I have an old Calumet 400 with a spring back, and recently loaded a Grafmatic film holder with film only to discover that it doesn't seem to fit the Calumet. The Grafmatic is fairly thick and is stretching the springs of the camera back to what looks like their limits. While the film holder goes in 3/4 of the way there is a ridge on the Grafmatic that prevents it from going in any further. I'm wary of exerting any more force to try and squeeze it in. Am I doing something wrong, or is the Grafmatic just too thick for the Calumet back? (The Grafmatic fits fine into the graflock back of a Speed Graphic I tried it on, of course.) Any help would be appreciated.

-- stephen (smg@netcom.ca), October 10, 2000

Answers

Hi Stephen, I don't know if it will work on the Calumet, but with an old Merdian Press camera i owned af ew years ago, I solved the Grafmatic back problem by remoing the screws holding the back springs ( in the center) and putting 2 very thin washers underneath the spring center and replacing the screws. It's worth the experiment the washers were quite cheap. Good luck. Eric Lohse

-- Eric Lohse (elohse@earthlink.net), October 10, 2000.

Hi Stephen, I don't know if it will work on the Calumet, but with an old Merdian Press camera I owned a few years ago, I solved the Grafmatic back problem by removing the screws holding the back springs ( in the center) and putting 2 very thin washers underneath the spring center and replacing the screws. It's worth the experiment the washers were quite cheap. Good luck. Eric Lohse

-- Eric Lohse (elohse@earthlink.net), October 10, 2000.

Stephen: You really need the Graflok back for the Grafmatic. It will ruin the springs on the Calumet. You may be able to adapt a Graflok to the Calumet. I did on one I used to have. Not a big project.

Regards, Doug.

-- Doug Paramore (dougmary@alanet.com), October 10, 2000.

I had a C400 when Polaroid introduced the film pack back. This was in the mid 70's. Calumet sold a set of replacement springs for the camera to allow additional travel to cover the extra thick back. I used a Grafmatic with the camera, after replacing the springs, so that's probably all you need.

They might still sell the springs as replacement parts, so I suggest you give them a call.

-- Charlie Strack (charlie_strack@sti.com), October 10, 2000.