My Camera, as a Free Lance Photographer

My working tools in the newspaper business.
Graflex Pacemaker Speed Graphic
Arguably the most influential camera of the century, the Graflex Speed Graphic was the quintessential "professional" camera from the 1930's through the early 1960's. Hundreds of thousands of these workhorses were manufactured, sold and used. This makes them one of the most popular and least expensive 4x5" camera systems available to today's photographer. As a result, the Speed Graphic is often recommended as the ideal camera for the beginning large format photographer. Is it a great camera? Yes. Is it the "best" inexpensive view camera? No.
The Speed Graphic was the most common of all "press" cameras. While any camera that can take a photograph of a newsworthy event could be considered a press camera, the term describes a unique beast. In general, a press camera has the following characteristics:
folds into a strong, compact box
flexible bellows
lenses can be easily interchanged
accepts sheet film
ground glass focusing screen
can be used handheld
comes equipped with an optical viewfinder
The most common size film for press cameras is 4x5". Although Graflexes were made in such unusual sizes as 2-1/4x3-1/4", 3-1/4x4-1/4", 3-1/2x5-1/2" and 5x7", the 4x5" Speed Graphic was the most common, and remains the most usable size. The Speed Graphic was produced in several design revisions from 1917 through 1973. This review describes an early production Pacemaker Speed Graphic, a model manufactured between 1947 and 1970.
The Speed Graphic is a remarkably rugged and versatile photographic tool. It has a composite wood, steel and aluminum chassis which is both light and strong. The complete camera weighs in at around five pounds, not that much heavier than a Nikon F4 considering that the film is 16X the size. It can be bewilderingly complex, with a Rube Goldberg-esque assortment of features. For each exposure, the Speed Graphic photographer has the choice of using one of three viewfinders (ground glass, wire frame, optical), three focusing aids (ground glass, scale, rangefinder) and one of two shutters (front leaf shutter or rear focal plane shutter).
There is precious little automation. On the bright side, that means you don't have to worry about batteries. However, there are no interlocks either; you can fog film, shoot blanks or double expose to your heart's content. Yet one learns quickly with this straightforward device; I rarely shoot blanks and have never double exposed a negative. Instead, I have grown to appreciate the flexibility that the modular Graflex design offers.
In essence, any camera is a light tight box which holds film at one end and a lens at the other. The Speed Graphic bellows extends 12-3/4", which is sufficient for 1:1 reproduction using a 150mm lens and for portraiture using the 380/5.6 Graflex Tele-Optar. The camera also can be used with relatively wide angle lenses, a 90mm being the widest practical (this gives a similar perspective to that of a 24mm lens on a 35mm camera). Barrel lenses are easily adapted for use; the supplemental rear focal-plane shutter has usable speeds from 1/30 second to 1/1000 second.
The key to successful Graflex photography is to realize that the camera is a large-format approximation of a Nikon F4 and was never intended to replace a view camera. The Speed Graphic has a fixed, non-rotating back, and only modest Scheimpflug potential. The bed can drop 15 degrees and the front lens standard can be tilted back a commensurate amount. There is a little over one-inch of lateral shift, and less than two inches of rise available. While this is insufficient "view camera" action for some, it remains, nonetheless, extremely useful for perspective correction and depth of field enhancement. I use my 4x5" Speed Graphic as my primary camera, and have rarely found a time where the availability of front standard movements was limiting.