I've just bought a camera and a lot of film holders, i'm going to sell a part of it. I want to keep the best ones, but they look similar!!! three types. all 4x5 : fidelity Elite lisco Regal 2 riteway graphic film holder is there any difference, film flatness...? thanks
They are all the same, except for 2 things: The lock mechanism on some of the newer Riteway models. (Am i correct on the manufacturer?) I saw them recently at Calumet.
Numbering of holders. Some have the ability to record a number on the image itself.
If I remember correctly, all holders are made in the same factory, so I would doubt if film flatness we be an issue between them.
Film holders are not very precise and they may vary within the brand just as between brands. Keep them all because in the long run you have never got too many holders.
For the past 20 or more years Fidelity, Lisco and the current version of Riteway are made by the same compnay. The manufacturer is a subsidiary of the company in th UK that owns Calumet.
I agree with Gudmundur- you can never have too many operable film holders. I'm slowly but surely replacing my original holders with Toyo holders, but I'm haning on to the original ones because I've already run into circumstances where I need all of them (I think the count is around 26 now).
Keep the holders. If you don't, you will be buying more later at probably more than you sell yours for. There is no such thing as too many holders.
Regards,
i personally like the new kodak readyload single sheet holder :-)
The Fidelity and Lisco holders are pretty much alike. There are some Rightway holders that have a safety button to prevent accidentally pulling the dark slide when out of the camera. They also feature a rotating pair of wheels that place a small letter/number over the edge of the film for positive ID. These holders do not work in some Linhof type backs. Apparently the button doesn't get contacted by something to push it in and permit removal of the dark slide. I'm sure Bob S. could elaborate on that.
The point I'd like to make again, is that holders of this type are cheap pieces of plastic and aluminum. There is no way they can be manufactured to the same tolerances as a precision camera, such as a Linhof. It's a miracle they are as good as they are, but they are not perfect. What does need to be perfect is the position of your ground glass. If it's in the right plane, the variation in depth from holder to holder will be well within the +/- .007" ANSI spec for 4x5 film holders. Once in awhile, a holder may be warped or so far out of spec that it should be discarded. I've got a large collection of all kinds of holders in various conditions and of different ages and I've never had a problem with any of them. I test them once in awhile (with film and in a camera) and confirm they are within spec.
To reiterate earlier posts - don't dispose of any holders unless they prove themselves damaged beyond function.
Use different brands to hold different emulsions. As an example I use Toyo holders for Black & White, Lisco Regals for Daylight E-6 and the auto-locking Lisco Regal IIs for Tungsten. In all I have about 60 plus 5 Grafmatics and I never have enough.
Walter
After seeing several of my Fidelity 'Elite' (hah!) holders become unusable from warping, and finding that my very first 30 year old Toyos are almost as good as new, I wouldn't give a 'thank you' for Fidelity holders anymore.I'd only recommend Toyos from now on.
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