an expensive mistake

[Kirk Keyes]

Darin wrote "You're a very lucky man--lucky it wasn't a Linhof! "

Darin - if he had been using a Linhof, this would never have happened. Technikas have revolving backs, so you can just spin the back from horizontal to vertical and back to horizontal without ever removing it from the camera.

[Greg Miller]

Try the folks at www.mpex.com.

[Greg Miller]

P.S. I have the same camera and also have learned (but not at as great a cost as you) to be very careful when switching the orientation of the back.

[Michael E. Gordon]

Don't you hate it when you are shooting in Yellowstone National Park on top of the canyon around the Lower Falls and you change your film back on your Horseman45FA from vertical to horizontal and you think its latched on but its not and it falls off and rolls all the way down the canyon.....

Curse of the Icons.

Good luck finding a new back for minimal expense.

[David Richhart]

HEY CXC... Turning the lights on with a box of film open may not necessarily ruin the entire box of film. Often only the top few sheets are trashed. Trust me, I have experience in these matters. I would try developing a few sheets and see if it is still usable in some way.

I wouldn't trust the film for important shots miles away from home, but it might be fine for experimenting in the back yard and in the studio.

[CXC]

Dave, good advice, I'm gonna give it a try, starting from the bottom of the box. The presence of opaque black interleaves is encouraging.

[Ken Kapinski]

Thank you all for your input. I do have a lead on a used back which shouldn't cost too much. The advice about the insurance is something I am going to look into. Rest assured I wont make this mistake twice......I hope.