Best film holders?

[Greg]

I've used a lot of different film holders over the years, but only the following I have used extensively:

Fidelity & Lisco Regal II: For me the standard for production work. Use them several hundred times, and yes some of them will break or fail. For me the metal tops to the dark slides outlasted the plastic tops. Replacement OEM tape, to me, always outlasted other substitutes.

Toyo: A little grade better than Fidelity & Lisco Regal II.

Linhof: High quality German precision made. Could never afford new ones.... The ones I could afford, bought, and used were in rather (actually really) beat up condition but they never failed me.

Chamonix: My favorite. Dark slides in the ones that I have and use have always seemed to be a bit stiff to remove, but less so to put back.

Was wondering how others rated same and other film holders....

[Michael Kadillak]

Toyo are unquestionably the best holder as long as they are not abused. Engineered to perfect form and function.

Fidelity and Lisco are perfectly acceptable. Linhof are rather rare and as a result are not sufficient in quantity to include in the data set.

From my perspective wooden holders are only used when there is not another alternative made out of molded plastic.

[AtlantaTerry]

Brand new Toyo holders had a reputation for stinking something awful a year or two ago.

Do new ones still stink? (I assume not since no one has complained about it here for quite a while now.)

Did anyone ever figure out what happened to make them stink and why the problem was not discovered until end users opened the packaging?

[Leigh]

Brand new Toyo holders had a reputation for stinking something awful a year or two ago.
Do new ones still stink? (I assume not since no one has complained about it here for quite a while now.)
Did anyone ever figure out what happened to make them stink and why the problem was not discovered until end users opened the packaging?

Hi Terry,

I have well over 100 Toyo holders, most purchased new.
That's because I think they're the best available.
I've also used Fidelity Elite. They're OK.

They all stink, to a greater or lesser extent.

The last batch of 48 are quite recent, with aluminum dark slides (little Al label on the box).
These stink just like the others, but not as strong.

The stench dissipates after a few months.
I'm guessing it's from the plastic bags surrounding the holders inside the box when shipped.

- Leigh

[AtlantaTerry]

Hi Terry,

I have well over 100 Toyo holders, most purchased new.
That's because I think they're the best available.
I've also used Fidelity Elite. They're OK.

They all stink, to a greater or lesser extent.

The last batch of 48 are quite recent, with aluminum dark slides (little Al label on the box).
These stink just like the others, but not as strong.

The stench dissipates after a few months.
I'm guessing it's from the plastic bags surrounding the holders inside the box when shipped.

- Leigh

OK, Leigh, thank you for the information.

It kinda makes one think why the Quality Control folks at Toyo didn't catch the problem when it first occured and why it seems to continue. My first 4x5" view camera was a Toyo and I was always impressed by the quality.

Terry

[Leigh]

Hi Terry,

I've never owned a Toyo camera, but I think their film holders are excellent.

Good shooting.

- Leigh

[RichardRitter]

On the Chamonix holders never remove all the dark slides and then try to put then in a holder they did not come out of. The holders are custom sized to fit the dark slide they hold.

Also under the right conditions out doors they will leak light in the camera body. Most of the time the photographer does not know it is happening. Best thing to do is keep the back of the camera covered with a dark cloth when a holder is in the camera and the dark slide pulled.

The best film holder are the ones you have that work.

[Drew Bedo]

Wow . . .I guess that I have never actually had "new" film holders. My 8x10 Fidelity Elite holders were rescued/salvaged from a medical imaging department that was converting to digital. My current batch of 12 4x5 holders were bought as "New-Old-Stock" from a used camera shop. They were in the original unopedned boxes with old price tags from a different store.

So I have never had the experience of the New-Car-Smell on film holders.

[Gudmundur Ingolfsson]

There are also the Hoffman Metalmaster with no end flap and a system to hold the film flat. I have 14 of those if anyone knows those and appreciates!

[EdSawyer]

I have used the typical Lisco/Fidelity ones, I do like the Chamonix ones better. But most of the time I use Grafmatics.