[LargeFormat] SEPT Theme "Your rarest camera" (s)

[Les Newcomer]

This month's theme subject over on the Internet Directory of Camera 
Collectors list serve is to talk about the rarest camera in your 
collection.  I thought I might throw this over here because: A it's way 
too quiet, and B.  IDCC seems to be a bunch of miniature camera 
collectors and don't recognize what a real camera looks like.

Ken Hough's been wanting this photo for nearly a year, so this month's 
theme and the fact I cleared enough trash out of the garage attic to 
set up a makeshift studio, got me away from the computer to actually 
shoot it.

http://home.twmi.rr.com/lnphoto/earlylatespeedsweb.jpg

The Speed Graphic on the right is from 1912 or slightly earlier.  
Richard Paine, noted author of "A Review of Graflex" has a data base of 
serial numbers and this one is the third oldest known to exist.  These 
"earliest of the early" have a unique back

http://home.twmi.rr.com/lnphoto/earlyspeedback.jpg   Why they put a 
drop-down glass cover on the back is anybody's guess.  Several other 
cameras in their line at the time had the popup hood already.  Some 
have scoffed and said it was a post sale modification, but the patent 
numbers on the inside read correctly when dropped down.  The patents on 
the pop up style hood read correctly when looked at from bellow.  If 
transposed, both would be upside down.  Not shown on the handle side is 
a small brass plaque, very similar to the Speed Table that says 
"Marshal Field Company"

The middle one is there to show that the left one has a decidedly 
different body than what would become the standard shape for a Speed 
Graphic.  It's a good 1/2" taller and quite a bit narrower than the 
center camera which dates about a year later.  Those with sharp eyes 
will notice that the view finder on the center camera is much more 
rectangular than the early speed.  This camera is a  3 1/4 x 5 1/2 
"postcard" size Graphic and is rather scarce in it's own right, but it 
shared the same body as the 4x5 in its day.

The odd duck camera on the right represents the other end of the 
timeline and is  rare only in it's serial number.   While identical 
cameras to this were made from about '67 on, this camera came off the 
line in May of '73 less than two months before Graflex shut down 
forever.