Graflex Graphic 35

Writing about cameras can be boring and repetitious, as all are birds of a feather, and it seems that, like fashion, every generation has a lot of copycats.  Every now and then, a refreshing model appears that breaks the boundaries with a fresh concept, at times positive, and at times not so much. The Graphic 35 belongs to that category, in an honorary seat as the Canon Dial 35, the Minolta 110 Zoom SLR, and the Petri Fotochrom, not to mention Charley the Tuna or the Konica Aiborg.

Graflex made its cameras in the US, from luggable to smaller press models. Like other American manufacturers, they failed to master the art of sizing down products. In the rare case where the American manufacturers did produce a Leica challenger, say Ektra, kardon or Foton, the cost was prohibitive, and the quality was insufficient to justify the price. So, like all other US camera distributors, they relied on good old and expensive German makers and, after the war, added cameras offered by the budding Japanese industry. The one model Graflex made on home turf was the Graphic 35, an odd camera. It was a love child of the Ciro 35 and the Cee-Ay 35, yet the shutter/lens assembly was sourced from Germany.

Graflex had 14 compact modles:

There are many online and print articles about it, to say that it attracted much attention due to its peculiarities. Moreover, this model belongs to the “read the manual first” category. Kudos to Mike Butkus.

The Graphic 35 has roots outside Graflex. Camera Corporation USA, makers of perfex, designed the Cee-Ay in 1949, but it was too late, just before they caved out of business. Ciro, makers of TLR cameras, bought the production line of the Cee-Ay, made some slight changes and sold it under Ciro 35. Ciro didn’t last long either, and in 1951 Graflex took it over. Graflex messed with the Ciro 35 till it was reborn as the Century 35.

It was announced with much pomp and circumstance at a price just under the prevailing German models. It enjoyed a positive reception, but the hype did not last long due to its odd features and stiff competition from the high-spec / cheaper Japanese and East European models. The competition had long abandoned the over-the-lens shutter cocking lever in favour of combined winder, as well as fast lever winder.

• It is mentioned that there were three generations of it, but I found no specific details.
• The early run had a Wollensak shutter/lens kit, which was later replaced with Rodenstock or Enna glass and Prontor shutter. Lenses of all vendors were marked Graflar.
• Adopting the Ptrontor shutter into a predesigned body resulted in the external shutter actuation lever covered with burglar bars, which looks like an afterthought.
• Due to supply chain constraints, some shutters were marked per American convention as 2,5,10…; and some by German convention as 2,4,8…

The Century 35 features:

• On top are two equal size knobs, winder and rewind. A manual reset declining frame counter and a hot shoe
• To reset the frame counter, press hard till it dropps and turn.
• There is no dedicated rewind release control. To rewind, pull up the winder knob and slightly turn it to lock at the extended position.
• The cogs on the film path engage the double-take prevention.
• The bottom has a large lever that is well-marked. The back slides out fully.
• The back has two viewer windows. One is tiny, yet the other is smaller.
  • The right is a viewer, fairly dim and small, even as accepted at the time.
  • On the left is the rangefinder window. The image is horizontally split in the middle, hardly usable.
• At front, from top:
  • A unique, seesaw-like focusing control with a paddle at each side. I find it does not stay put once fingers are removed. Could be age or bad design. It is unique, seen again in the gas-charged Graflex Jet made by Kowa for Graflex. The Dacora-Matic 4D had a resembling arrangement, so this concept had died with the Graflex Graphic.
  • In between the paddles, a half-moon window shows the distance.
  • A lever on top of the lens barrel sets the aperture value.
  • It is colour-coded, with matching colours on the dedicated flash gun. Assumingly for ease of use.
  • On the side, a modest-looking fin sets the synch, X/M, and V for self-timer.
  • A lever in front of it cocks the shutter. For double, take cock the shutter and click the trigger.
  • The front dial sets the shutter speeds.
  • The trigger is disguised as the self-timer lever, or at least where you expect to find the timer. As with the focusing timer, it was not repeated in any other camera.

For the collector, it is an assembly of oddities, one of the last compact models made in the US. It is available at a modest price, so I would recommend having one on the shelf or as a conversation piece.