8x10 Wooden film holders: nightmare!

[PBrooks]

Hello all, as some of you know I will be headed to Taiwan in a few days, so I have been acquiring film holders for my trip. Anyways I came accrossed a lot of 5 wooden film holders on e-pay the other night and snagged them for like 40 bucks, I thought was a good deal. They all look fine, no splitting of the wood, only normal wear on the cormers that go into the camera first. So, I checked them to see if they would leak and well you can guess, like a siv, so here is my question. Is it worth even trying to have someone replace the light traps in these or should I just chalk it up to experience and through them away? Your help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!
Phillip

[Turner Reich]

You might sell them again on eBay and let them know they need to be overhauled or fix them by yourself. The old wood holders have a feel that the plastic ones do not have. There is nothing wrong with them that a tuneup will not fix. $40 for 5 holders? That's a good price to be able to carry and additional 10 sheets with you.

[Turner Reich]

One other point, do you keep the dark cloth over the holder when removing the slide? You might find that they work right out of the chute in all but light directed in their way.

[Vaughn]

Is it worth even trying to have someone replace the light traps in these or should I just chalk it up to experience and through them away? Your help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!
Phillip

I suggest not taking them on your trip and deal with them later. Save them as a project later, or sell them to someone here who likes messing around with their equipment as much as they like photographing.

I bought some very nice new-in-box Fidelity wooden 8x10 holders (4 @ $10 each!). Light tight, solid, holds the film flat...but a real pain in the rear to load. The sharp corners of the film want to dig into the wood as I slip the film in. I have to keep the film perfectly lined up or it takes forever to load the sheet. I don't know if all wood holders are this way (even one of my holders seems to load easier than the rest.)

Despite all the trouble they cause me in loading them, they are the ones I trust the most out in the field and use for the most important shots.

FWIW...my Fidelity woodies' light traps are held together with rivets -- they would be a pain to deal with, unless one likes that sort of challenge.

Vaughn

[eddie]

do not throw them away. get others for your trip for sure. have a great time and good luck getting some holders. try posting a WTB ad in the classifieds.. some one will help out for sure.

eddie

[PBrooks]

Thanks guys, for all the advice. I have enough modern ones now to load a box of film at a time, so that's 12.

[Ted R]

I have experience with these, and also the WP size in wood. When I aquired them, cheaply, I made it a project to clean them thoroughly after I found light leaks. I devoted a lot of time to the project, paying attention to cleaning the film channels especially and the guides of the slot. They have fabric hinges that can become worn and those I abandoned. I found that most were usable after careful cleaning so that the loading flap shut completely. But it encouraged me to keep the dark cloth over the back of the camera as a precaution especially in full sunlight, as an amateur with time to spare that isn't too big a headache. I did tests to eliminate the worst offenders.

Ted

[tom north]

I have several old wooden 8 x 10 film holders that I've cleaned and repaired the fabric with non-acid librarian tap for repair of book splines. I also try not exposed loaded film holders to light by keeping all of my handling and exposure under a dark cloth or light tight film bag. Since I started doing this, I've never fogged a single negative. I like the wood film holders because they don't seem to have a problem with static electricity. If the film holders you have are solid, you have hit a gold mine.

Tom

[Sandeha]

If there are screws holding down the light trap plates, then they are an easy repair.