameras, despite often being referred to as press cameras, are typically more popular with portraitists. An automatic iris in a handheld SLR 4x5 camera can be considered a miracle for most portrait needs.

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Olivia Bee with her Graflex RB Super D

A portrait of Olivia Bee with her Graflex RB Super D, made by Peter Carlson.⁠

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Olivia has been a customer with us for a few years now. She has developed quite a bit of celebrity as a photographer, but you'd never know it from working with her. She is pleasantly down-to-earth, incredibly prolific, and is always working with new cameras and on new projects. In the past year, she has purchased both this Super D 4x5 and an 8x10 camera - which she has been using to shoot both b&w and color. Side note: 8x10 color negatives are so incredible.⁠

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She came by the shop the other day with her Graflex, so Peter asked her to pose out front with it, making this image using his Pentax 67 and Kodak Tri-X. Our customer base is incredible - so many incredible photographers and so much incredible work - so we're pretty appreciative of Peter's efforts to portray them as they are with the equipment they love.⁠

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Graflex RB Super D

The Graflex RB Super D may not be quite as old of a camera as you might think it. Sure, Graflex, under a variety of incarnations, had been producing their large format SLR cameras since the first years of the 20th century, but the Super D was manufactured between 1948 until 1958 (in 4x5). The Super D was the successor to the popular Series D, which Dorothea Lange used to much fame during the Depression years for much of her photography.

The RB Super D has several notable features. First off, the "RB" in the name stands for "revolving back." This allowed the photographer to rotate the back, as opposed to the whole massive camera, in order to switch between landscape and portrait orientation. Can you imagine holding this camera horizontally? That would be impressive, indeed.

The Super D also introduced automatic stop-down aperture diaphragms. This allowed the photographer to focus and compose at a wide open aperture, which would then stop down to the preset, upon releasing the mirror, prior to the shutter firing. This feature would go on to become standard in 35mm cameras over the next decade.

The Super D also boasts a top-notch focal plane shutter, like previous models with speeds ranging from 1/30th-1/1000 and flash sync to boot. Shutter speeds were controlled by a combination of tension and curtain aperture.

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Graflex Super D Frankencamera

We know that the moment a customer walks into the shop, looking excited, packing a large case, and says, "Want to see the latest Franken-camera?" that something good is about to happen. And that something good certainly did happen when Jeff Perry pulled out this creation.⠀ ⠀

It has the body of a Graflex RB Super D, the prism from a Bronica GS-1, a 3D printed film back for doing 4"x4" exposures on 4x5 film, and a re-purposed, high-end projector lens! What a wild and very cool contraption. ⠀ ⠀

Jeffrey and his Franken-camera are excellent examples of what occurs in our shop on an almost daily basis. We never know who, or what, might walk through that door to spark our curiosity or blow our minds. We get to work with some really fun and creative people. ⠀ ⠀

Thank you, Jeffrey for bringing this camera by for a visit!

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