Converting film holders for glass negatives

[dwross]

Hi All,

I'm a long time LF photographer, new to this forum. I've sneaked many a peak because this seems to be about the best source of photography information on the internet, LF and otherwise. I've finally signed on officially.

Question: I'm converting old wooden framed 5x7 film holders for glass plates. (I'm a self-employed emulsion researcher). So far the task seems too easy, which is my cue I'm probably missing something. Can anyone point out the gotchas? Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[Geert]

I hope you take into account that the placement of the emulsion will be further inside the camera than with film... adjust the position of the groundglass likewise!

This will require you to modify the groundglass holder. The position of the groundglass must be shifted inwards the camera by the thickness of the glass plates (+ emulsion?) you will use.

This could become a very difficult operation, depending on what type of camera you have.

Greetings and welcome,
G

[dwross]

Geert,

Thank you very much for the heads-up. That issue had not yet even entered my mind.

d

[Scott Davis]

Actually, it depends very much on HOW you modify the film holder. I think Geert's advice is assuming that you in actual fact don't modify the film holder. You can modify film holders to take a SINGLE glass plate at a time, by cutting the septum, and installing silver wire (silver, to keep it non-reactive to the emulsion) across the corners of the cutout to retain the glass plate. This will alleviate the need to modify the ground glass position.

[Antonio Corcuera]

DWRoss,
I have some old Kodak 5x7 plate holders, no need to modify. PM me if you're interested.

[Kirk Keyes]

Denise -

Try this link:

http://books.google.com/books?id=4hFUJHeW6H8C&pg=PA67&lpg=PA67&dq=glass+plate+holder+silver+wire&source=web&ots=gPE0cIQzJY&sig=WoxFBpa6h4W8RejWtIaHXm9piUs

This should link to a preview of "Coming into Focus - A step by step guide to Alt Photographic Printing" by John Barnier.

There's a few other links out there that discuss the silver wire modification. I've seen it with wet-plate collidion info before. I'm not convinced one needs the silver wire for dry plate though...

Kirk

[dwross]

Scott,

I've got my fingers crossed you're right. I am modifying the holders to hold one piece of glass at basically the same plane as film would be in. The devil's always in the details, of course, and if I'm inexplicably out of focus Geert has given me a starting point of investigation. (Much better than hair pulling.)

Kirk, thank you for the link. With luck, I might have a not totally embarrassing result to show you at Fanfaire.

Denise

[Vaughn]

Seems to me it would be easier to buy old 5x7 glass plate holders of of ebay, etc.

Vaughn

PS...Just went looking thru my stuff. I have several 5x7 glass plate holders I will sell you if you want them. "Made in USA by Graflex Inc for Eastman Kodak". Fair to good condition. Seem to be the standard 5x7 size. Hinge tape on the ends in good shape.

I have 4x5 film adapters in them (actually 4x5 glass plate adapter with 4x5 film adapter inside that)...thought they may come in handy one day...but I don't think that day will come.

Email me if you are interested ($50 for 4 ...includes shipping)

vgh7001@humboldt.edu

[dwross]

Hi All:

My warmest 'Thank you!' to you all for the help I received working my 5x7 plate negative holder problem. Special thanks to Antonio and Vaughn. LF is a wonderful community.

I have attached a sample of my work so far.

If you're interested in more info, please go here:
http://dwrphotos.com/blog/Section13/GlassNegatives.htm

Happy Photo'ing!
d

[Bruce Schultz]

Instead of silver wire, you can also use small triangles of clear plexiglass cemented in place with a couple of dabs of Gorilla Glue. I've modified several film holders for wet plate photography and always used this method.

[dwross]

Hi Bruce:

Thanks! All tips are appreciated. I'll give it a try. When Vaughn and Antonio rescued me from the conversion process by generously providing the real deals, I set aside for a bit that particular part of the learning curve. I was far more eager to coat glass than I was to retrofit old holders.

But, I still feel it is an important topic. It may be that glass holders will get scarce or prohibitively expensive. It is my hope that the handcrafted emulsion website I and a few friends are starting in January will have tutorials on the nuts and bolts aspects of the craft. This just has to include converting old wooden film holders to glass plate holders.

Thanks again,
d