Graflex

Graflex was a manufacturer, a brand name and several models of cameras.

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Most sports photography in the early 20th century was done with Graflex and similar cameras with a cloth focal plane shutter. To get shutter speeds high enough to stop fast motion they had to use a narrow slit, which exposed different parts of the film at different times.

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The Graflex was an SLR that was viewed through a tall leather hood from above--not through a pentaprism. They came in sizes from 2 1/4" X 3 1/4" (6x9 cm) up to 8" x 10".

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To set the shutter speed, you wound up the shutter to one of a series of tensions with a key. Then you selected the slit with another control. A table on the side of the box gave the shutter speed for each combination.

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Speed Graphic folding cameras (made by Graflex) had a similar shutter, although they are often used with a between-the-lens shutter in front.

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So, many photographers made pictures with the wheels of cars leaning forward, because a top-to-bottom shutter motion exposed the bottom first. This feature became a conventional indication of speed. Cartoonists drew wheels the same way to indicate fast motion.

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Camera: A camera is a device used to take pictures (usually photographs), either singly or in sequence, with or without sound, such as with video cameras. The name is derived from camera obscura, Latin for "dark chamber", an early mechanism for projecting images in which an entire room functioned much as th...