Wild idea - auto sheet film holder

[Lightbender]

Since we are on the subject of wild ideas.. how bout a new sheet film holder.

1. holds 20 sheets of film (maybe a fat model comes out that holds 50)
2. a roller on the side moves 1 sheet from the storage slot to the live slot.
3. exposure is made
4. roller moves the single sheet to the back of the storage slot.
5. a divider keeps the exposed film separate from the unexposed.

Could be motorized or manual drive.
With the experience of printer paper handling tech, I would not think this would be too hard.

More film used = more film bought.

[Gene McCluney]

Well, I shot 70 sheets of 5x7 on Friday, but I am the exception to the rule. Many LF photographers shoot just a few sheets a day, once a week or so.

There was a manual version of this idea, it was called a film pack, and Kodak and Ansco and probably Ilford and DuPont all made film packs. The film was thinner, so it could fold around the bend when the tab was pulled after exposure, pulling the film to the back of the pack. Film pack products were discontinued due to slow sales.

[Lightbender]

You could shoot as much or as little as you wished. Just empty out the film from the holder with the lever set to "unload" when you are done.

I have never used one, but it would seem to me that the film packs would not keep the film as flat as a double-d holder. (hmm that just didnt come out right=])
Anyone here ever use a film pack? were they just for press style shooting?

[Martin Miksch]

Graflex has done this a long time ago.
Regards
Martin

[David A. Goldfarb]

There was one that held 50 sheets made in L.A. if I remember correctly in the 1970s or 80s.

[Sevo]

Kinematics held ten, and Kindermann also made a more recent ten sheet holder up into the eighties.

And back in time, there were even bigger ones. Besides the Graflex bag-mags (at least in flavours of 12 and 24), there were German made wooden 12 plate/20 sheet mags at least up into the thirties, for most sizes and attachment types - I have one for my Mentors and have seen others for Normalfalz backs.

Sevo

[Bruce Watson]

There was one that held 50 sheets made in L.A. if I remember correctly in the 1970s or 80s.

I saw pictures of one that reportedly held fifty 5x4 sheets. A motor drive. Looked like a cool little beastie. Didn't someone try to sell one like that on LFPI a year or so back?

[CG]

Motorized aerial back. 5" or thereabouts roll film.

[Drew Bedo]

What about just updating the grafmatic in modern hi-tech polycarbonate or other suitable material? Light weight materials with low friction properties might allow a moterized version as well as the manual model.

[David A. Goldfarb]

I saw pictures of one that reportedly held fifty 5x4 sheets. A motor drive. Looked like a cool little beastie. Didn't someone try to sell one like that on LFPI a year or so back?

I saw one on eBay around then, and there was a thread on it, and one person who had used one, I think.

[Captain_joe6]

In like fashion, I have been wondering if it would be possible to scale-up a 'bag-mag' to fit an 8x10 camera.

I think it can be done, or at least I see no reason why not.

[Bob Salomon]

In like fashion, I have been wondering if it would be possible to scale-up a 'bag-mag' to fit an 8x10 camera.

I think it can be done, or at least I see no reason why not.

Linhof 8x10 Focus/Metering Bellows.

[David A. Goldfarb]

In like fashion, I have been wondering if it would be possible to scale-up a 'bag-mag' to fit an 8x10 camera.

I think it can be done, or at least I see no reason why not.

I have a couple of 5x7" bag mags for my Press Graflex, one for film and an older one for plates. The plate mag with heavy septums plus film inserts is pretty heavy. One can only imagine what it was like loaded with a dozen 5x7" plates.

I think an 8x10" for film would need heavier septums than a smaller one, so they could slide smoothly without binding, but it could still represent a weight savings over filmholders and would fit in less space. The main obstacle, though, would be that a camera that could take an 8x10" bag mag would have to have a Graflok-type back or some other way of attaching the magazine, since almost all 8x10" backs are spring backs, and the camera would have to be able to support the weight. The body of a 5x7" Press Graflex is a rigid box, so it can handle that loaded plate mag.

8x10" Mido holders accomplish the same objectives of reduced size and weight. It would be great if they could just come back into production.

[Gord Robinson]

I have never used one, but it would seem to me that the film packs would not keep the film as flat as a double-d holder. (hmm that just didnt come out right=])
Anyone here ever use a film pack? were they just for press style shooting?

I still have some 2x3 and 3x4 film packs in the freezer and have been using them up over the last year. Normally they have 16 exposures in each pack. I have had no problem with film flatness. They have some type of a pressure plate that holds the film flat when being exposed. Kodak discontinued them in the late 80s due to small demand. The film packs were apparently hand loaded at Kodak. One nice thing about the packs is that you can "rob" the pack of exposed film at anytime and process it. I usually do this to check the fog level of the pack before using it.

Gord

[Renato Tonelli]

Has a Grafmatic-type holder ever existed for 8x10? I like using the 4x5 Grafmatics when I am backpacking - it saves space in the pack for other things like... food!