Crown Graphic 4x5 with Spring Back & Kodak Ektar 127mm f/4.7 Lens

Crown Graphic 4x5 with Spring Back & Kodak Ektar 127mm f/4.7 Lens

The Crown Graphic 4x5 is a legendary large-format camera from the mid-20th century, well-loved by photographers for its portability, build quality, and versatility. Known for its reliability and rugged design, the Crown Graphic is a favorite for both studio and outdoor photographers, especially those interested in landscape and portrait photography. This model is paired with the Kodak Ektar 127mm f/4.7 lens, a sharp and versatile lens known for its ability to capture stunning detail, even in challenging lighting conditions.

Key Features and Specifications:

Camera: Crown Graphic 4x5

• Format: 4x5 inch sheet film
• Camera Type: Press camera with spring back (for easy film insertion and removal)
• Bellows: Extending bellows for close-ups and wide-angle shots
• Focus Mechanism: Ground glass focusing with a high-quality adjustable range for precise focus
• Construction: Durable metal and wood, designed to withstand outdoor conditions
• Viewfinder: Foldable top viewfinder and optical focusing aids
• Lens Mount: Graflok lens mount (compatible with various lenses)
• Shutter Speed Range: Typically from 1/500s to 1 second, plus bulb mode for long exposures
• Aperture Range: f/4.7 to f/22, allowing for a range of creative control over depth of field

Lens: Kodak Ektar 127mm f/4.7

• Focal Length: 127mm
• Aperture: f/4.7 – f/22
• Lens Mount: Compatible with the Crown Graphic's Graflok mount
• Optical Design: Typically a 4-element lens design that provides sharp contrast and color accuracy
• Shutter: Typically the Compur or a similar leaf shutter with full control over exposure time
• Image Circle: Large enough to cover the 4x5 format, ensuring crisp and sharp images even at the edges
• Ideal Use: Perfect for both landscape and portrait photography due to its focal length, offering a classic "normal" perspective with a shallow depth of field at wide apertures

Why 4x5 is Perfect for Landscapes and Portraits

The 4x5 format offers a level of detail and tonal richness that simply cannot be achieved with smaller formats. This is due to the larger size of the negative, which captures more information and allows for exceptionally sharp prints, especially when enlarged.

• Landscapes: The large negative of the 4x5 film captures incredible levels of detail, rendering vast scenes with stunning clarity. The wide dynamic range of the format ensures that both bright highlights and deep shadows are recorded with precision. The Kodak Ektar 127mm f/4.7 lens is ideal for landscapes, providing a sharp and wide depth of field at smaller apertures, which allows you to capture expansive vistas in full detail. Additionally, the wide tonal range of large format film makes it especially well-suited for capturing the subtle gradients in light found in landscape photography, such as sunsets or misty mornings.

• Portraits: The 4x5 format allows photographers to isolate their subject with beautifully rendered bokeh, creating a soft, creamy background. The Kodak Ektar 127mm f/4.7 lens, with its relatively fast aperture of f/4.7, is perfect for portraiture as it offers a shallow depth of field, allowing the subject to stand out sharply against a soft and pleasingly blurred background. The large film size also means that every fine detail, such as skin texture, hair, and eye detail, is captured with remarkable precision. The tonal range is ideal for skin tones, producing smooth gradations of light and shadow.

• Versatility: A large-format camera like the Crown Graphic gives photographers immense control over depth of field, perspective, and focus. Whether you’re shooting a sweeping landscape or a tight portrait, the ability to tilt and shift the camera or adjust the focus plane enhances creative freedom, making it suitable for a wide range of applications.

The Crown Graphic is particularly beloved for its portability compared to other large-format cameras, making it easy to take on outdoor excursions for landscape shots. Coupled with the Kodak Ektar 127mm lens, this setup gives photographers a high-quality tool capable of delivering stunning results in both studio and natural settings.

This combination of the Crown Graphic camera with the Kodak Ektar lens truly excels at capturing high-resolution, richly detailed images, whether for portraiture or sweeping landscapes.