I use both
Riteway and Fidelity I gotten some new and use all work the same (no light leak )
I at point have to many. Try to fill all is costly now I trimming back I only need 24 shots to much money in cut film holders today.
Dave
Originally Posted by C_Remington
Group on 9A/9N South Bend Lathe
http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/southbendlathe9
I have wooden, plastic and metal film holders and I can't say I see a difference between them. Personally I like the wooden ones for 8x10 and plastic and 5x7 and 4x5.
I'm not a heavy user of 4x5 right now, but from an amateur's viewpoint:
I have a wonderful Grafmatic holder that works with 6 sheets, it's a challenge to load in a small bag but nice when I have a shot set up and want to run more than one exposure.
I've also got several, old Riteway 4x5s and not a moment of trouble with any of 'em and I'm pretty ham fisted sometimes.
Only Toyo for 4x5 and 8x10.
I used to use Fidelity/Riteway/Agfa/Kodak but here's the thing: all of those, no matter how new, had significant discrepancies when measuring film plane depth.
These discrepancies were from one holder to the next, and from one side of a holder to the other side; sometimes by as much as 1,5mm.
The Toyos, at least all of mine, are all within 0.1mm (or less) of each other.
I got rid of everything and slowly built up a cache of Toyos.
An excellent film holder is money well-spent.
Another vote for Toyo in 4x5. Buy new don't skimp. Easy to load and unload. Smooth dark slide action. No leaks and high tolerances.
Really!?? Are you sure? I can't believe they would all be so off and no one made a fuss or I haven't seen more complaints.
What about the bad smell of the TOYO holders? I've heard the new plastic is repulsive..?
Another brand to keep an eye out for is the Studio Pro. They have a build almost exactly like Toyo holders, with the riveted body. The dark slides are brushed aluminum instead of plastic. I have about twenty of them. I sold a bunch more a while back and have been kicking myself ever since. But I suppose twenty holders is enough for a rank amateur.
0.1mm = 0.004 inches and well within spec of this chart.
http://home.earthlink.net/~eahoo/page8/filmhold.ht
Holders and GG can be difficult to measure across the FP reliably.
And don't forget film thickness.
How about checking actual return to 'your correct' focus plane with the rather coarse gearing on most LF cameras?
DOF?
Yes, my numbers may be off (going on memory here), but I do recall that every holder except Toyo had a fair amount of discrepancy.
The worst were the woodies.
Randy, my memory isn't great; I might be wrong on the exact number, but I certainly remember the discrepancy varying greatly among the non-Toyo holders, and that the number(s) was not within specifications.
And I did use a sheet of film and electronic callipers.
The reason I did all that was because I kept getting soft photos where they should have been sharp and vice versa.
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