Best place to get an 8x20 plate holder and film holders modified/made

Okay I gotta whip myself into shape here. A lot of projects that have been put on the back-burner that I need to get done before April for an event and this is one.

I bought an 8x20 last year and it turned out the holder it came with was a total dud. It was too wide for the back (the short dimension) so a planed and sanded it down. Now it fits but the rib on the holder isn't in the right place so the holder is cocked up on one side. I need this holder modified or the back modified with an extra channel for that rib. I also want one more holder made to fit as well as a plate holder for 8x20 for a project my friend and I are working on.

Who might be the best one-stop-shop for all three of these things? Preferably without costing an arm and a leg - :rolleyes: yes I know, that's crazy talk. Let's just say I'd prefer cheap to pretty (btw if you happen to have any 8x20 holders you would divest yourself of feel free to message me).

Richard Ritter tackled much these same issues for my 11x14 camera and holders. Quality work. http://www.lg4mat.net/

Thank you for reminding me of Mr. Ritter. Definitely will email him soon.

Richard is probably the only guy to do all that stuff. Not going to be cheap though. Have you seen what normal (not custom) 8x20 holders sell for?
Best of luck.

Bryan

yes, unfortunately it definitely will not be cheap and with RR being the go-to man for this sort of work, a deadline of April may not be possible

have you thought of, say, approaching Hugo Zhang to see if he can sell you an 8 x 20 back plus a couple of holders but if he can, then it will definitely not be low budget etc

good luck

andrew

Looking at the Chamonix custom plate holder costs I hadn't planned on emailing them. They don't have an 8x20 size but I can guess based on the sizes they list. Throwing away the back I have is not something I'm considering.

I know nothing will be "cheap" but mostly I'm not going to spring for the most expensive holders out there. I'd be happy to buy used ones if I can get them to fit.

Well if I can't get it by April it's not the end of the world. I am doing an event with some friends and might be shooting 4x5 and whole-plate tintypes / wet-plates. I thought setting up a couple of 8x20 tintypes of the whole crew of this event might be a really awesome final activity. But regardless, I need to get the film holder modded at the very least so I can stop having a big useless paperweight of an ULF camera.

ok

there's always these guys:

http://www.wetplatewagon.com/

andrew

Thanks, I will investigate them. The darkroom-in-a-box is pretty neat.

Firstly I recommend Chamunix because I bought 20x20 WP holder for my 16x20 camera.
Secondly, I recommend another guy in Beijing. He made 8x10 and 16x20 holders for me.
The quality of holders above are reliable.
Attachment 129478Attachment 129479

They are the 8x10~

Richard Ritter is an excellent resource. Alan Brubaker is also an extremely talented craftsman. His film holders are magnificent. In addition, he has expertly modified as well as repaired a few of my wood cameras.