4x5 roll film adapter

Bruce Watson · Mar 23, 2006

Most people know that they can get roll film backs that let them use 120/220 film with a 4x5 camera. Yes?

My question is has anyone ever made a roll film back for bigger film like 4" wide film - so you could take full sized 4x5 exposures on roll film? I haven't been able to find any references to such a beast, but it just seems logical that someone must have done it at some time in the past.

So, if we have 6x7 and 6x9 roll film adapters, why not a 4x5 roll film adapter?

Dave Parker · Mar 23, 2006

I have never seen one, of course I have never seen 4" roll film, at least I don't think I have, I guess they may have made it for the recon cameras in the war? but I have never seen a roll film adapter of this size

Dave

waynecrider · Mar 23, 2006

There's some specialty 9.5" stuff at B&H but I was thinking that 5" was available at one time.

Just doing a google I found this camera which uses 5" film; http://www.mottweilerstudio.com/html/cameras/camera_5.html

Dave Parker · Mar 23, 2006

I am almost sure the areial cameras of WWII actually used 5" film, at least that is what I have thought, I also remember somewhere seeing an 8" roll film areial camera, this would be a mystery for Jim Galli me thinks, if anyone would know I am sure here would.

Dave

bart Nadeau · Mar 23, 2006

Great idea! In fact so great that Graflex made such roll film holders for their cameras from about 1910 to WW2. They made sizes 2.25x3.25, 3.25x4.25, 3.5x5.5, 4x5 and 5x7, all rolled the long way. Kodak made film in at least VP and Super XX in most sizes until the 1950's. Six shots on a roll. This, and the 12 and 18 exposure bag magazines, were one of the reasons that people ordered Speed Graphics with the optional Graflex back.

Bart Nadeau

David H. Bebbington · Mar 23, 2006

My Linhof book tells me that a camera called the Aero-Technika 45 EL has a motorised vacuum film magazine with enough 5" wide rollfilm for 150 4x5" exposures. If you're interested, I'll post a picture!

Regards,

David

John Bartley · Mar 23, 2006

Ed (mrfoto1 on eBay) sells roll film in both 5" and 9.5" wide. It is aerial photo film.

David A. Goldfarb · Mar 23, 2006

I think Bob Salomon posted about the Linhof motorized 5" rollfilm back somewhere and mentioned that very few were made, and they've ended up in libraries or museums that do high quality copy work in volume.

I've seen a back for 5" rollfilm for my 5x7" Press Graflex. I forget what the numeric format designation was. I considered purchasing it, but I decided that sheet film is easier, and I've got two bag mags and a couple of Graflex holders for that camera, so it wasn't worth it to figure out how to respool 5" rollfilm with an opaque numbered paper backing like 120, so it could be used with the back.

I think that that's the real obstacle (in addition to film flatness) to using rollfilm in this way. You've got to design a back with a feeler wheel to meter the film distance traveled, so you know how far to advance the film. It's a little more complicated than those Chinese rollfilm backs with the red window.

I guess one model might be the film advance mechanism in the Voigtlander Superb TLR, which has a feeler wheel geared to a frame counter, but it doesn't have auto stop, so you have to watch the frame counter, just like the red window, to make sure you don't miss the next frame.

Nick Zentena · Mar 23, 2006

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_format

Supposedly 112 was 5"x7" for a rollfilm holder. All you have to do is go back to 1924 and convince Kodak to not stop making the film

darinwc · Mar 23, 2006

I've seen the graflex 4" and 5" roll film holders on ebay every once in a while. They ususally sell cheap if you want to mess with one. But really, unless you are doing something special like a cirkut, I dont see much use for LF roll film.

removed account4 · Mar 23, 2006

Satinsnow said:
I am almost sure the areial cameras of WWII actually used 5" film, at least that is what I have thought, I also remember somewhere seeing an 8" roll film areial camera, this would be a mystery for Jim Galli me thinks, if anyone would know I am sure here would.

Dave

i think some of it was 6" wide dave ...
my d3v enlarger was a government contract model made for printing 6" aerial film ( from what i was told) , but then again i have been wrong before

Bruce Watson · Mar 23, 2006

bart Nadeau said:
Great idea! In fact so great that Graflex made such roll film holders for their cameras from about 1910 to WW2. They made sizes 2.25x3.25, 3.25x4.25, 3.5x5.5, 4x5 and 5x7, all rolled the long way. Kodak made film in at least VP and Super XX in most sizes until the 1950's. Six shots on a roll. This, and the 12 and 18 exposure bag magazines, were one of the reasons that people ordered Speed Graphics with the optional Graflex back.

Bart Nadeau

I knew that somebody had to have done it. I specifically looked for information on Graflex, and didn't find it. Don't know how I managed to miss it. Thanks for the information!

4x5 roll film adapter

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