Film Holder Cases

[Steve Hamley]

Folks,

Time to pick the brains of the collective.

A while back I picked up some 8x10 film holders and a case (pictured). It's a good case obviously made for 8x10 film holders, but it isn't dust proof and it is black which is not perhaps the color of choice for hotter, sunnier climes.

So here's the question: Are there Pelican cases, Storm cases, or other more "sealable" cases people are liking to hold 8x10 and 4x5 film holders?

I seem to recall that some ammo cases are good fits for 4x5, but don't remember if they would accommodate some padding on the inside.

Thanks!

Steve

[vinny]

For 4x5 I use the F64 brand zippered pouches. For 8x10 I have a folding cooler that I lucked out on through a friend on apug. The company doesn't make them anymore. I've never understood why anyone would make black camera bags or cases of any kind. In the movie business, everything is white, gray, or yellow, never black.

[Gene McCluney]

When you upgrade, if you want to sell that black case, send me a PM.

[Archphoto]

I had a black case like that one time untill I put a wire brush to a power tool.....
Doesn't look perfect, but it is a lot cooler inside.

Black is for pro's some thought.....

I would keep this case !

Peter

[Frank Petronio]

Jeez that is a nice case and black doesn't show dirt like white or silver would. Why not just toss a light dark cloth over the top of the case when it's in the car? Film can get really hot, Death Valley hot, and be just fine.

[Steve Hamley]

"What we have here is a failure to communicate."

I hadn't planned on getting rid of it, I just wondered if anyone was using something else that was as good or better in dusty or hot environments.

Cheers, Steve

[Andrew O'Neill]

I use a soft-sided insulated cooler bag that I picked up a few years ago at Costco. Holds all 15 of my 8x10 holders with room to spare.

[rappersdelight]

you can look for pelican cases that have pick and pluck foam with white or silver exteriors. might be hard to find a compact case that will hold 8x10's vertically..

[Jerry Bodine]

Steve,

If painting the case white is impractical, you might want to check out the Pelican 1527 (B&H #PE1527) padded bag that I use. It’s fairly good dust protection, but I use pink anti-static zip-lock bags to be sure. To give you some idea of the capacity, after removing all the padded inserts there’s room for 24 5x7 holders (upright) OR 12 8x10’s (on sides). The zip-lock bags reduce the capacity somewhat. I get the zip-locks here because they’re close and shipping is modest: http://staticbags.com/Pink-All.html
I use the 6x8 bags for 4x5, 9x12 bags for 5x7, and 12x15 bags for 8x10.

[John Powers]

Eight 8x10 holders go in one of the thousand different fabric back packs LL Bean offers. I wrap two holders at a time in the black plastic bags that 16x20 Kentmere Fineprint FBVC paper comes in. They stay dust, damp free and dark. The back pack holds eight holders with little movement around.

The other eight wrapped the same way go in a cheap $15 handbag or satchel with a handle purchased at Wal-Mart. It is light grey and has held up for my wanderings.

In either case they ride on the lower rail of my baby jogger so they are exposed to dust and dirt.

Mostly now I shoot 7x17. These go one per MC bag sold by Quality Camera. They are really nice, but $30 a pop. I have two nylon sacks that hold six each. One of those rides on the rails of the baby jogger when I take out the 7x17.

For reference the baby jogger is http://babyjogger.com/perf_jogger_lp.aspx
I use it with either camera mounted on a Ries with the spikes stuck through the foot pad. I tossed the baby out. It made too much noise and got in the way.

John

[Renato Tonelli]

Zone VI used to make film holder padded cases and they were white. Once in a while they turn up.

[ki6mf]

For my 4X5 i use a padded bag from Uncle Mikes. This was designed to hold ammunition and works great on 4X5 film holders has padding for protection/insulation and rubber feet! Best of all it costs all of $30.00 so you are not paying for a "Photography Bag at rip off prices!

I also got one of the Tactical bags which is un-padded and can be carried on an airline. This was around $45.00!

http://www.uncle-mikes.com/products/deluxe_range_bag.html

You can find this type of gear at gun shops!

[Photojeep]

For my 8x10 holders, I use a video recorder bag I bought on ebay a few years ago. It is black nylon and has a bit of insulation in it. I live in the desert so shooting during the heat of the day isn't an option. I am up at 0 dark 30 to got on site and shoot in the cool morning light before it gets really hot so the color isn't a problem for me.

rb

[roger]

I use a Pelican 1430 case, which is an upright case. It almost exactly fits 8 - 8x10 film holders in water proof, dust free condition. You can install Pelican's small mesh pockets in the lid to hold a silica gel pack. I use a shoulder strap and I have carried this with my 8x10 field camera and tripod over mountain trails for significant distances. It is not a light as a foam pouch, but it is much more secure.

Roger Leslie

[Phil O.]

I also use cheap soft-sided lunch bags for both my 4X5 and 8X10 film holders. Arctic Zone brand seems to work out best, but I have others. For dust and moisture control, each holder is sealed inside a zip-lock bag before going into the soft-sided bag. It isn't hard to find zip-lock bags that are close enough to the size needed. But beyond 8X10 size it would become a bit more difficult. The zip-locks do get ragged over time, but they are cheap to replace.

And when transporting the holder bags around in a vehicle, I'll use a cheap white styrofoam cooler to place them into to help keep the temperature of the film somewhat stable. I do that in cold weather as well as at warmer times of the year.

[Phil O.]

Okay, I've gathered some more specific info on what I use for my film holders. It is more accurate to describe the bags that I use as cooler bags, rather than lunch bags. And I should also note that all film holders are placed in them edge-wise with the long side down, not stacked.

The one I use for 8X10 holders is a dark blue Arctic Zone bag that measures about 14" long, 10" deep and 7" wide, inside dimensions. It takes in eight holders comfortably without having to fight to pull them out or stuff them back in.

The one for 4X5 is also a dark blue Arctic Zone that is about 9" long, 6" deep and 5" wide, ID. It takes in 10 holders comfortably.

The Ziploc (not zip-lock) bags that I use are the 7" by 8" for 4X5, and 13" by 15-5/8" for the 8X10. They are a bit larger than are needed, but I find those sizes easiest to work with. I've tried using bags that were closer to the actual film holder size, but found the struggling to get the bags zipped up, and keep them zipped, not worth it.

[BennehBoy]

I use a padded oversize laptop bag (TechAir 5504), I can get 2 lenses (on sinar boards), meter, loupe, lee filters, 6 holders & my 8x10 hybrid dark cloth in there no problem. You could easily get ten holders in without all the other stuff. I wouldn't imagine it to be dust _proof_ but all the compartments are zippered and splash (light shower) resistant, it's not black.

Coupled with ziplocks, it's an easy, comfortable, and water/dust resistant setup that isn't all too expensive.

[Jerry Bodine]

The Ziploc (not zip-lock) bags that I use are the 7" by 8" for 4X5, and 13" by 15-5/8" for the 8X10. They are a bit larger than are needed, but I find those sizes easiest to work with. I've tried using bags that were closer to the actual film holder size, but found the struggling to get the bags zipped up, and keep them zipped, not worth it.

Phil, just to clarify a bit, the word zip-lock is my own invention. Ziploc is I think the registered name, but the concept is obviously well known to the public and is used by many bag manufacturers with other names such as "resealable", "recloseable", "zipper", etc. The bags at my link above are actually called "Seal-Top". Anti-static bags are my preference simply because of the tendency of plastic to attract dust due to the static charge they develop, particularly in dry air. Others choose to not go that route and apparently have no static problems, possibly because they work mainly in warm humid climates. As for the use of "oversize" (for lack of a better word) bags, that is certainly the best solution when problems such as you describe occur; so far, I have not experienced them, but after many "zippings" the closures may become less reliable (as you pointed out earlier). BTW, I like your suggestion of placing the holder bag in a white styrofoam cooler year round for vehicle travel.

Cheers, Jerry

[Phil O.]

Thanks for the feedback, Jerry. I had not been aware of the static issue with using zip-lock bags for film holders. Your mention of that didn't seem to register with me when I read your post, and I had not checked out your link. I have now.

One thing I do is blow off the inside of the zip bags with air to clean them of any dust that has gotten in. Not every time I reload holders, but often enough. In my B.C. days (Before Cleanliness) of early large format shooting, I paid dearly for the dust and fibers that showed up on film.

I wrote:

"The Ziploc (not zip-lock) bags"

Actually, I should have added "brand" after Ziploc, as that is the brand that I'm currently using for 4X5 and 8X10. In giving the dimensions of the bags I use, I thought it important to be specific with the Ziploc name.

[bvstaples]

I stick my 4x5s in my back pocket. More than a few and I throw them in a ziplock bag in my knapsack.

8x10s I carry in a canvas sack.

Works fine for me!


BVS

[Steve Hamley]

Thanks Roger, the 1430 looks like what I was looking for. What do you have in it; foam, divider shell, empty?

Are there other similar hard sealable cases?

Cheers, Steve

[roger]

I put a piece of flat foam in the bottom of the case to cushion the film holders from impact of setting the case down, but otherwise I leave the insides bear. I do have a foam insert that I do not use. It lowers the carrying capacity by two holders.

Roger Leslie

[BennehBoy]

Steve, the Peli 1440 is identical to the 1430 with the addition of wheels and a trolley handle - I use one to transport my P2.

[Steve Hamley]

They are not the same case according to Pelican's site. The 1430 is 13.56 x 5.76 x 11.7, the 1440 is 17.1 x 7.5 x 16 (both interior dimensions). How do 8x10 holders fit in the 1440? A pic would be very useful.

http://www.pelican.com/cases_detail.php?Case=1430

http://www.pelican.com/cases_detail.php?Case=1440

Cheers, Steve

[BennehBoy]

My apologies, I think I must have believed some salesman speel - more the fool me. That said, holders fit quite nicely on their sides in the 1440 - I'll take a photo for you tonight.

[Steve Hamley]

Thanks much!

Cheers, Steve

[BennehBoy]

Here's a shot of the 1440 with 10 holders in it, there's ample room left for the padded shelf insert to sit above these with whatever else you'd need to keep protected.

http://benneh.net/oomz/8x10/1440_8x10.jpg

Be under no illusions, the 1440 is heavy. It's ideal for rolling on hard surfaces, but not at all suited to going cross country.

[Steve Hamley]

Thanks Much,

A picture is truly worth a thousand words. Now some more words...:D

Can you fit two side-by side if they're standing upright (if they will fit standing upright)?

I plan on using it as a car case so weight isn't that much of an issue. The holders themselves are fairly heavy as people will discover if they have 10 or 12 in any kind of case.

Cheers, Steve

[BennehBoy]

No, there's not enough room for them to fit in side by side, but you can stand them up with room to spare.

The wheel housings intrude into the main body so the case bottom is narrower at the handle side - you can see in the photo above that the upper set of holders is more central in the case. The photo doesn't make it overly obvious, but there's a good 4 inches of space plus room in the lid above the holders.

As I said earlier in the thread, I abandoned using this case for my holders because I'm now using a large laptop bag to carry just 2-4 around with all my other 'extras', the peli holds my disassembled p2 8x10.

As a car case it's probably ideal, you can easily lock it to the vehicle with heavy duty cable, and these things are virtually indestructible.

In future, because of weight, I'm probably going to either get a soft case option for the p2 (another oversized laptop bag perhaps), or get a field camera - probably a chamonix. But I digress.

[david ashley kerr]

peli cases are blatantly expensive but with good reason,

i recently bought one with foam filling, and found that you can adjust the filling, as it splits into little squares, allowing you to create cavities for your equipment, I have for instance, created a comfortable space for my Linhof, my light meter on one side, and my darkslides on the other, mmm very cosy.. . and safe, the peli-cases are a pretty resilient piece of equipment..

good luck