Film holders, light leaks, and an Arca Swiss back

[phoneyman]

I have an Arca Swiss model C, one of the old out-of-production models. I also have several Fidelity 4x5 film holders. The holders fit fine when I have the back inserted in landscape mode, but in portrait mode the spring clip that holds the back on pushes the holder away and creates a massive light leak. I can fit the holders in upside down, with the dark slides facing down, but in order to operate the dark slides this way I have to slide the camera all the way to the very back of the monorail to make enough room for removal and reinsertion of the slides. Something tells me that this is not the expected operation.

Anyhow, in desperation, I took a Dremel cut-off wheel to one of the film holders and cut out a slot large enough for the spring clip to fit into when the film holder is inserted. This seems to work. Seems. I haven't shot yet, but a quick light leak test didn't show any leaks.

Before I do this to the rest of my holders I'd like to solicit some advice: have other people encountered this problem? Is it something solvable by setting up the camera a different way?

Thanks,

Pierre

[Glenn Thoreson]

No matter what kind the camera is, it shouldn't do that. I think I would find a way to fix the clip rather than modifying the holders. Something isn't right.

[lenser]

Can you take pictures of all sides with a holder in place and in the "portrait" position and post them? Maybe someone will recognize the fault and be able to help.

[phoneyman]

Can you take pictures of all sides with a holder in place and in the "portrait" position and post them? Maybe someone will recognize the fault and be able to help.

I'll try to get some pics of the back with the holder in. At any rate, here's what I've done to one of the holders.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/phoneyman/2633491429/

Pierre

[S. Preston Jones]

I just purchased a Model A/B (C) Arca Swiss. When I read this thread I put a 4x5 holder in and it works fine. Post a photo of your back from the top in both the the landscape and portrait positions. Are you sure that the holder is in all the way. Does your back have a bail? Your photo on Flicker would suggest that the clip holding the back is causing some kind of problem.

Preston

[phoneyman]

Preston, yes, the clip on the camera pushes the film holder away from the back preventing a proper light seal from happening. The holder is as far in as it gets. Alas.

Pierre

[john borrelli]

Not sure if this will be helpful, I have a newer Arca swiss camera but have never used the older model. The only time I had problems with light leaks happened before I realized you should only put the film holder in the correct side of the camera back. The camera side with the grooves is the correct side.