Whole Plate film holders: expensive, nonstandard, and...available?

[Will Frostmill]

Hi all!

I'd love to work in Whole Plate,* but at best, I can only afford to build a light tight box that's about the right size. Film holders & spring backs are beyond me - I just don't have the skills or tools to make them. I had thought to buy a set & build a camera around them, but I understand that the film holders are expensive and rare. Is this so? I recall reading that each manufacturer made them to have the correct depth on only their own cameras, and they went out of production before an ANSI standard was developed.

For my purposes, I don't mind using plate holders, and sandwiching in film on top of an uncoated piece of glass. I would love to know what you all think before I commit a bunch of money to this foolish endeavor.

Will

*I blame Mike Johnston, he's very persuasive. More seriously, I'd love to work with contact prints, and I feel like 5x7 is a little small, and 8x10 cameras seem intimidatingly large. I'd do 8x8 square sheet x-ray film, but that brings me right back to building my own film holders, which seems beyond difficult, and well in to impossible. Plan C would be making digital negatives from 4x5.

[Daniel Stone]

try Chamonix

http://www.chamonixviewcamera.com/holders.html

definitely NOT "cheap", but having owned a few of their 5x8 holders in the past, they're the most beautiful & well made holders I've ever come across. Definitely worth the coin IMO, even thought its much higher than other holders of similar sizing/dimensions.

-Dan

[Sal Santamaura]

See this thread for details on the holders' specifications:

http://www.largeformatphotography.in...tandardization

New holders can be purchased from Chamonix, Lotus and Ebony at a minimum. Others may offer them too, but I don't know what dimensions those would be built to.

If you're blaming Mike Johnston, why not buy his Chamonix camera and holders? They're for sale and you will probably never get a better deal. Send him email.

[welly]

What's the film availability like for whole plate? Special order from Ilford or trimming your own, I guess?

[Peter Gomena]

Yes, the Ilford special order is your best bet. A couple of years ago, you might have been able to find some from one of the European film houses that cuts and packages various films, but whose film and which emulsions I can't recall.

I'm lucky that I bought a WP camera that came with a few holders. I've not seen more than a few for sale since. Some ancient plate holders, some with film inserts, showed up at Blue Moon Camera a couple of months ago, but they were not even remotely close to the outside dimensions of mine, and mine had been modified to fit my camera. It's a tough go unless you order new ones. It's a great format, but it's been uncommon for a long time here in the U.S. The Japanese seem to have used WP cameras for much longer, and you can find Rittreck cameras with WP backs and holders to fit them. From what I've seen, the Rittreck WP back is a big heavy adapter, but the cameras appear to be well engineered.

[mdm]

If you accept that you will have to cut film down, you have many options. It is actually much less expensive to cut 8x10 Delta 100 down than it is to buy whole plate delta 100 in the ULF order. I am cutting xray film, inexpensive ebay efke IR and even have some few sheets of TMY. The IR film can be a chore, but for the rest a night vision monocle or red safe light (for xray) make it an easy job.

[Scott Davis]

Will- do keep an eye out on Ebay- they show up from time to time there. The most common ones are the Eastman sized whole plate film holders, and they're the closest thing to a "standard" for whole plate. A good number of cameras took them - I have a pair of Seneca whole plate cameras and a Century Master studio camera that take the Eastman sized holders.

[redrockcoulee]

I was lucky enough to obtain some bookcase style WP holders for my Butcher and Sons. The bad news was they do not fit but the good news is they fit the Seneca Improved. As mentioned above, there was no standardization. Good luck

[Steven Tribe]

Dear Will,
I agree with your logic about getting a set of plate/film holders and then building a back and then a camera.
You will need a set of x holders - plus 1 to convert into a ground glass holder. The usual original sets had about 3 holders for six shots.
It would be far easier to look for a set that is the old slide-in type - simple velvet light traps and catches. Use of modern film in plate holders is MUCH easier by using book type holders where the film is pressed against internal wood framing.
There are a few UK sellers who list these (often in batches, when they have a clear out) at very reasonable prices.

[IanG]

I bought a Whole plate camera off another UK member of this website a few months ago, it takes time and patince finding bookform holders that fit at reasonable prices.

There was some talk that Foma might cut Whole plate or Half plate film, I can't afford the Ilford ULF prices. Foma have a cutting facility that's a joint venture with Fuji (mainly for Colour papers).

Ian