Like Ted Harris' reply, I've shot thousands of color and b&w over the last seven years and can count only about a dozen mishaps that were my fault. This is all I shoot except for a dozen Grafmatics full of Tmax400.
I'm a total Kodak user for 38 years because their products have always delivered for me. I prefer not to bash any product as that doesn't solve anything. It only vents. With the watering hole of manufacturers slowly receding, we don't need to poison the water.
Well, the Readyload accounted for about 10% of film shot that day, so I wasn't relying heavily on it and I've never failed someone paying for my services yet. Different photographers shoot in different ways. When a magazine pays me to photographs someone, I typically shoot a ton of 4x5, maybe some 8x10 and a shitload of 6x7 or 6x6. The problems I encountered, and have encountered before with different holders/boxes of film, were myriad. The release jamming continually, the envelopes pulling entirely out of the holder while pulling them up for exposure, and the envelopes not fitting back tightly into the metal clip after exposure, thereby causing fogging along the bottom edge of the frame. Also, just having trouble pulling the envelope up without sticking. I was using the readyloads while shooting portraits fast and furious with a RB Graflex and a Speed Graphic. I'm not an idiot, although you can throw a rock and hit somebody who thinks otherwise (do me a favor, throw it HARD), neither were my assistants. Perhaps I should take a refresher course in readyloads.
A local pro, Dana Neibert, only uses Kodak Readyloads, and often has his assistants running fast from one packet to the next. Supposedly he can do a new exposure every few seconds, though I would not want to try using these that fast. Maybe it is down to practice, though his failure rate has been extremely low. So don't take this as a criticism, but practice with these fast packet systems can be a very good idea.
In all honesty, these packet systems from Kodak and Fuji are not as simple as they seem, nor are they terribly precise. Due to some people reporting odd problems with the newer Kodak Readyload holder, I have stuck with the slightly older black pressure plate version with the red Kodak lettering on it (version IIII on the holder). Perhaps my choice to stay with the older holder accounts for the reliability, or it might be the practice I have done using these packet systems.
I would think that regular holders and assistants on the side of the camera helping you change those quickly would be faster than Readyloads or Quickloads. If you need to do rapid fire 4x5 shots, I think that despite the names of these systems, you are more likely to have trouble with packet systems when the going gets fast. I feel pretty good at about one shot every thirty seconds, though if I tried to go faster I think I would screw up on something.
I really am grateful for these systems, though I will admit they are an acquired taste, and definitely not a good choice for everyone. Bottom line, if they don't work for you, then quit using them.
Ciao!
Gordon Moat
A G Studio
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