Camera Geekery: The 4X5 Gowlandflex Glamour Camera
In this job, I get to play around with some pretty incredible cameras—and for that, I’m extremely thankful. Although when I first saw this camera, I was floored. I had never seen anything quite like it. This is the remarkable 4X5 Gowlandflex Glamour Camera. And it is an absolute unit.
Peter Gowland
Before we dive into the camera itself, we should probably talk a little bit about the man behind it. Peter Gowland was a glamour and fashion photographer based in California during the Hollywood golden age. Over a long and successful career, he photographed celebrities like Jayne Mansfield, Alfred Hitchcock, and many more. He worked hand in hand with his wife, Alice and they produced over 1000 magazine covers. He was famously named “America’s No. 1 Pin-up Photographer” by the New York Times.
Gowland was a child of Hollywood and grew up surrounded by the glitz and glamour. After his stint in the military during WWII he returned to Hollywood, having noticed the popularity of pin-up style photography with the troops. This led to his career, becoming the leading figure in the genre.
The Inventor
But Gowland wasn’t just a photographer—he was also an inventor too. And he spent many years trying to create the perfect camera for his needs. Gowland was dissatisfied with the cameras available on the market, after having taken them apart to better understand them. He wanted to create cameras that would give him the perfect solution to a particular situation. The requirement being that they had no frills and were so simple to use that they required no instruction.
There are differing information sources as to how many different models of camera that Gowland produced, but as his official page says 21 I am going to defer to that one. But the most popular of all the cameras he produced (in his home workshop, not in a factory) was the one we have here, the 4X5 Gowlandflex Glamour Camera, a 4X5 TLR what is certainly a thing to behold.
This camera is apparently still popular with glamour photographers today. Can anyone chime in? Do you know of anyone still using one?
4X5 Gowlandflex Glamour Camera
Peter Gowland was a massive Rolleiflex fan, owning 16 of the cameras. But when shooting for his glamour work he was using large format cameras. Shooting large format had limitations, with the cameras being cumbersome and and time consuming to set up. His love for the ease of using the Rolleiflex led to the inspiration for his large format TLR cameras. He set out to create a lightweight, user-friendly large-format camera that retained the benefits of TLR viewing.
As you can see, it’s still a substantial piece of equipment—not for the faint of heart. But at just 4 kgs, it was lighter than most of its contemporaries and with the waist level finder it was a great deal easier to compose images. Sadly I didn’t get to actually shoot any film through the camera. I was only able to handle it for a short time as it sold out almost immediately (of course). This particular camera came with the Schneider Symmar f/5.6 180mm lenses, which has a close focus of 18 inches.
Legacy
It is said that Gowland produced a total of 1,500 cameras during his lifetime, including the gigantic 8×10 Gowlandflex, known as “The Beast” (it stands nearly 1m tall!) and the Wide Angle Gowlandflex. He was constantly refining the designs and it is said that no two cameras are the same due to ongoing improvements. Despite the innovations, the 4X5 Glamour Camera accounted for over 600 of the sales, with high profile clients including Annie Leibovitz, The FBI and Playboy magazine.
Conclusion
I really wish I had more time with this camera. It was a wonder to hold and to try. You could feel his philosophy in the sheer simplicity of the camera, it was big but it fit the user well and was immediately intuitive. Although I think you would need to spend a fair bit of time in the gym if you wanted to use the camera on the regular.
I am glad to have been able to find a camera like this to share with you all. I hope I can find another one someday.
JCH
I’m sorry you didn’t get to shoot any film through it. Make no mistake, this is a 4×5 camera and running 120/220 through it is like trying to win the Indy 500 in a Sherman Tank. Mine has a 210 Symmar f5.6 taking lens and a 210mm f4.5 Xenar viewing lens. The Symmar was state of the art in the 1960s and just doesn’t have the resolution to use on 120/220. If I need 120/220, I’d use my Mamiya 645 because it’s far easier to use and will produce images far sharper than a 60 year old Symmar can.
Let’s say you just took a photo and you’re ready to change film. This is where things get dicey. Since we’re shooting 4×5 you’ve got two choices, a two sheet cut film holder or a 6 shot Graphmatic. Changing cut film holders are easy on an eye level Speed Graphic is easy; pull, flip, insert. On the Gowlandflex it’s not eye level anymore but 5 inches lower and that throws the geometry off and the pull, flip, insert isn’t anywhere as easy as on the Graphic. Same thing with Grafmatics, easy at eye level on a Speed Graphic but more difficult on the Gowlandflex.
What part of the world are you in?