Source of Dirt Cheap 18x24cm holders!!!!

[turtle]

I was considering re-entering 8x10 and was looking for holders. I stumbled across super-cheap 18x24cm holders, which are NEW and are £12 / $19 each, so 4.5x cheaper than new 8x10 holders in the US.... I would imagine this is an effort to clear out holders they did not expect anyone to buy, but 18x24 film is easily available in Europe.

Now I have to buy the 8x10 camera, because I bought rather a lot of them and it has saved me an absolute fortune over buying even used 8x10 holders and at least I know these will all be light tight! Additionally, the aspect ratio of 18x24 is close to where I would end up cropping to anyway in many cases, so its just a case of marking up the ground glass.

For you Brits and Europeans, this is well worth considering. I dont know how many are left, but he had Lisco Regal and Fidelity Elite double boxes at 'More than 10 available' for each. I bought 10 of each.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/bowens_uk/...4.l1581&_pgn=2

[John Kasaian]

Nice!

[Daniel Stone]

I'm assuming these won't work with 8x10 film though...

[turtle]

Daniel,

No they won't. The holders are the same external size, but the film area is a touch smaller on the inside. Much nicer aspect ratio and still readily available. If anyone in the US wanted to buy a bunch for use on longer road trips, I still think there would be some sense in it because it is affordable to have a lot of them. You could either cut the film down or make a special order. Foma, Efke/Adox and Ilford still make plenty of film in this size and I am sure it could be ordered from B&H etc.

Its nice to see that ordered from Europe the film is commensurately cheaper than 8x10 due to the smaller area: 80 sq" compared to (9.45" x 7.1") - 67 sq".

It also seems that Foma film ordered from Europe can be considerably cheaper than even Freestyle's Arista Edu Ultra. Boy, am I glad I looked into this.

[Steve Salmons]

"For you Brits and Europeans, this is well worth considering. I dont know how many are left, but he had Lisco Regal and Fidelity Elite double boxes at 'More than 10 available' for each. I bought 10 of each."

Many thanks for the tip;I have just bought a box. While I don't have a camera in this size at present who knows what the next 20 years will bring. I am a great believer in picking up stuff when it's cheap. If it turns out you you don't need it you can always sell on at worst at a minimal loss.

[turtle]

Steve,

Absolutely!

These are so cheap I am sure they will easily be saleable at twice the price once they dry up. 18x24 is still as common, if not more common, than 8x10 in Europe.

[Ole Tjugen]

And they don't ship outside UK...

[turtle]

If you ask them they might (especially if you bought a good number). Worth checking.

[Steven Tribe]

Thanks for giving away my source of 18x24 holders!! This is like any other Ebay listing, remember.
I told them a year ago about how they should get rid of their old new stock, than means, basically Europe.
Now that the source is published, I can assure you that they will, if pressed, sell overseas.
Remember that postage costs will "boost" the price to you.
I think they have 100's of the various fidelity varieties - but I have not published info as they appear on any search using 18x24.
It will interesting to see how the listing price goes up. I think I have enough, though.

[turtle]

Steve,

How many do you consider enough? I'm curious, because I used this as an opportunity to buy my 'ideal world' quantity - enough for a loooong road trip without loading or unloading holders. Some people happily work with five holders and others consider 100+ to be a reasonable number! I won't ever need another holder.