6x6 slide/transparency mounts?

[Peter Black]

I picked up an old Gnome push/pull MF slide projector yesterday and it seems in pretty good condition for its age. I've never mounted any of my 120 transparencies other than in black card, so I was a bit surprised to find that a box of 20 GePe AN mounts would be more than the projector itself.

Has anyone had success with the GePe glassless mounts or the AP ones that I see listed in the UK?

Thanks, Peter

 

[David Henderson]

I think that when you get up to a few thousand mounted slides, as I have, you'll be finding the Gepe glass mounts a bit on the heavy side too, and it affects the number of sleeves you can fit in a ring album or filing drawer so long term they increase the storage space needed quite markedly. And they're a pain since you invariably have to clean them before inserting the film, and they're very difficult to write on so captioning etc isn't easy.

That said, the glass mounts are the highest quality solution, since they keep the slide in position, flat and dust free, and they focus more easily and "pop" less in a projector. I've never managed to use the glassless 6x6 mounts in a way that stops the transparency slipping around inside them badly. The 645 version works just fine, but they have a much more substantiall metal mask round the frame than do the 6x6. What I actually use are self adhesive white card mounts. They aren't everyone's favourite solution, but they are light, easy to write on , cheap (under £10/00), very quick to mount and they project well enough in the Hasselblad and Cabin projectors anyway. Many of them aren't thick/stiff enough to project decently but those from Process Supplies (Process Supplies (London) Ltd provide a specialised supply service for professional photographers) are rigid enough though I wouldn't like them to be any thinner. If you scan or print you end up destroying a mount- but they're fast and cheap to replace. Some say that they leave a residue of adhesive round the edge of the slide, but I have to say that this hasn't been my experience and no labs have ever commented to me about the amount of cleaning they have to do and I've never had a problem with a print of a scan.

I hope the picture I'm painting here is that all the solutions I know of are a compromise and you just have to decide what set of attributes, strengths and weaknesses suit you. Trying a box of each is not bad advice. I know a guy who puts everything he intends to print in glass, and those he only ever intends to project in card- but then he shoots 645 and the card mounts are much more rigid than the 6x6 version.

 

[kraker]

I picked up an old Gnome push/pull MF slide projector yesterday and it seems in pretty good condition for its age. I've never mounted any of my 120 transparencies other than in black card, so I was a bit surprised to find that a box of 20 GePe AN mounts would be more than the projector itself.

Has anyone had success with the GePe glassless mounts or the AP ones that I see listed in the UK?

Thanks, Peter

Sorry, can't help you there. Just wanted to say... WOW! If I would ever stumble upon a half-decent MF projector for less than the price of 20 6x6 glass mounts, I'd be very happy indeed

Good luck!

 

[Peter Black]

I've never managed to use the glassless 6x6 mounts in a way that stops the transparency slipping around inside them badly. The 645 version works just fine, but they have a much more substantiall metal mask round the frame than do the 6x6. What I actually use are self adhesive white card mounts. They aren't everyone's favourite solution, but they are light, easy to write on , cheap (under £10/00), very quick to mount and they project well enough in the Hasselblad and Cabin projectors anyway. Many of them aren't thick/stiff enough to project decently but those from Process Supplies (Process Supplies (London) Ltd provide a specialised supply service for professional photographers) are rigid enough though I wouldn't like them to be any thinner. If you scan or print you end up destroying a mount- but they're fast and cheap to replace. Some say that they leave a residue of adhesive round the edge of the slide, but I have to say that this hasn't been my experience and no labs have ever commented to me about the amount of cleaning they have to do and I've never had a problem with a print of a scan.

This is very useful information David, and just the sort of thing I hoped to find out. I'm not familiar with Process Supplies, so thanks for the link to their site & I'll call them tomorrow.

Thanks again, Peter

 

[Richard Kelham]

I always use the AN glass mounts for my 6x6 slides for all the reasons mentioned – but I don't shoot all that many and only mount the good'uns!

Good to see that Process Supplies are still in business..

 

[max_ebb]

That said, the glass mounts are the highest quality solution, since they keep the slide in position, flat and dust free, and they focus more easily and "pop" less in a projector. I've never managed to use the glassless 6x6 mounts in a way that stops the transparency slipping around inside them badly.

I use the GePe glassless mounts and don't have any problems with them. Never had any problem with transparencies slipping around inside them, and never had any focus problems. I don't even see how it would be possible for the transparency to slip around inside them. Are you sure you mounted the film correctly (did you tuck the edges under the metal tabs)? In my experience, if they're mounted correctly, there's no way the trans can slip (nowhere for it to go).

WOW! If I would ever stumble upon a half-decent MF projector for less than the price of 20 6x6 glass mounts, I'd be very happy indeed

I picked up an old Brumberger MF projector (in excellent condition) at a yard sale for $3. It even had a good bulb in it.

 

[Rollei fan]

Glassless

I used Gepe mounts with AN glass for 20 years. Then I got simply tired of paying for and cleaning those hazy-out-of-the-package glasses (for ridiculously expensive 1 euro/frame). I was not happy with Gepes glassless mounts either. Then I found rather good glassless mounts, made by Kunze in Germany. Worth trying.
If the slides have been under some pressure for a while before framing so that they are flat, then the slides don't tend to "pop" very often during projection when using these mounts.