<furles@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:1180271351.564696.124170@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>I have a few questions that I hope somebody may be able to
>answer.
>
> Firstly, I have one of the original Graflex 'Polaroid Land
> Film Back',
> complete with the gauge for setting the front standard
> back from the
> infinity stops, and even the extended ground glass panel
> which could
> be attached to the rear of the camera. I bought this
> several years
> ago to add to the collection, but I've never really looked
> at it until
> now, and I've only just worked out how to open it. I've
> used both
> sheet and pack Polaroid film, but I cannot work out how
> this old roll
> system worked; I've never even seen a roll film, I do have
> one, but
> it's still sealed, and I want to keep it that way.
>
> The back seems to be basically a standard folding Polaroid
> camera of
> the era (heavy) with the front removed, and a Graflok type
> mounting
> plate fitted in its place. There is a recess in the
> centre of the
> top; is this where the viewfinder was fitted in the
> complete camera?
> There's also a smaller recess to the left of this, with
> what looks
> like a blanked off slot, what was this for? I assume that
> it's
> something else that was used on the complete camera, but
> not on the
> Graflex version.
>
> There's a curved metal flap at the right-hand end, which
> covers a
> slot. The right two-thirds or so of the back is a flap,
> which can be
> opened, but the inside of it doesn't look like a pressure
> plate, it's
> got ridges on it. Also, there's solid metal be hind it,
> so the film
> couldn't be exposed here. There's a round button, which
> seems to be
> referred to as the 'film release', and the notes inside
> the flap
> mention the 'cutter', but I can't see where this is.
>
> If I remove the darkslide then I can release a small
> catch, and the
> whole of the back (the back of the back, if you see what I
> mean,
> opens, to reveal a space which looks like it could hold a
> roll, and a
> pair of processing rollers. The part which was underneath
> the first
> flap, with one of the rollers attached to it, can now be
> opened, hinge
> in the right, to reveal an empty spool at the right end,
> with no means
> of driving it, so I assume that it's a feed spool.
>
> Now I can see the exposure aperture, and the pressure
> plate, which is
> attached to the part that I just opened. Were there two
> separate
> spools, one for the negative, and one for the print? If
> so, it looks
> like the negative may have fed from the small spool on the
> right,
> across the exposure aperture, then turned back around the
> lower
> processing roller, and brought into contact with the print
> material
> fed from a roll in the space on the left. In this case
> where did the
> developer come from? Surely they didn't roll up the strip
> on print
> material with pods attached to it at intervals, did they?
> I assume
> that the small curved flap covering the slot at the
> right-hand end is
> where the material comes out, but what is the large flap
> in the back
> for? Did the development take place here, or outside the
> back? Did
> you pull something out of the slot to bring the two
> materials into
> contact, and then pull again to get the print and negative
> out of the
> back, or did you open the large flap, and peel the print
> off the
> negative there?
>
> I've read that the model 500 sheet film holder can be used
> with
> current sheet film, but that care has to be taken not to
> pull the
> packet out too far, as there is nothing to stop it coming
> right out,
> as there is in the 545 and later holders. Was it always
> like this, or
> was there a different type of sheet film available at one
> time? If
> there was, how did it differ from the current type?
>
> Finally, when were the roll, pack and sheet systems
> introduced, and
> when was the roll material discontinued? There seem to be
> holders for
> all three systems of considerable age, so it looks like
> all three were
> in concurrent use for a considerable time.
I can't help with the dates but it seems to me that roll
type Polaroid film was discontinued about 10 or 15 years
ago. The roll film actually was two rolls, one was the film
part the other the transfer paper. The two were rolled
together and brought to the back of the camera. There is
door in the back to get to the print. The print was peeled
off the negative. The action of pulling the paper tab from
the side of the camera rolled the two together and also
brought a new film to the exposure gate.
Long ago I had one of these adaptors. They were not very
convenient because the focus was different than the normal
focus so they really could not be used for proofing. Because
you have the extras you have a collector's item so it might
be worth something. Plain roll type Polaroid backs are
pretty much useless.
--
---
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles, CA, USA
dickburk@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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