8x10 Film Holder Missing Locks

[Alan Klein]

I always carry masking tape, the blue painters kind. Even with the hook things, I still tape everything. Just a habit from studio days where all the house equipment is jacked up. Better to be careful and tape everything than trust the equipment. To this day I still gaffer tape my lensboards to the front standard. Too much to think out on the field. Nothing like looking down into a table top set and watching your lens fall into something. Or into a swamp, or grass, or a river. Tape it and forget it.

I've done that. Fortunately the lens didn't break. Masking tape sounds like a good idea.

[LabRat]

If you desire locks, here is a solution from the past... Some Graphmatic backs had a lock that was not the hook, but a half circle with a pivot hole near the flat edge or whole with hole near edge... One would rotate the lock out of the way where the flat edge would get out of the way of the slide when needed, and rotate back to prevent slide from being pulled... Another advantage is when opened, it rotates to prevent rear slide from being pulled during the moment of truth...

A metal disc the size of a dime (or even a dime or larger coin) could be cut in half and hole drilled or punched near flat center edge or whole
near rim for a screw + washers that threads into outer holder edge, and maybe needs a spacer between to raise new lock to proper height...

Steve K

[John Kasaian]

I have an 8x10 Fidelity Elite film holder that is missing the metal locking pins that keep the dark slide from being pulled on accident. Is there a fix for this? Just using a rubber band for the moment.

Thanks,
Dave

Are those plastic holders?
I've replaced the locks on wooden holders with "ells" from a good hardware store.
Plastic holders might require surgery, building up the plastic part where the locks should rotate.
I've had good results with gray PC-7 with a little black Testor's model paint for color mixed in.
How much you'll need and how to get the "ell" to rotate depends on how messed up the holder is.
These are really fun projects to tackle, and your reward will be a useful 8x10 film holder, which is certainly worth the effort since you can't make it any worse.

[Kevin Crisp]

Painter's tape is cheap and a 1" or so piece along the long sides of the holder will secure the dark slide with no residue. Easy to remove, especially if you fold one end over so you don't have to dig a nail under to get it started when you pull it off.

[Greg]

For my 4x5 film holders, I have always used the locking pins. My six 4x5 Toyo holders are all stored in one pouch, and I liked the security of having them hold down the dark slides. For whole plate, 8x10, and 11x14, my holders are each stored in separate soft pouches. I once thought that the locking pins just seemed to be redundant and just another extraneous step to do when shooting these formats. I did use a narrow strip of Gaffers tape to secure down the dark slides till one time when I was removing the tape on an 11x14 holder and it stuck to the top of the dark slide and I ended up slightly pulling it out and slightly exposing a sheet of 11x14 film... last time I ever used tape. In retrospect blue painters tape (way less adhesive) would have been a much better choice. All up to a few years ago when I was moving an 11x14 film holder, and the dark slide slipped open. Now I always use those locking pins. I realized that In the scheme of things they only added maybe second or two to the shooting time.

[Fred L]

I use those long elastics from Staples. I always found the locks annoying tbh. I wish 5x7 and 8x10 holders had the Riteway self locking slides.

[Greg Y]

Same as Eric... I had some 5x7 holders missing the pins... masking tape works like a charm

[neil poulsen]

Even with locks, I use rubber bands to secure my film holders.

[Mal Paso]

45 years of LF use (4x5, 5x7, 8x10, 11x14, 7x17) and rarely use those obnoxious locks. I lose perhaps a sheet of film decade.

When I replaced my 4x5 equipment I bought a some used holders that had lock pins that were so loose they would spin under their own weight and block the slide at just the wrong moment. A drop of the penetrating super glue locked them up solid so they don't turn at all. These are the older style with metal handles and a small wire bale on the plastic slide which never snag on things and open.

The newer style dark slides with plastic handles snag on everything and I actually use the pins. Close to 55 years of large format for me. LOL Where does time actually go?