Fuji quick load film

[Mickey Grewal]

Hello everyone I am absolutely new to LF and I am planning to get myself a Sinar 4"x5" very soo n. I would appreciate if anyone out there could advise me about Fuji Quick load film. My problem is I do not have facilities to load film holders in the dark so I am looking to resolve the problem by getting Fuji Quick load film . What i do not know is whether I can use this film in the Sinar film holder or do I have t o use the Fuji Quickload film holder. One of the other problems I face is that o f equipment availability as unfortunately Hong Kong does not always have everyth ing one needs:-( Can anyone inform me how the Quickload system works i.e do you have to shoot all film in the pack or can you shoot say 5 and give these for developing and shoot the rest later. Lastly (for the moment:-)) once all the film has been exposed how is it removed from from the film holder to give for developing i.e does one take the film hold er to the processing lab and they extract the film or is there some other techni que? With apologies for being a dummy and with thanks for your help Mickey

[Jim Brick]

Film comes in single sheet packets. You insert the Quickload holder into the camera, insert a Quickload sheet, pull the paper slide, take the photograph, push the paper slide back in, push the button on the holder and remove the Quickload film packet, put an exposed label (supplied) on it, and repeat if you want more exposures of the same scene. The holder is specifically for Quickloads. You can use a Polaroid 545 holder as well.

The film comes 20 sheets to a box. You give the packets to the lab for processing. One to twenty. They are single sheet packets. You can shoot and process how ever many you want.

[Gavin Walker]

Actually, for Fuji you've got *two* choices, QuickLoad and QuickChange. QuickLoad is single sheets of film in light tight paper holders, similar to Kodak's ReadyLoad and Polaroid's 4x5 sheet film. This means that all three can share a Polaroid 545 (i or Pro) holder with no major problems, which is what I do. There are supposed to be film flatness issues with this approach, but I'm a beginner in LF so don't really mind at the moment. QuickChange is different beast altogether, an 8 shot pack with a dedicated holder. You shoot, change to the next leaf in the holder, shoot again. To me it looked like a CD changer mechanism that I once had. ) Pretty neat, but only Fuji and only three films to choose from at the moment (Provia 100, Astia 100 and Velvia). I'm not sure if you can get 5 from 8 processed or what have you. If you're a low volume type photographer then it may be best to go the QuickLoad route. Get a QuickLoad holder if you just want to do Fuji, as it'll avoid any potential issues caused by using a non-Fuji holder.

[giancatarina]

you can also use a charging tent with regular holders and 4x5 films this is the cheaper way (regular sheet films are 35% less expensive) , and the l ess convenient, but it works !

[Pierre Kervella]

I have tried the Fuji Quickloads for a while, but I found it inconvenient for the type of photography I am doing, i.e. travel and landscape photography. Three reasons for that:

- the QL boxes take _a lot_ more space than the regular film boxes and are much heavier. When I go for a 2 weeks trip where I will expose 100 sheets of film, there is absolutely no question that 2 boxes of 50 regular sheets are much more practical than 5 (huge) boxes of QL. Changing the films in the evening at the hotel is very easy (and also pretty relaxing :-)) as I have a changing bag that folds to the volume of a rolled T-shirt (brand: Kaiser). I can even change films on location (never had a single light leak, even in midday desert). I carry 6 regular holders, and they allow easily a full day of autonomy wihout reloading.

- you have to use the Fuji QL holder. I used the Polaroid holder and got light leaks. Therefore you need this special holder in addition to the Polaroid (it you are taking Polaroids of course...). I have read so many times that the Kodak holders are crap that I tend to believe it also, but I never tried...

- price: I don't want to pay more for the same film and more bulk :-).

[Jim Brick]

One of the reasons for using Quickloads is the elimination of dust. Keeping film holders clean and trying to load them in a dust free environment (which a changing bag or tent is not) is a monumental task. Dust causes clear spots on negatives that print black. A real p- a-i-n to deal with. And dark slides on holders and most holders themselves are made of plastic, which can hold a static charge and attract dust.

I attended Brooks Institute of Photography (1959-1961) and spent a great deal of time learning how to clean, load, and keep clean, film holders. This is not a trivial task! I was never so happy to see Quickloads appear on the market. I cannot stand Kodak Readyloads (the double kind) and the Kodak Readyload holder is a joke.

I use Fuji Quickload Provia and Velvia for transparency film and for B&W I buy Fuji Acros Quickloads from Robert White England. For other B&W I use Grafmatic holders which are all metal, seem to be static free, and seem to be pretty much dust free.

I don't use Kodak sheet film. I use Agfa and Efke sheet film.

And I have used my Polaroid 545 holder many many times for Fuji Quickloads with no problems. I usually use the Fuji holder as it is the best. Do not ever try to use a Kodak Readyload film in a Fuji Quickload holder! The metal end gets caught in the holder and you have a mess on your hands. The holder may not recover.

[John Sarsgard]

I have the Fuji Quickload holder, and it works great. I use it for Provia, my usual transparency film. However, I do available light portraits with Kodak Portra 400NC, and like Ilford HP5+ and Tri-X for black and white. They don't come in any kind of quickload...Kodak or Fuji. You can get any sheet film in sheets to load yourself, but only a very few in quickload. Dust can be an issue (worrying seems to make it worse) but if you blow out the holders with compressed air, stack them carefully, and load directly from the film package, you can manage. I use my darkroom, but when traveling use hotel bathroom(lights off in bedroom, towel under door) if no windows or a changing bag. In any case, if you run hot water a few minutes to increase humidity, dust settles out of the air and that helps a lot...as long as you keep the holders and film covered! I also keep the loaded holders in zip lock plastic bags. A rubber band around the holder lengthwise keeps the dark slides under good control. I once craved everything in quickload, but holders are now second nature.

[Hisun Wong]

Don't plan on buying TMAX or Fuji b&w film in Readyload/Quickload packaging in Hong Kong. I don't think they are available n HK. I now use QuickChange and load film myself, any films. Not restricted to Kodak or Fuji anymore. I bought my Fuji Quickchange in Tokyo. You can buy it from Robert White in UK if yo don't go to Tokyo.

I am Hong Kong, have been using Readyload/Quickload for a long time and switched to Quickload last year. I have been buying all these supplies from U.S. mail order or in person in case of Quickchange.

Regards Hisun

[Mickey Grewal]

thank you all for your very informative responses. the only issue I still have is if I use regular film in a Sinar holder as opposed to Fuji Quickload, how do I get the exposed film developed i.e do I simply take the film holder with exposed film inside to the developer for them to remove it from the holder or is there some other trick to it. Again apologies for being a dummy and again thanks for your help. Mickey

[Ellis Vener]

"thank you all for your very informative responses. the only issue I still have is if I use regular film in a Sinar holder as opposed to Fuji Quickload, how do I get the exposed film developed i.e do I simply take the film holder with exposed film inside to the developer for them to remove it from the holder or is there some other trick to it. Again apologies for being a dummy and again thanks for your help. Mickey " I fyou are asking about the regular holder (and I'd just get the standard Lisco/Fidelity/Elite holders overthe much more expensive but not necessarily better SINAR holders any day of the week) the easiest way to get the film to the lab is the same you got in the holder in the first place: Unload the film in a darkroom or a changing bag, putthe film in the triple layer tightbox it came in and take that to the lab.

If you area sking about the single sheet Quickload packets, the answert is that the packet is what you keep the film in. the lab unloads the film from the packet and tosses the paper packet into the recycle bin.