Vacuum Film Holders

[deadpan]

Hi all,
I tried a few searches on here and the net. Found a page where a guy had converted a 4x5 holder:

http://www.deadbread.com/crumbs/vac.html

What I wanted to know is...is there an individual or company out there that can convert (or sells) 8x10 vacuum film holders rather than doing it yourself (which I may try).

Any info is appreciated!

[Archphoto]

For 8x10 you would need more holes to keep your film flat.

Sinar (http://www.sinar.ch) had a diferent aproach to film-flatness: their Sinar Adhesive Sheet Film Holder.
What thy did was putting a double sided adhesive sheet in the film holder.
The long sides were trimed down as you no longer slid the film into place but put the film to a refence edge and gently put the film onto the sheet.

They were not cheap though, but you could experiment with an old 4x5 holder to start out with.

Peter

[deadpan]

Thanks Peter,

I have seen Vacuum holders in 8x10 that have more holes drilled than this holder I referenced, and have a rough pattern, but am more interested in if anyone makes/converts them on a more regular basis. I know of the Sinar system, but want Vacuum rather than adhesive. Thanks though. I am surprised that there isn't more info on them generally available...

[Drew Wiley]

Never seen one for sale myself, but they're easy to make. I took an aluminum holder
and honeycomb-shimmed the backside to prevent the middle partition from deflecting during vacuum draw, then sealed the back with silicone except for the little hole for
the vacuum hose fitting. A nice X and perimeter pattern of 1/32" holes to the inner
septum and that was it. Total cost of modifcation about five bucks. A toy train store
or hobby/model shop is a good place to get the necessary thickness of plastic or brass shim stock. I have described elsewhere on this forum how to make adhesive holders.

[ic-racer]

At F11 the focus spread is almost 3mm, so film would have to be pretty bent out of shape for an 8x10 vacuum back to make an observable improvement in sharpness.

[IanMazursky]

Im testing the removable ATG tape for my 12x20 holders.
I think it should work for 12x20 film and im going to try it for the 9.5" aerial film i have.
I bought the tape from McMaster Carr Part # 75975A655
Removable Vinyl Tape-Adhesive Both Sides 1/4" Wide X 72 Yards Long
http://www.mcmaster.com/#75975a655/=1zn9sj
Its the last item on the page.

[deadpan]

Im testing the removable ATG tape



Very helpful, thank you. Although I was primarily looking at Vacuum conversions, `I may well try a tape solution in the meantime.

[Robert A. Zeichner]

I sold a couple of them to someone on this forum about a year ago.

[Robert A. Zeichner]

Aha! I found the photos I posted as well if that's any help.

[John Powers]

"eddie" has a beautiful 11x14 Deardorff for sale with a vacuum film holder. I believe I saw this camera at an estate auction here in the Cleveland, OH area before he bought it. Perhaps you could ask him to photo the back to help you better understand the build requirements.
http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?t=47945&highlight=Deardorff+11x14

John

[Peter De Smidt]

Robert, what did you use to supply the vacuum? A rubber bulb?

[Robert A. Zeichner]

Robert, what did you use to supply the vacuum? A rubber bulb?

Peter, I never actually used them as vacuum holders and so I never tried hooking anything up to them. The rubber bulb idea sounds interesting though.

[Peter K]

Robert, what did you use to supply the vacuum? A rubber bulb?
A bicylce pump can also used.

Years ago Linhof made vacuum film holders for 9x12cm, 13x18cm and 18x24cm films. With a hand-held vacuum-pump supplied by 4x 1,5 V cells.

Peter K

[Pete Roody]

this will work:

http://scientificsonline.com/product.asp_Q_pn_E_3071301

[konakoa]

Rubber bulbs don't work well. The force isn't constant. The film against the holder doesn't make a absolutely air-tight seal; the film gets pulled in, relaxes back out immediately and is pulled back in on the next squeeze.

[Peter K]

Rubber bulbs don't work well. The force isn't constant. The film against the holder doesn't make a absolutely air-tight seal; the film gets pulled in, relaxes back out immediately and is pulled back in on the next squeeze.
One needs a valve between pump and film holder to seal the "vacuum chamber" during the back-stroke of the piston.

[Drew Wiley]

A cordless rechargeable hand-held household vacuum works fine. Just adapt the
crevice tool to a length of vinyl tubing.