barryjyoung said:
I tried to find the ANSI standard or a MIL Spec for film holders but they all seem to be cancelled.
Barry has raised an interesting question about the validity of standards.
The American National Standards Institute doesn't really develop standards. Instead, it is a body that is responsible for a standardization process that is followed by more parochial industry groups that actually develop standards on a concensus basis. Those standards represent the concensus agreement of participants in the respective ndustries of the standard-making groups. ANSI has a rule that requires that standards be either revised or reaffirmed avery five years; a standard that is neither revised or reaffirmed loses its status as an ANSI standard. This rule is intended to keep standards current with evolving technology.
But recognize that an "ANSI standard" is merely a formalized agreement within an industry that certain things will be done in a uniform manner. The curious thing is that the fact that a standard has lost its official recognition as an ANSI standard does not necessarily mean that the industry concensus no longer exists. In fact, if the industry continues to adhere to the agreements embodied in the, the standard by default remains in effect even though it doesn't have ANSI's imprimatur.
I wonder if this is one of those situations in which the body that originally formulated the standard on film holder dimensions either no longer exists, or no longer cares about film holder dimensions. I don't believe that there has been a fundamental change in the applicable technology since the point when the industry shifted from plates to film.
Under Roberts Rules of Order, a quorum must be present before business can be conducted. But there is another rule that says that a quorum is presumed to be present until someone questions whether a quorum is present. Once the question has been asked, then it is necessary to take a count, and if the count determines that there is no quorum, then business cannot be conducte. The lesson is - - - don't ask if there is a quorum.
So unless and until someone questions the existence of a standard on film holder dimensions, and more importantly, until someone proposes a set of dimensions that differ from those in the standard, the standard really continues to be in effect, even though it may no longer be listed in the ANSI catalog.