4x5 Film motordrive?

[jbenedict]

It was. I belief it was named Wolf but was only around for a year or two 25 or so years ago. Of course there are 5" 50' aerial roll backs that pop up now and then that will fit a Technika IV or later model. If it is the motorized version of the back then a minor modification has to be done to the back to trigger the film advance on a Technika. If used on the 45 Aero Technika EL then the modification isn't needed as that body has the internal contacts that tell the back to advance the film. That is the body and back used on the Space Shuttle for their 45 imagery.

Is this back still available new? Not that I will be getting one any time soon. Is 5" wide film still available in any form?

[Anthony Oresteen]

The Air Forces had plenty of motor driven reconnaissance cameras that used 5" roll film and made 4x5 frames. IIRC they also had some motorized cameras that used 8" rolls and made 8"x8" negatives.

Top dog was the Hycon model 732 cameras that took 9"x18" negatives and held 1800 feet of Kodak film.

So who can develop long rolls of 5" film anymore ?

[Bob Salomon]

The Air Forces had plenty of motor driven reconnaissance cameras that used 5" roll film and made 4x5 frames. IIRC they also had some motorized cameras that used 8" rolls and made 8"x8" negatives.

Top dog was the Hycon model 732 cameras that took 9"x18" negatives and held 1800 feet of Kodak film.

So who can develop long rolls of 5" film anymore ?

As well as the 9" that we printed from vertical from the RB66 in the 60s.

[Bob Salomon]

Is this back still available new? Not that I will be getting one any time soon. Is 5" wide film still available in any form?

No, but they are not uncommon on used photo sites.

[Bruce Watson]

Oh, Rob. You're such a killjoy.

At least he wasn't waking up a 17 year old thread. That has to be some kind of record.

[Oren Grad]

Is 5" wide film still available in any form?

FP4 Plus in 5" x 50 ft rolls is available by special order from Ilford, and was included as an available item in the small-quantity special order period this past year.

[Oren Grad]

At least he wasn't waking up a 17 year old thread. That has to be some kind of record.

LF is about communicating across the ages...

[Drew Bedo]

The utility of a motorized back for 4x5 would be in a remote application; Wildlife photography maybe or in an underwater housing; more of a mechanized film magazine.

Sure a 50 foot roll is something to think about, but the LF roll film aerial cameras that I have seen are pretty big and weigh 40-50 pounds.

Something built around a Grafmatic could be a real-world DIY project. Maybe model airplane servos . . . an old guy way of thinking. Today the young people call it robotics.

[jbenedict]

A 50' roll of 5" wide film would give about 150 shots of 4x5 (4"x3 = 12"/1' so 50' x 3 = 150). If anyone knows what a 'Big Bertha" camera is, one of the long roll backs would be great on one. A Big Bertha is a very long lens on a Graflex 4x5 camera- about a 40" lens. Many newspapers owned them and used them for sports. Some sources say that the Big Bertha used a 5x7 Graflex. A 5x7 long roll back would be possible, too.

Here's an article about the Big Bertha and a famous shot of baseball player Don Newcomb from 1956:

https://kodakery.com/2013/06/28/big-...-don-newcombe/