14 and 13 researched events on one shared scale. Graflex 1887–present, Linhof 1887–present.
The axis stretches where either maker has research and collapses where neither does, so a year sits opposite the same year on both. Event counts differ because research depth differs, not because one company did less.
William F. Folmer and William E. Schwing began in New York with metalwork, lighting and bicycles, then moved steadily into photographic goods. Their 1890 incorporation and camera offerings of the mid-1890s established the enterprise that would become one of Rochester's defining professional-camera makers.
Folmer & Schwing 1898 Catalog · A History of Rochester Camera and Lens Companies
Valentin Linhof founded a Munich precision-mechanical workshop in 1887 and pursued metal camera construction while wooden plate cameras remained common. Early upright, square, stereo-panorama, and large plate cameras established the company’s long-running emphasis on rigid standards, controlled movement, and repeatable manufacture.
Historische Kameras · Linhof 1957 Product Catalog · Linhof History
Folmer & Schwing's own camera line emerged in the 1890s. The 1898 catalog presents Graphic, Graphic Senior, Cycle Graphic and stereoscopic cameras in several plate formats, alongside a broad lens trade. These compact field cameras supplied the name and practical folding architecture from which later Graphic systems grew.
Folmer & Schwing 1898 Catalog · A History of Rochester Camera and Lens Companies
William Folmer's reflex-camera work joined through-the-lens viewing to a focal-plane shutter. Kingslake dates the first experimental Graflex to 1898 and describes the decisive 1904 change to a dependable curtain with fixed-width apertures, a pattern that became the mechanical signature of Graflex reflex and Speed Graphic cameras.
A History of Rochester Camera and Lens Companies · Graflex 1906 Catalog
George Eastman purchased Folmer & Schwing in 1905 and moved the operation to Rochester. The organization became a Kodak division and later the Folmer-Century operation, bringing Century's view and Cirkut panoramic lines into the same professional-camera shop while William Folmer remained general manager through 1926.
A History of Rochester Camera and Lens Companies · Graflex Corporate History · Graflex 1920 Catalog
Auto, Revolving Back, Press, Naturalist, Series B, Series C, Series D and Home Portrait cameras turned the large-format reflex idea into a broad working system. Formats ranged from compact roll-film sizes to 5 x 7, with the mirror and hood giving photographers an upright, full-size image for focusing before exposure.
Graflex 1939 Product Catalog · Graflex 1941 Catalog · Major Graflex Products · Graflex 1920 Catalog · Graflex 1906 Catalog
The Speed Graphic placed Graflex's curtain shutter in a folding, direct-view camera. Top-handle, larger-board, Pre-Anniversary and Anniversary generations expanded lens choice and refined focusing and handling. By the 1930s and 1940s the camera had become closely identified with American news and military photography.
Graflex 1939 Product Catalog · Graflex 1941 Catalog · Graflex Graphic Model History · Graflex Speed Graphic 4x5 Press Camera · Graflex 1920 Catalog
A court-directed divestiture separated Kodak's professional-camera operation. The Folmer Graflex Corporation took over the assets and continued in Rochester, carrying forward Graflex, Graphic, Cirkut and studio equipment through the Depression and wartime production before the corporate name became Graflex, Inc. in the mid-1940s.
Graflex 1939 Product Catalog · Graflex 1941 Catalog · A History of Rochester Camera and Lens Companies · Graflex Corporate History · Graflex 1927 Catalog
Nikolaus Karpf entered the family firm, completed the Ur-Technika prototype in 1934, and refined the folding technical camera for production. The Technika name joined a protected metal body and drop bed with view-camera movements, creating the portable professional platform that would become Linhof’s defining product line.
The wooden Crown View was followed by the metal Graphic View and longer-rail Graphic View II. These cameras put generous rise, shift, swing and tilt into studio and location tools, sharing selected boards or adapters with Graphic cameras and giving architectural and industrial photographers a distinctly modern American view-camera option.
Graflex 1939 Product Catalog · Graflex 1941 Catalog · Major Graflex Products · Graflex 1958 Price List
Anniversary and military Graphics, the Combat Graphic, Super D and postwar Pacemaker series carried the company through wartime and into a changed press market. Institutions and working photographers valued robust construction, interchangeable holders and the ability to combine rangefinder, scale and ground-glass focusing on one body.
Gottlieb's Life and Work · Graflex 1941 Catalog · Graflex 1958 Price List · Graflex Speed Graphic 4x5 Press Camera
The rebuilt Munich works introduced the Technika III in 1946 and developed coupled-rangefinder Super Technika versions for export during the 1950s. By 1957 Linhof offered 6×9, 4×5, and 5×7 bodies, the Technika Press, and the Aero Technika, supported by tested lenses from specialist German optical makers.
1956: Linhof Technika Press · Linhof 1957 Product Catalog · Linhof History
Pacemaker Speed and Crown Graphics standardized the postwar folding platform, while the Century Graphic adapted its ideas to 2 1/4 x 3 1/4. Super Graphic and Super Speed Graphic added a revolving Graflok back, built-in rangefinding and electrical shutter features, carrying large-format versatility to the end of production.
Graflex Graphic Model History · Major Graflex Products · Graflex 1958 Price List · Graflex 1968 Product Catalog
Graflex acquired the Ciro camera line and sold Ciro-flex, Graflex 22, Graphic 35, Century 35, Stereo Graphic and Graphic 70 cameras. These 120, 35mm stereo and 70mm products widened the badge beyond Rochester's traditional reflex and press cameras, though several compact lines depended on acquired or imported manufacture.
Linhof translated its precision-camera practice into the Kardan optical bench. Color, Bi, Standard, and Super Color versions placed movable standards on rails for long extension, format changes, and controlled perspective in studio, industrial, and architectural work, complementing rather than replacing the folding Technika.
Linhof General Catalog 6603/52e · Historische Kameras · Linhof 1957 Product Catalog · Linhof History
General Precision Equipment acquired Graflex in 1956, and the company moved to a new Monroe Avenue plant near Pittsford in 1957. The catalog still centered on professional Graphic cameras, film holders and lighting, while product development reached toward lighter Super models and new medium-format systems.
Graflex 1958 Price List · A History of Rochester Camera and Lens Companies · Graflex Corporate History · Graflex 1968 Product Catalog
Technika 70, Press 70, Aero Press, Electric 70, and the fixed-lens Linhof 220 explored faster roll-film work. Bright-frame finders, coupled lenses, exposure metering, motorized transport, and interchangeable backs carried Linhof precision into press, travel, aerial, and industrial photography beyond the classic 4×5 field camera.
Linhof General Catalog 6603/52e · 1966: Linhof 220 · Historische Kameras · Linhof Technika 70
Super Technika V bodies in 4×5, 5×7, and 6×9 refined the drop-bed system with rangefinder coupling, triple extension, revolving backs, and extensive movements. The formats were distinct cameras, not interchangeable labels; the large 5×7 branch continued through 1986 while smaller versions followed their own production paths.
Linhof General Catalog 6603/52e · Historische Kameras · 1964: Super Technika V 13x18/5x7
The XL replaced the folding bed with a modular medium-format body, dedicated focusing barrels and interchangeable roll, sheet and instant-film backs. Rangefinder, Standard and thin Super Wide Angle bodies accepted lenses from Zeiss, Schneider and Rodenstock, making the last Graflex camera system unlike its press-camera ancestors.
Singer's ownership carried Graflex cameras into the early 1970s, but camera manufacture ended in 1973 and tooling was sold to Toyo. The original manufacturing company did not continue as a camera maker; surviving cameras, manuals and the specialist community now carry the name's practical and historical continuity.
Aero Technika 45 EL combined motorized large-format transport, vacuum film flatness, and interchangeable focusing lenses for aerial work. Linhof records American and European mission use, while the later Aerotronica 69 adopted a rotating high-speed shutter and a large 6×9 motor cassette for mapping and observation.
Linhof Precision Cameras and Systems · Historische Kameras · Linhof History
The fixed-lens Technorama 617 began Linhof’s 6×17 panoramic line in 1976. A redesigned body, the 612pc II with built-in rise, and the interchangeable-lens 617s III expanded the idea. Shift accessories and lens modules brought architectural control to rigid roll-film cameras before original lens supply ended.
Technikardan cameras rotated their standards around a telescoping monorail for compact transport, combining field portability with direct view-camera movements in 6×9 and 4×5. In parallel, Kardan Master GT and GTL systems offered heavier modular studio construction, yaw-free controls, and conversions through larger sheet-film formats.
Master Technika models carried the folding 4×5 lineage into current production. The classic retained coupled rangefinder use, while the 2000 and later 3000 emphasized ground-glass focusing and extreme wide-angle operation. Modern accessories also connect film-era bodies to roll-film and digital-back workflows.
Linhof Precision Cameras and Systems · Historische Kameras · Linhof Price Listing, valid as of February 1, 2023 · Linhof History
Introduced in 1996, the M 679 was conceived for both medium-format film and digital backs. The M 679cc added direct rear-standard correction in 2000; the M 679cs of 2004 integrated a leveling panorama base and refined movements, making one studio platform adaptable across rapidly changing capture systems.
Development stages of the Linhof M 679 · Linhof Price Listing, valid as of February 1, 2023 · Linhof History
Linhof Präzisions-Systemtechnik GmbH was founded in 1998 and remains registered in Munich. Its current program continues precision camera manufacture, including Technika, Technikardan, Kardan, M 679, Techno, panoramic, and reproduction platforms, while the factory openly limits service for many older discontinued models.
Linhof Impressum · Service and spare parts · Linhof Price Listing, valid as of February 1, 2023 · Linhof History
The Linhof Techno combines Technika lensboards with the M 679 rear standard in a compact platform for digital backs and roll-film cassettes. Wide-angle bellows, front and rear shifts, and interchangeable adapters show how Linhof has carried the mechanical language of the technical camera into contemporary location photography.
Linhof Price Listing, valid as of February 1, 2023 · Linhof History
