Whole Plate Film Holders... Hand Count

[Rob_5419]

5:8 does at least rhyme with whole-plate....

Btw - Audioexcels has a whole-plate camera on offer today in the classifieds. It looks like a vintage Japanese whole-plate camera too....

[Oren Grad]

WP is Four Thirds for grown-ups.

[John Schneider]

Paul,

I assume you have finalized the dimensions for the whole plate film holders. I have a couple Rittreck whole plate holders and I'd like to find out if the new Fotoman versions will be compatible with the Rittreck back (so I can set aside funds for a few of your holders).

[Paul Droluk]

Hello everybody,

I've been extremely busy as of late, so haven't checked in for a while... my apologies. Thanks to the in depth analysis provided by Oren and Sal, the preliminary dimensions for the WP Holder follows...

(1) Depth from bearing surface to septum (holders) and ground glass (backs): 0.260"

(2) Distance from taped end to beginning of locking rib: 232mm

(3) Width of holder: 196mm

(4) Film size that can be accommodated
Minimum 162.7 mm (6.41")
Maximum 165.7 mm (6.52")

These recommendations should result in a holder that will fit:

* The new Ebony wholeplate camera
* Many (but not all) antique American cameras, including many Eastman, Century
and Gundlach cameras
* The Musashino Rittreck yatsugiri adapter back (though the image area would be
displaced very slightly along the vertical dimension relative to the ground glass)


We are close to being on schedule... looks like August barring unforseen circumstances.

[Oren Grad]

Paul,

I assume you have finalized the dimensions for the whole plate film holders. I have a couple Rittreck whole plate holders and I'd like to find out if the new Fotoman versions will be compatible with the Rittreck back (so I can set aside funds for a few of your holders).

John - The holder specification to which Paul is working should fit the Rittreck back, although the opening when you pull the dark slide may be very slightly off-center on the long dimension, relative to the ground glass.

In case you find yourself adding additional pieces of equipment to your kit, keep in mind that the Rittreck holders may not fit in Eastman-style backs. The Rittreck holders are longer than vintage American holders, and in particular the distance from taped end to rib lock is about a millimeter too long for them to seat properly in the Eastman-type backs that I have on hand.

So the rule seems to be, Eastman-type holders fit in Rittreck backs, but Rittreck holders don't fit in Eastman-type backs.

[Jim Galli]

Just wanted to get this back to the top

Add Seneca to the list of antique American cameras. One of the backs I measured for Oren was the Seneca that Dave Karp bought from me. It was the same as the Eastman.

Hope things are still on track.

[David Karp]

Jim,

I have been in touch with Paul recently. He said they should be ready in late August.

[Jim Galli]

Excellent news. Now what can I sell so I can afford to buy some

[Scott Davis]

It now says on the Fotoman website that they'll be out late September. This is getting a bit frustrating that the production date is a continuously moving target.

[Rob_5419]