UPDATE:
I bought 3 boxes of 4x5 film holders from MAC. So that’s 6 total holders.
I did a light leak test today and sure enough the suspected holder has a light leak.
I decided to look at the dark slides and they’re plastic. I looked at another holder’s dark slides and they’re metal! So it looks like MAC accidentally included old stock. I have two more holders that have film in them so I can’t check those right now. Hopefully they’ll have the metal dark slides in them too.
This is good news. I only ask that MAC Group exchange the plastic for metal ones. Mystery solved!
Thank you all!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Kumar,
Oh, sorry. I certainly don't want to make problems for you.
If I may ask general questions, would that be OK?
1. Will those new aluminum darkslides fit and work properly in ANY 4x5" sheet film holder or just ones from Toyo?
2. Has Toyo figured out the source of the stink that affected their sheet film holders and eliminated it?
(Was it the glue?)
Thanks,
Terry
Terry,
1. Toyo and Fidelity slides are not interchangeable - one is wider than the other. I will check tomorrow and confirm which one. If the Toyo slides are wider, it should be possible to sand them down to the required width.
2. I (and my customers) have not been able to detect any smell with new Toyo holders. When this issue came up on the forum a couple of years ago, I asked my customers to report if they found any. All of them said they did not.
Kumar
I've read this thread with great interest as I just purchased a couple of older Toyo 4x5 film holders and have been looking at buying a few more. The ones I bought are older than the ones discussed here. The dark slides that cover the film are plastic, but the handles are metal. Instead of the large print "Toyo", they have the stylized S (for Sakai) in the middle, near the top. I did a light check in a dark room, using my iPhone flashlight on full power and don't see anything coming through. Does anyone know if these older holders were OK? Thanks.
Those look quite old. I have Toyo holders that I purchased in 2004 that look newer than that (they are basically the same style as the current ones), so I would think you will be fine. You can probably do a test if you are concerned...just load one sheet and leave it out in daylight for a few hours and see if it leaks really badly or looks blotchy. I think this problem only lasted a certain amount of time more recently, not something that lasted too long...it could not have, otherwise nearly everyone would run into problems.
Thanks for the reply. Makes sense. This was a bad chapter for Toyo, but aside from this, the holders have a great reputation for accuracy and durability. If Toyo made a holder in 5x7 (my main format) I’d buy some new holders from them. For 4x5, I’m OK with used, so long as I can tell that the slides I’m getting are good. I wish there were a way to tell ahead of purchase. Actually, here in Japan, used, late model Toyo holders are getting bid up to more than half the price of new ones. With the uncertainty of the slides, I may just save up. It would be good to support Toyo, a small company, with even smaller marketing and PR.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Bookmarks