The Last Naturalists’ Graflex Ever Made – Thomas Evans
The Last Naturalists’ Graflex Ever Made – Thomas Evans
Published in the Graflex Journal, 2023, Issue 1.
The Naturalist Graflex was introduced in 1907, and was produced until 1921. The 1907 Graflex Catalog described the concept behind this unusual design very well:
“The Naturalists’ Graflex Camera is designed especially for naturalists’ work in photographing birds, wild animals, or similar subjects where long-focus or tele-photo lenses are required. The camera in general design and construction is similar to the regular Auto Graflex, but the increased length of the camera accommodates much longer side arms. These arms are made of heavy brass, giving ta liberal extension, yet maintaining absolute rigidity. The focus is obtained by reflection on the upper mirror, and enables the operator to conceal himself behind a stone or log and focus from the rear of the camera without exposing too much of his person, as would be the case in using the ordinary type of Graflex Camera.”
“The Naturalists’ Graflex will accommodate lenses of from 12 ¾ to 26 inches equivalent focus, and is fitted with the regular Graflex Focal Plane Shutter.”
The camera without lens, including one double plate holder was priced at $190.00. The camera with the Bausch & Lomb Zeiss Protar Lens, Series VIIa, No.19, f6.3, was twice as expensive, priced at $378.50. This Protar VIIa lens had a focal length of 13 ¼-inches (336.5mm), and was a combination of two Protar VII lens components of 23 1/8-inches (590.5mm) each. The Protar Lenses were designed to be used in combination, at f/6.3, or each component could be used singly, usually at about f/12.5. And so, this lens could be used at either 13 ¼-inch or 23 1/8-inch focal length. Zeiss, and Bausch & Lomb under contract, made Protar lenses in several focal lengths, and, in theory, some different Protar VII lens components and combinations could be used with this camera.
The 1920 Bausch & Lomb catalog said this about their Protar VIIa lenses:
“The series VIIa lens has satisfactorily solved the problem of variety and convenience; for composed as it is of two series VII single Anastigmats, the doublet resulting from the combined components is simply perfection in all the qualities desired in a photographic lens.”
“As single Anastigmats, the Series VII lenses have a distinct field of their own. They are perfect single lenses, having a speed of F:12.5, which is ample for instantaneous exposures out of doors under favorable light conditions. So perfect are the spherical and astigmatic corrections as to make the single lens almost equal to the doublet, and not only equal, but actually superior to many doublet lenses of other makers…”
In the 1908 catalog, the Naturalists’ Graflex had a new feature: the view finder could be rotated from horizontal to vertical, to allow focusing from the ordinary Graflex position.
The Folmer & Schwing Division offered to fit the customer’s own lens to their cameras. Mike Hanemann, in his first-quarter 2001 Graflex Historic Quarterly article, described a Naturalists’ Graflex that had been fitted with an f:5.6, 20-inch Taylor Telephoto lens, and due to the quality of the workmanship he thought that it must have been done by the factory. The modification involved cutting away the top of the lens box to make room for the lens and to allow access to adjust the lens aperture.
Frank M. Chapman
Frank Chapman, ornithologist and Bird Curator at the American Museum of Natural History, New York City, was an early user of the Naturalists’ Graflex. Mr. Chapman may have been a significant inspiration for the design of this camera. In his 1903 book, “Bird Studies with a Camera”, he described his ideal apparatus for making photographs of birds, which would be a 4x5-inch ‘reflecting’ camera,’ with “… a mirror, set at an angle of forty-five degrees to the plate, is interposed between the latter and the lens, and reflects the image to a ground glass on top of the camera… The mirror, when released, should automatically release a focal plane shutter. Mr. Chapman also recommended that the bird photographer use a convertible Zeiss Anastigmat (Protar), Series VIIa lens, in order to have at hand both a fairly fast normal lens and a lens of about twice the focal length when a single component lens was used. The Naturalists’ Graflex appears to have been designed to make the best use of the B&L Convertible Protar No. 19, as it accommodates both the combined focal length of 13 ¼-inch and the single element focal length of 23 ¼-inch, which are very close to the minimum and maximum focal lengths that can be used with this camera.
In his 1933 Autobiography of a Bird Lover, Mr. Chapman reflected back on his early experiments at bird photography: “There were no reflecting or Graflex cameras available for our work in Florida, and the naturalist photographer was handicapped by the lack of a camera carrying a long-focus lens with which, without pausing to insert a plate, he could make an exposure at the moment of focus.” The camera that he first tried was made for him by John Rowley who worked with him at the museum, which was a 5x7-inch twin-lens-reflex camera, which he described as cumbersome but practical. I suspect that a Naturalists’ Graflex, as large as they were, would seem quite trim and nimble in comparison to this camera.
Frank Chapman was the editor of the Bird Lore Magazine, published under the auspices of the National Association of Audubon Societies, and in the March – April 1908 issue, he included a recommendation for the Naturalists’ Graflex, quoting substantially from the Graflex catalog. This prominent recommendation may have been sought-after by Folmer & Schwing, and must have been much appreciated by the company. As a possible measure of Mr. Chapman’s influence, he was an associate of then President Theodore Roosevelt, and the Naturalists’ Graflex page from the 1908 catalog is among Mr. Roosevelt’s papers.
Naturalists’ Graflex page from Roosevelt’s papers.
Ad for the Naturalists’ Graflex in Bird Lore Magazine.
In the introduction of Mr. Chapman’s 1908 book, Camps and Cruises of an Ornithologist, he described his photographic outfit: “I still use a reflecting camera of the ‘Graflex’ type, and also a tripod camera … a Bausch & Lomb Convertible Series VIIa No. 10, F. 6.3, with a focal length of eight inches, the component lenses having each a focal length of fourteen inches. Although these single lenses are rated with a speed of only F. 12.5, I have found no difficulty in making satisfactory pictures of birds in flight with an exposure one-thousandth of a second, the lens being wide open. … if one can afford a No. 19 lens of the same series with a focal length of thirteen and one-eighth inch focus, the components being each of twenty-three and one-eighth inch focus, he will materially increase his chances of success…” In this book, he mentions using the 23-inch Protar single component lens for photographing birds at greater than 50 yards.
Arthur Radclyffe Dugmore
A Radclyffe Dugmore was another prominent photographer of birds and wildlife who may have had some influence on the design of the Naturalists’ Graflex. As early as 1902, the year that the very first Graflex Camera was introduced, he had praise for the camera: “… The Graflex, which, though expensive, is about all that can be wished for. Being strongly made, it will withstand the rough usage incidental to natural-history photography. Its ling draw of bellows allows of the use of a twelve-inch lens, and for objects up to within about ten feet distant a six-inch lens with hand-camera telephoto attachment can be used. … A bird may be caught on the wing with as much ease and certainty as if it were mounted.”
He goes on to describe his preference in lenses: “The most useful lens for all-round work is one whose two systems or combinations can be used separately. By having such a lens you have practically two in one, the single combination having about double the focal length of the couplet.”
In a latter book, Mr. Dugmore says: “The reflex camera should be so arranged that the focussing hood admits of use from above and from the back. The advantage of this is that it allows the camera to be held level with the eyes so that the immediate foreground is not shown in the picture. When you are in a canoe you can operate this camera with greater freedom and safety as it will not be necessary to stand up or even to kneel in order to clear the adjacent water or the canoe bow which so often obtrudes itself in such pictures.”
I don’t know how closely Mr. William Folmer read such books and magazines by naturalist photographers, looking for ideas, but if he did, the desires of these photographers were there to find and inspire his designs.
Production
Despite its wonderful design and promotion, it appears that the total number of Naturalists’ Graflex Cameras made would be less than 200. There is no existing record of the cameras made from 1907 to 1914, but the existing records do show that 61 4x5-inch Naturalists’ Graflex Cameras, and one 5x7-inch model, were made from 1915 to 1921. If the rate of about nine cameras per year had been held in the first eight years of production, then that would bring the total to about 130 cameras, but there is really no way to know for sure.
Naturalists’ Graflex production orders from the extant serial number book: [61: 4x5” and 1: 5x7”]
Lot Amt. Camera Serial numbers Location
6671 18 4x5 Naturalists’ Graflex Cameras 56760 – 56977 [sheet 4, c.1915]
6677 18 4x5 Naturalists’ Graflex Cameras 76988 – 77005 [sheet 5]
5801 1 5x7 Naturalists’ Graflex Camera 111700 [sheet 17]
6845 12 4x5 Naturalists’ Graflex Cameras 111751 – 111762 [1920 – 1921]
6845 13 4x5 Naturalists’ Graflex Cameras 111787 – 111799 [1920 – 1921]
According to Al Benham’s article: Rural Life Photographer, in the Graflex Journal, Issue 1, 2017, his grandfather, John Calvin Allen, had the 5x7-inch Naturalists’ Graflex, 111700, made-to-order to use to photograph individual beef animals where a long-focus lens must be used to avoid distortion. J. C. Allen wrote of this camera: “The camera will accommodate a 23-inch lens and is focused through a reflector, so the animal is seen on the ground glass until the exposure is made. This is quite an advantage with restless animals, especially in fly time.” Mr. Allen had a rural photographic business in Indiana, as well as running his own farm, and working for a while for Purdue University.
Assuming that the existing production orders were accurate, then the Naturalists’ Graflex Camera that I have, number 111799, was the last one ever made.
Naturalists’ Graflex showing the view finder in horizontal position.
The Last Naturalists’ Graflex
Bausch & Lomb f:6.8, 24-inch, Telestigmat lens.
The camera arrived with some damage, but in overall very good condition. The slide that holds the lens in place on the front standard had come loose, the screws had pulled out, and this heavy lens had apparently banged around in the lens box, splitting the wooden sides of the box. This was fairly easy to repair, and once the focal plane shutter had been lubricated and exercised a bit, the camera works well. The lens is not the B&L Zeiss Protar VIIa No.19, but is instead a Bausch & Lomb 24-inch, f:6.8 Telestigmat. It is a large piece of glass, weighing 4 pounds. The lens board is a hefty 3/8th inch thick, with no step around the edges, and is just under 4 ½” square.
The 1917 Graflex catalog still lists the Protar VIIa No. 19 lens for the Naturalists’ Graflex, but the 1919 catalog lists this 24-inch Telestigmat in its stead. Carl Zeiss Optical Works and Bausch & Lomb had entered into a collaboration in the 1890s under which B&L was licensed to produce lenses according to the Zeiss optical designs, but this corporate alliance ended during World War I. The Telestigmat is marked “Pat. Oct. 24, 1918,” and so was developed during World War I, apparently to be used for aerial reconnaissance. As B&L was no longer under license to Zeiss to make the Protar lenses, a new lens was needed, and the Telestigmat would have been an appropriate and readily available substitute.
In his book “Flight, Action, Camera,” Douglas E. Campbell mentions that in September 1921, the U. S. Navy conducted tests of the 24-inch B&L Telestigmat for use in aerial mapping. Curiously, the Navy concluded that this 24-inch lens did not adequately cover the 4x5-inch format. Later, during World War II and into the 1950s, the U. S. Military did use a B&L 40-inch, f:8 Telestigmat, for aerial reconnaissance, and to photograph nuclear tests.
A second mirror reflects the ground glass image to the view finder when used in the horizontal position.
Using The Naturalists’ Graflex
The Naturalist Graflex does not have a revolving back, and the film is held in the landscape position. The view finder stores away compactly when not in use, and can be used from the rear as well as from the top. When used in the horizontal position, a second 45-degree mirror reflect the image from the ground glass back through the view finder. The main body of the camera is seven inches tall by seven inches wide, including the shutter controls, and eighteen inches long. The view finder at the rear of the camera brings the height to twelve inches, and when opened for viewing it reaches sixteen inches tall when vertical. The view finder adds eight inches to the length when horizontal, reaching twenty six inches. So, the camera is roughly three times the length of the standard 4x5-inch Auto Graflex, or about twice the length of the RB Auto Graflex. When the 24-inch Telestigmat is focused at infinity, because it is a telephoto lens it only needs to be extended three inches beyond the front of the camera, and at this focus the camera is well balanced and easy to use hand-held. However, as one focuses on nearer subjects the camera becomes quite front-heavy. When the bellows is fully extended, the camera will focus on a subject at nine and one-half feet, but the camera is then thirty-one inches long, not counting the view finder if horizontal. At this closest focus the camera is unwieldy hand-held, and it is a challenge to use even on a sturdy tripod. Used on a heavy tripod, this closest focus produces an image on the film that covers an area one foot wide.
Conclusion
The Naturalists’ Graflex is an extraordinary and fascinating camera. It was designed in 1907 with the special needs of the then pioneer naturalist photographer in mind. That is, the field-going photographer needed a portable, hand-held camera that would be self-contained and yet versatile enough to not only allow up-to-the–moment-of-exposure focusing, full image viewing on a ground glass, and shutter speeds of up to 1/1000th second to catch quick movement, but which would also accommodate telephoto and long-focus lenses so that the photographer could secure detailed images of birds and other wildlife, or similarly unapproachable subjects, from a distance. The long-focus lenses also proved to be useful for producing distortion-free images such as were valuable for scientists and commercial photographers. This camera for-shadowed the development of later long-focus cameras such as the Big Bertha.
Being a large and somewhat unwieldly, and expensive, camera probably kept it from being more widely appreciated, but it was well designed for the narrow purpose for which it was intended. Sales were never high, and this plus the loss of the ability of Bausch and Lomb to continue to manufacture the Protar Ser. VIIa lenses, for which the camera appears to have been designed, probably led to the camera being discontinued.
Today, a hundred years after the Naturalist Graflex was discontinued, it is hard to imagine hauling so much camera around while on safari, exploring the swamps of Florida, mountain climbing, or just walking down to the local park. The quality and unimaginable quantity of telephoto and zoom lenses now available for small cameras that produce high resolution images at the touch of a button have removed the need for packing such a large camera, but they have not removed the fascination.
U.S. Army Signal Corps during WWI with a Naturalists' Graflex among other cameras, curtesy of De Miollis Laurent.
Bausch & Lomb Optical Company, 1920 Photographic Lenses. (Pages 37, 58)
Benham, Al. 2017. Rural Life Photographer. Graflex Journal, Issue 1, 2017. (Page 4) (5x7 Naturalists’ Graflex) Available here: https://journal.graflex.org/journal-2017-01.pdf
Campbell, Douglas E. 2014. Flight, Action, Camera, History of U. S. Naval Aviation Photography and Photo-Reconnaissance. Lulu.com (page 59.)
Chapman, Frank M. 1903 Bird Studies with a Camera, with introductory chapters on the outfit and methods of the bird photographer. D. Appleton and Company, New York.
Chapman, Frank M. 1908. Camps and Cruises of an Ornithologist. D. Appleton and Company, New York.
Chapman, Frank M. 1908. Bird Lore Volume X, No. 2. D. Appleton & Company, Harrisburg, PA, New York, NY.
Chapman, Frank M. 1933. Autobiography of a Bird Lover. D. Appleton – Century Co., New York, London.
Dugmore, Arthur Radclyffe. 1902. Nature and the Camera. Doubleday, Page & Co. New York. (Pages 4, 7)
Dugmore, Arthur Radclyffe. 1912. Wild Life and the Camera. J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia, William Heinemann, London. (Page 21)
Graflex and Graphic Cameras, 1907. Folmer & Schwing Co. Rochester New York.
Graflex and Graphic Cameras, 1917. Folmer & Schwing Department, Eastman Kodak Co. Rochester New York.
Graflex and Graphic Cameras, 1919. Folmer & Schwing Department, Eastman Kodak Co. Rochester New York.
Anonymous, (Todd Gustavson?) 2014. The Mystery 5x7 Naturalists’ Graflex, Graflex Historic Quarterly, Volume 19, Issue 2, Second Quarter 2014. (Page 4) Available here: https://ghq.graflex.org/GHQ-19-2.pdf
Hanemann, Mike. 2001. The Graflex Naturalist Camera, Graflex Historic Quarterly, Volume 6, Issue 1, First Quarter 2001. (Page 1).
Harvard University, Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments,
Triple Alliance: Zeiss - Bausch & Lomb – Saegmuller 1908 1915.
http://waywiser.fas.harvard.edu/people/7108/triple-alliance--zeiss--bausch--lomb--saegmuller?fbclid=IwAR07OQmicaoaXid-2tisH839zB1CdIgLh9ROwmMOyufgNKuGo8C2P4RHmGA
Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library TR Center - Print Image (theodorerooseveltcenter.org)
Tuttle, Ronn. 2004. Special Find. Graflex Historic Quarterly, Volume 9, Issue 4, 2004. (Page 4)(The Long Focus Graphic)
Tuttle, Ron. 2015. Two Naturalists’ Cameras. Graflex Journal, Issue 3, 2015. (Page 1) Available here: https://journal.graflex.org/journal-2015-03.pdf
Wikipedia Frank Chapman, Ornithologist https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Chapman_(ornithologist)
Wilson’s Photographic Magazine, 1913, Volume 50, page 316
1908 Kermit Roosevelt with Naturalist Graflex in Africa












