Availability of 5x4 film holders- darkslides

[devinephotographic]

Hello all,
I was having a moment of thought today whilst having my dinner. Who still makes 5x4 darkslides nowadays. Fidelity who swallowed up lisco, riteway ect was owned by calument USA. Calumet USA is now gone with the wind and I presume fidelty died in its sleep and no one went to the wake.
That leaves Toyo, but... is Toyo still making them either as Toyo was in japan but everything now that is toyo is under the MAC group in the United States.... are these the last remaining stocks too? and toyo parts.
Here in the UK with Mike Walkers pinhole cameras and his own fantastic 5x4, 5x7 and 10x8....cameras then there is Canham, Deardorff, Ebony and toyo (last remaining??). Is it getting to the point where you will no longer be able to buy them new and no one will make them. How will these fine camera makers survive with the shortage of film holders. or... will us LF photographers be at the mercy of secondhand ebay? as the thought sends shivers down my spine.
What is any ones views on this.

Cheers
Danny

[vinny]

dupe post somehow

[vinny]

Calumet closed down the film holder factory several years ago.
Chamonix if you wanna spend 15-20x the used price.
I've never paid over $10 for the forty or so 4x5 holders I have (usually $5) so I have zero interest in new ones.

[jbenedict]

It would be possible to make dark slides out of the Formica material that is used for counter top.

"Mercy of second hand e-bay" isn't a bad thing. I have at least fifty plastic holders and they were all bought used. One of my suppliers always had at least ten 4x5 used holders in stock and was asking $5 for the ugly ones and $7 for the nice ones. I'd buy one or two when I went in and they just added up. Plastic holders are tough and last a long time.

The larger problem will be the film that goes in the holder. That is shrinking quickly but I hope there are at least four or five choices in B&W, three or four in C-41 and, it appears, at least one in E-6.

[devinephotographic]

Used holders are good most of mine were bought used but if there are no new ones being made, then what is left that's it and when the used ones need replacing there will be nothing to replace it with. Maybe some of these camera makers need to source an alternative supply.

[Brian C. Miller]

B&H currently lists Toyo in 4x5 and 8x10, and Fidelity in 4x5. As long as the CNC machines still run, wooden holders can be made.

This is the long twilight of film photography.

[ic-racer]

Could be more sheet film holder makers now than 20 years ago. Who doesn't have enough film holders??
AWB
Shen-Hao
Chamonix
Lotus
Toyo
Ebony
perhaps more.

[Michael E]

How will these fine camera makers survive with the shortage of film holders.

What shortage? This was a commonplace product, manufactured in huge quantities over decades. Right now, it would be bad business sense to make new 4x5" film holders. Once they really are scarce and sought after, somebody will produce new ones.

[Patrick13]

Perhaps he means shortage in traditional retail channels, which would be true.

I have 10, 4x5 total and all through alternative means. Five plastic ones came with a camera + case set and are kind of hard to price because of that, and another five wooden ones (which are in way better shape than the plastic...) for $10 total.

Since they are mostly seen as commodities that most people outside of LF photography know what the heck to do with it's best to ask around instead of wait for them to show up on listings, I have found.

[Martin Aislabie]

Hello all,
I was having a moment of thought today whilst having my dinner. Who still makes 5x4 darkslides nowadays. Fidelity who swallowed up lisco, riteway ect was owned by calument USA. Calumet USA is now gone with the wind and I presume fidelty died in its sleep and no one went to the wake.
That leaves Toyo, but... is Toyo still making them either as Toyo was in japan but everything now that is toyo is under the MAC group in the United States.... are these the last remaining stocks too? and toyo parts.
Here in the UK with Mike Walkers pinhole cameras and his own fantastic 5x4, 5x7 and 10x8....cameras then there is Canham, Deardorff, Ebony and toyo (last remaining??). Is it getting to the point where you will no longer be able to buy them new and no one will make them. How will these fine camera makers survive with the shortage of film holders. or... will us LF photographers be at the mercy of secondhand ebay? as the thought sends shivers down my spine.
What is any ones views on this.

Cheers
Danny

Hi Danny

I am in the UK too

My experience with second hand film holders on the likes of E-Bay has been very poor

Most were old and leaked light.

Even newish looking ones were not that great either

Here in the UK most LF Cameras were owned by Pros - who fully intended to get their moneys worth from both the Camera and its accessories.

I bought about 24 new Film Holders and have a reserve batch of 12 second hand units, which were selected out of about 30 from E-B

I want to be using them for the next 25+ years and thought some new ones were a worthy investment.

Mike Walker is still listing Fidelity units as available and Silverprint have some Toyo units in stock too - but at a high price.

For that money its worth checking with Silverprint if that is for one Darkslide or for a pair - all my Toyos came in a box of two.

Alternatively - Badger (https://www.badgergraphic.com/store/cart.php?m=product_list&c=176) have them in the USA at a reasonable price, are very reliable and ship to the UK for sensible money. The Post Office or who ever will want about another 25% of the whole bill for VAT and Import Tax - but it realy is very simple to buy from them and get the stuff shipped.

YMMV

Martin

[StoneNYC]

Like others have said, they are still made, I think Chamonix probably has the widest variety of sizes and the best quality and weight but also very expensive, but new ones will always be expensive especially in a smaller market.