film holders vs. plate holders

[Rob Lun]

I have a few hardwood cherry finished 8x10 holders. Is there a easy way to determine if the holder is for film or dry plates. There are no markings what-so-ever on these holders and from what I can tell there appears to be 2 or 3 different manufactures. Thanks for your help.

[Richard Rankin]

Rob,

If you slide up the dark slide, there will be 2 'ridges' running down the length of the holder inside and underneath the dark slide. These ridges hold the film or plate. If you check the room UNDER the ridge, you can tell. If only a piece of film or a sheet or two of paper will fit, it's for film. If its more than 1 mm, then it would be for a plate. Cheers, Richard

[John_4185]

All my wood plate holders were marked somewhere. Another tip for some is that there is a mild bent steel 'spring' in the middle to push the plate forward. (If film were put it in, the film would be badly deformed.)

[j.e.simmons]

All of my film holders have the two ridges running down the sides. All of my plate holders have no ridges on the sides, but have extra "slots" at the end and under the flap of the holder. The result is that the plates are held mostly by the ends and the film is held mostly on the sides.

juan

[Joe Smigiel]

Rob,

Plate holders don't have a taped flap at the bottom. As others have said, the plate is usually held by the ends rather than the sides and there may be some sort of sliding metal lock or spring arrangement to hold one end of the plate while the other resides underneath the opposite end. The ubiquitous flat spring on the septum to push the glass forward is also an indication of a plate holder.

[Ole Tjugen]

Some plate holders don't have taped bootom flap.

Some plate holders have a pressure spring - or a pressure plate.

Some plate holders are "book type" - they open down the middle.

But ALL 8x10" plate holders will have room for a plate which is EXACTLY 8" wide - film is a little narrower, and so are the slots. Unless of course you've got hold of European holders, in which case the plates are exactly 18cm across. The film is still slightly narrower, and so will the slots be.