Kodak Readyload holder - it's warped on one end!

[Christopher Perez]

Gentlefolk,

I lost the thread (on another site?) that was talking about Kodak Readyload film holders. I recently purchased a brand new latest generation holder.

If I take a straight edge and lay it on the film holder, the end where the clip holds the film is bowed. It does not lay flat. Looking toward the film pressure plate side of the holder, the end bows toward me.

When I insert the back into the camera the back lays nearly flat. I think this is due to the pressure of the springs on the camera back.

Is this normal? Or did I purchase a defective item?

[Christopher Perez]

Wrapped == Warped

Ugh.

[Ron Marshall]

The surface of mine, that mates with camera, is flat and unwarped. I would go for a replacement.

[Ralph Barker]

FWIW, I agree with Ron - have 'em replace it.

Only the photographer's sense of humor should be warped.

[Christopher Perez]

Good points. Thanks.

Anyone have Kodak's contact info handy. It looks like I need this one swapped out. The dealer says it's been longer than 30 days and won't take it back.

FWIW, I agree with Ron - have 'em replace it.

Only the photographer's sense of humor should be warped.

[Oren Grad]

Anyone have Kodak's contact info handy.

I think the old 1-800-242-2424 hotline is still functioning. Over the years they've been quite good at connecting me quickly to someone on the professional products side who can respond knowledgeably to whatever specific issue I've had.

[Anthony Lewis]

Chris, I bought a Kodak Readyloader a couple of months ago. It too was warped and the retailer replaced it immediately. This problem was reported on another forum recently as well. I think Kodak have propuced a bad batch of these and goodness knows when they are going to fix the problem. No matter how long you have had yours for, it should be replaced as this is obviously a manufacturing problem.

[Christopher Perez]

When we last left our folded/spindled/mutilated photographer, he was at the front desk of his favorite local camera shop ready to swap out the offending Readyload holder for a replacement from Kodak...

I had waited nearly two months for this. Fortunately I've been off playing with 8x10 contact prints and 4x5 Polaroids. So there had been no opportunity to shoot Kodak Readyloads.

The sales folks and I agreed to check the condition of the proposed replacement holder before I left the store. The new holder that Kodak send out was in a different style box than the one I had. Something told me that the holders were from two completely different manufacturing batches.

Taking a straight edge to the new holder I realized that it was no flatter on the offending side than the holder I was attempting to replace it with. The sales guy and I stared at each other in disbelief.

I asked if they had a Fuji Quickload holder that I could compare this against. Miracle of miracles, the Quickload holder looked to be manufactured correctly. The implications were obvious. I was about to jump Kodak's ship and join Fuji's Neopan100 party boat.

I still have 14 sheets of TMax100 Readyloads. I think I'll shoot these in the Polaroid film holder. Of course I will accept the fact that the plane of focus might not be as precise as with the Kodak holder. But this must be why the gods gave us f/32.

We'll see how Fuji's 100 speed B&W film works out. I have high hopes.

[Jack Flesher]

Chris:

FWIW, I have sucessfully used both Kodak and Fuji emulsions interchangeably in BOTH the Fuji and Kodak single load holders. I've never had a problem, just take a bit of care on extraction after the shot to make sure the clip isn't stuck.

Frankly, it worked so well, I sold my Fuji holder and kept my Kodak -- no real preference other than the Kodak holder comes with a nice case Of course, you can use the Polaroid holder as a back-up -- just don't forget to NOT flip the roller lever on extraction!

[Christopher Perez]

Sweet. It's actually worth a fair bit to me to hear that Readyloads can work in a Quickload holder. Nice. You just made my dark and gloomy day (not that a day with Fuji is ever dark and gloomy) all that much brighter.

FWIW, I have sucessfully used both Kodak and Fuji emulsions interchangeably in BOTH the Fuji and Kodak single load holders. I've never had a problem, just take a bit of care on extraction after the shot to make sure the clip isn't stuck...