Wood or plastic holders?

[Sanders McNew]

I am amazed that no one appears to have addressed this question before in the LF Forum archives.

I use wood film holders in 4x5 and 5x7. Why? I like the way they feel and handle.

I saw a passing reference recently that wooden holders hold film flatter. To be honest, I've used both and have never noticed a difference one way or the other.

Thoughts?

Sanders McNew
www.mcnew.net/portraits

[cyrus]

I am amazed that no one appears to have addressed this question before in the LF Forum archives.

I use wood film holders in 4x5 and 5x7. Why?


Not too many good wood holders are left. I have heard that the added benefit of wood is that they're less likely to generate static electricity and attract dust...

I got a couple for my deardorff but haven't had the time to test them yet. But as far as looks go, wooden holders sure look better on a dorf than plastic ones

[John Kasaian]

I feed both plastic and wooden ones to my 8x10. My preference is for the black wooden ones marked "made by Graflex for Eastman Kodak"

They're lighter wieght.
They're a lot cheaper.
I can unscrew the light traps for cleaning/repair if needed.
If I can't fix 'em I can easily cannibalize 'em for parts.

Good enough reasons for me, but there are times when plastic is preferable---when flying. A spring back makes a great one way demand valve. Put a smooth faced wooden film holder in your camera, take it up to 14.000' and it'll sieze on you. Land and you'll break some finger nails trying to get the holder out of the spring back. If the back has a bail, you'll simply bend the thing. A plastic holder with a textured surface will leak air to prevent the vacume---much easier on your fingernails and wallet, since you paid $$$/hour to go flying and you only have one exposure to show for it!

[Alan Davenport]

I've used both and have never noticed a difference one way or the other.

Thoughts?

Yup. Go with what makes ya happy.

[John Kasaian]

I also find that rebuilding wooden film holders a pleasant exercise on cold winter evenings. With plastic holders, that often entails mixing epoxy and other nasty stuff, then filing for an "iffy" fit. With wood holders I can fabricate new ells, easily retape hinges and do all kinds of little things to restore a cannibal queen to usefulness without messing up my fireside hearth with flammable fumes and particulates.

[Capocheny]

I've used both wooden and plastic holders in my 4x5 and haven't noticed a huge amount of difference between the two.

I do, however, much prefer the Linhof and Toyo holders to the other brands such as Fidelity and Lisco.

I also have friends who use the single sheet holders from Sinar and they swear that these holders are, by and far, the best at holding film flat.

From what I've heard (not from experience though), the vacuumed holders hold the film the absolute flattest of them all. This seems more likely since the sheet of film is sucked flat against the back of the holder. But, this is only a speculative guess! :)

For the 8x10, I've only used the plastic holders and haven't had any issues with them whatsoever.

I've also heard that the wooden ones hold the film flatter than the plastic versions although... I'm not exactly sure of the reasoning behind this.

Cheers

[Stephen Willard]

I have 4x10 wooden holders and 5x7 plastic holders. I vote hands down for the wooden ones. I like their feel, they are lighter, and I have less dust problems with them.

Can any one tell me where I can purchase new wooden 5x7 holders?

[Capocheny]

I have 4x10 wooden holders and 5x7 plastic holders. I vote hands down for the wooden ones. I like their feel, they are lighter, and I have less dust problems with them.

Can any one tell me where I can purchase new wooden 5x7 holders?

Stephen,

Unfortunately, you've just missed out on 4 wooden ones selling for $25 each on APUG. I'm pretty sure they've already been sold but you can check it out to be certain.

Otherwise, you do see them every so often on the bay. :)

Cheers

[Sal Santamaura]

Can any one tell me where I can purchase new wooden 5x7 holders?You won't like the price, but contact Günter at Lotus View Camera. I'm so pleased with their wooden holders that I'm considering asking him for a price on custom 5x7s. Perhaps if a number of us pool an order the cost could be reduced.

[Kevin Crisp]

I agree with John. The graflex or Kodak by Graflex ones with the screws that let you take apart the light trap are nice and light weight. It is a question of what your time is worth; they are all loaded with dust, have to be disassembled, the tape has to be redone properly, they might need a little paint, the dark slides have to be cleaned, etc. etc. and when you're done you have nice usable film holders. The thickness of the tape on the hinge has to be just right on some cameras (like a Canham MQC) or they won't seat properly since the too thick tape on the hinge will keep the light trap groove from fully seating in the slot on the back, even though it looks like it did. All of this can take 45 minutes to an hour per holder.

[Michael Graves]

I must be the strange one here then. I like the plastic ones better. They're easier to vacuum out. I have a Kinetronics antistatic brush that I use to dust them before vacuuming. I've got six wooden 5x7s that I'd trade for Fidelity or Lisco plastic holders any day. One of them needs to be retaped. Two of mine for one of yours.

[Stephen Willard]

Capocheny, I am keeping eye pealed on ebay. Sal my 4x10 wooden holders are Lotus at $295 a pop when I bought them a while back. Ouch, I bought six of them plus some back up dark slides. However, they are amazing holders with exacting tolerances. No regrets.

If we were going to go custom what I would really like is a 5x8 holder with the standard 5x7 opening. The holder would be an inch longer. This way when I cut my 5x7 from 8x10 I need only make one cut rather then 3 cuts. The extra inch of film would slide up into film holder and never get exposed. I then would cut the film down to 5x7 later after development in full light. This would make cutting 5x7 easier, faster, and with less handling and reduce dust problems.

[Donald Brewster]

I wish Fidelity still made plastic holders for 11x14. :( Hard to find used holders in that size and the new wood ones are really expensive.

[Brian Ellis]

"I saw a passing reference recently that wooden holders hold film flatter."

I doubt that any generalization like that would be accurate, so much depends on the particular holder. But I do remember one of the photography magazines publishing the results of a film flatness test some years ago and the winner was an old Graflex wooden holder.

[Don Bryant]

Not too many good wood holders are left. I have heard that the added benefit of wood is that they're less likely to generate static electricity and attract dust...

I got a couple for my deardorff but haven't had the time to test them yet. But as far as looks go, wooden holders sure look better on a dorf than plastic ones
Try some S&S holders, I think you will find the quality to be excellent, and probably better than most older used ones.