light leaks - used holders

[Joseph O'Neil]

I found after some processing today, that some of my sheets fo film (4x5) had a light leak on one side only - very similar, but not exactly the same as posted here last month on this thread:

http://largeformatphotography.info/lfforum/topic/505482.html

Last year in Toronto at the used camera show, I bought four boxes of used, Lisco Regal II film holders - very clean, in orignal box. A causual look over revealed no problems i could see. Average price of $10 Cdn per holder, and about three, maybe four different dealers where selling them. Looked like surplus from a University or such as all of them ahd a number engraved on them.

I did not use them for a while, but when I did load them up and use them, the light leaks appeared. to make a long story short, inspecting them closely, one of them seperated / split in part - two halves, front and back - in my hand. Exampinign them all, very closely, using my loupe, I could see every one of them has this seperation. All of the seperations start or at the "top" - the part where the dark slide goes in.

Anyhow, this is just more of an FYI in case any of you buy some of these film holders, or did buy any (there are/were in red boxes), even though this was a year ago, keep your eyes open.

I plan to see if they can be repaired - perhaps some superglue and a clamp, or has anybody else had this before, and can reccomend a good glue? Something that will not run down too deep into the holder itself.

These film holders are different form my older holders in that each side has three "rivets" on the outer edge, six in total. Looks like that's how they were originally manufactuered - put two halves together and rivet them. However, in this case, the riviets were not tight enough, there's a tiny bit of seperation.

One more thing - *none* of these film holders have any name/label on them, although all of them were in brand new Lisco Regal II film boxes, and these holders while they look pretty new, do not look like any of my older Riteway or Lisco film holders. Ah well, hindsight is always perfect, eh?

joe

[Colin Graham]

I remember reading about someone else who invariably had failures with Lisco IIs, can't remember who just now. I just bought a lot of 4x5 holders; some Fidelity and some Lisco. I'd always assumed they were different manufactures but both are from Sun Valley and both have the same patent numbers stamped on them. That's kinda weird about them not having any labels... Anyway, ordinary superglue is probably the only glue thin enough to wick down into the separations, but epoxy might work better for the ones in peices (if you plan on even trying with those).

[Donald Qualls]

Actually sounds as if you might have some "Chinese" (for want of more information -- this phenomenon seems to stem mostly from China since trade has opened up in the past couple decades) copies of good holders, that were being unloaded by sellers who knew exactly what they were getting rid of -- possibly even counterfeits in fake Lisco boxes printed in China.

The real fix would be to drill out the rivets and replace them with correctly peened fasteners or pins held in place with adhesive, but for your situation, I'd suggest JB Weld. The mixed adhesive is liquid enough to force into the gaps, working time is long enough you should be able to repair a dozen or so holders with one mix of the glue; it's opaque as mixed (though gray, rather than black, due to the fine aluminum dust filler that makes it stronger than regular epoxy), and it can be easily trimmed flush with the surface after it sets. A package of JB Weld sufficient to fix dozens of holders should cost less than a single new holder, and it's more likely to do the job than super glue, IMO.

[Donald Qualls]

Follow up on this -- I noticed today that one of my (old, used, acquired for free) 4x5 film holders is a Lisco Regal II. It *is* made in halves, with the join midway between the two faces, but there are no rivets on mine, and the name is clearly blazoned on the flat face surface above the rib, on both sides. Whatever you have, Joseph, is not a genuine Lisco Regal II. I'd be inclined to try to find the dealer(s) who sold them to you and ask them, pointedly, if they knew they were selling fakes and junk...

[kreig]

I was very active with my 4x5 years ago and purchased a bunch of used "excellent" condition film holders that are identical to the film holders I was using. Went out shooting and found the used holders to have light leaks but am not sure which ones are leaking. I dont have the time and energy to reshoot all the holders and check for leaks and suddenly my shooting came to halt.

Lesson for me: Would NEVER buy used holders without a guarentee and would always check BEFORE shooting real pictures.

[Donald Qualls]

Kreig, if you file identification notches in the loading flaps of the holders, you can just load up, go shoot, and if there's a leak, unless the flap end of the holder is in deep shadow, you'll be able to identify which holder had the leak, even which *side*, instantly. I plan to do this with mine soon -- haven't seen significant leaks, but never know, since I have only used holders so far (budget constraints).