I have four Riteway film holders. I like them because they have transparent dials you can set to number the sheets of film. Fidelity film holders don't have any thing like that, and you have to cut notches to accomplish the same sort of thing.
But it seems that Riteway film holders are no longer available.
Are there any other 4 x 5 film holders which are available, except for the old standard Fidelity film holders, which have similar features?
Originally Posted by Leonard Evens
You can still buy Toyos but the Riteways with the lock and little dials are history. They are my favorite, I accumulated about 100 of them before the virtually disappeared. EC
I just painted permanent numbers on all of my film holders (using nailpolish enamel). It comes in handy if I find that one particular holder seems to be showing signs of lightleaks or other issues since the numbers will always be the same. Perhaps that would work for you if you cannot find holders with a dial.
How does numbering the film holders allow you to connect a piece of film to a particular holder? Have you also notched the frames?
4x5 Grafmatic sheet film holder has a numbering wheel built in.
Another way is to notch the film holder flap, this produce a notch when the film is processed given there is enough light to expose the notch film area.
Bernice
I've labelled all my film holders, but that is not what I was talking about. I want some way to tell from the developed film sheet which holder it was in. One obvious reason would be to tell which holder is leaking light when that happens. Another reason is that I often make two or more exposures of the same scene using different settings, so I need to be able to tell from the developed film sheets which exposure was which. (I record all the settings for each exposure in a small notebook I carry with me.) The Riteway film holders have internal transparent dials with numbers on them. That creates a number of the edge of the film sheet.
If you notch the edge of the film holder at the flap or elsewhere, then when you make an exposure, the notch will show up on the film. Development can be done, as usual, in complete darkness. But I am nervous about doing that because if I do it wrong, I may create a light leak. I also have lots of film holders, so I woul have to put in many notches on some of them.
The Grafmatic holders have two notches where the photographer is supposed to glue a little bit of plastic with some kind of information on it. I always thought that this would be a good idea, and do the same with a normal holder. You could use a tiny bit of tape folded over into a tab, and then it wouldn't be permanent.
"It's the way to educate your eyes. Stare. Pry, listen, eavesdrop. Die knowing something. You are not here long." - Walker Evans
John, I record every exposure (always have). So I shoot, put the darkslide back in, pick up the digital recorder hanging from an arm of my tripod head and enter the film holder #, type of film, speed at which shot, lens and camera, exposure details and image details. Back home, it all gets logged into a tabbed spreadsheet. Sounds like a lot but it's not at all.
Once in a blue moon my description is not enough for me to go back and identify what film holder I used to capture the shot. Or sometimes when I do several takes. But with large format, that's less common for me than when I'm shooting med format.
Works out for me
That of course can be done but I don't think a system of recording exposure and other information is what Leonard is asking about. He's asking about something that will allow him to know which holder a sheet of film came from simply by looking at the sheet of exposed and processed film.John, I record every exposure (always have). So I shoot, put the darkslide back in, pick up the digital recorder hanging from an arm of my tripod head and enter the film holder #, type of film, speed at which shot, lens and camera, exposure details and image details. Back home, it all gets logged into a tabbed spreadsheet. Sounds like a lot but it's not at all.
Once in a blue moon my description is not enough for me to go back and identify what film holder I used to capture the shot. Or sometimes when I do several takes. But with large format, that's less common for me than when I'm shooting med format.
Works out for me
Brian Ellis
Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you do criticize them you'll be
a mile away and you'll have their shoes.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks