Graflex.org

[ldb]

Hi

in this image there is a bracket or piece of hardware on the top right of the camera. Looking from the focusing screen.



Online I have seen that described as a viewfinder bracket.
The bracket is similar to a cold shoe but much bigger.

However on my Anniversary Speed Graphic the top viewfinder seems fixed on and I have that bracket in the photo on the left of the camera. In fact a lot of photos seem to imply that viewfinder is fixed and when I look at them online it doesn't look like the base would fit into that bracket anyway.

So I have to ask the experts - what is that bracket used for?
Does it have a Graflex part number I can reference?
If it is for a viewfinder does the "standard" viewfinder you see for online actually fit that or is there a special viewfinder?

Now here is a picture of Margaret Bourke-White the photo journalist taken in 1942 (for some reason I can't link just to the image)

http://media.gettyimages.com/photos/american-photographer-margaret-bourkewhite-holds-a-camera-and-smiles-picture-id55782589?s=594x594

She has two viewfinders and it looks like 2 rangefinders so I suspect she is set up for 2 lenses.

So is that what the bracket is for - a second viewfinder?

Thanks everyone

ldb

[Henry]

That shoe is for an optical viewfinder, available in long and short versions. Either version will fit the shoe, but usually the size relates to the camera size, e.g., the short finder for the 2x3, the long for the 4x5. The depth of the camera body is greater for the Speed Graphic press cameras, to accommodate the focal plane shutter, so the long version is a better match there. Even with the Century Graphic (2x3), the long version is more convenient when a roll film back is mounted (unless you like scrunching your face into contortions!).

I have the short finder on my Century. I find it to be of very limited utility; the view it gives is only approximate, to put it politely. Even with the screen insert correctly matched to the lens focal length (#2 for a 101 mm, say) you'll get only a very rough idea of what the film sees.

There are illustrations of the finder mounted on various models here: https://graflex.org/speed-graphic/graphic-models.html

[ldb]

Thanks for your help