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View Full Version : just curious: what is this metal film holder?



Rider
21-Jul-2007, 05:09
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=009&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=190131058681&rd=1&rd=1

Frank R
21-Jul-2007, 05:27
It looks like a plate holder with a 9x12 cm film holder insert for a European camera.

What is unusual is the plate holder size. I have lots of these in a 9x12 (close to 4x5 in.) size. It looks like this one is 13x18 cm (approximately 5x7 in.).

Think of it as the European equivalent of a 5x7 plate holder with an insert that could hold a piece of 4x5 film.

Ole Tjugen
21-Jul-2007, 05:44
It doesn't look like the insert will hold 9x12cm, the proportions are all wrong. It looks more like a half-plate to 4x5" adapter holder to me...

Donald Qualls
22-Jul-2007, 11:37
The plate holder measurements make it likely to fit a 13x18 cm camera (5 5/8" across, 13x18 is just barely bigger than 5x7); I'd guess the adapter is made to hold 3x4 in a 13x18 plate camera (it's too small for 4x5 or 9x12 cm, too big and too square for 2x3 or 6.5x9 cm). The 3x4 was a very common format for newspaper photography in the pre- and post-War eras, because it would contact print to column size (it was also very widely available, because American 3x4 and British quarter plate were identical). The insert most likely comes out just as a glass plate would, and would then allow installing a film sheath (if you could find one this size) to use modern cut film in the plate holder. They show only the dark-slide side, however, so it's impossible to even guess what camera(s) it might fit...