Current 5x7 film availability..?

[John Kasaian]

Greetings,

After playing a bit with my B&J 4x5, I find that what I really like best is the contact prints.

So I'd like to pick up a 5x7 camera, so that the contact prints are a bit larger.

Is the film reasonably easy to obtain? I have no problem buying 4x5 locally, but haven't been out to buy any lately (a little goes a long way), and so I'm asking here.

Thanks!

Edit:
I'm in northwest Ohio, Toledo area.... and often spend time in Detroit as well. Sorry about leaving that out!

Doug,
You shouldn't need a new camera. IIRC a B&J can accept a 5x7 back, so just look for one of those and save the $$$ for film, holders and lens.

 

[John Kasaian]

Save some more money and buy used 5x7 film holders from Midwest or other reputable dealers, check 'em outwith photo paper and return any leakers for an exchange. A good used film holder IMHO is no better or worse than a new one. Agfa 5x7 holders are particularly robust, but my favorite old time 5x7 holders are Bacos (they sound like they belong on a salad, don't they?)

 

[steve simmons]

There is a lot of 5x7 film around, especially black and white. You have been given some good sources here.

I have been a fan of the 5x7 format for years. For my vision it is big enough to make beautiful contact prints.

There are some articles in the Free Articles section of the View Camera web site that might be helpful.

http://www.viewcamera.com/pdf/2006/5x713x18filmtable.pdf
http://www.viewcamera.com/images/focalchart.gif
http://www.viewcamera.com/pdf/VC91-Thalmann-web.pdf

Good luck.


steve simmons

 

[DougGrosjean]

Wow - thanks for all the 5x7 film info, folks! Good stuff, and appreciated.

To John Kasaian: are you sure a 4x5 B&J Press can accept a 5x7 back? If so, that would be fantastic - but I've never seen that mentioned anywhere before, and the back rotates.... and doesn't look like it would be easy to remove / replace.

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

The B&J press doesn't. I think John must have been thinking of the B&J tailboard model. They're really 5x7s with 4x5 reducing backs. Very much like the Agfa/Ansco tailboard 4x5/5x7 model.

 

[John Kasaian]

Wow - thanks for all the 5x7 film info, folks! Good stuff, and appreciated.

To John Kasaian: are you sure a 4x5 B&J Press can accept a 5x7 back? If so, that would be fantastic - but I've never seen that mentioned anywhere before, and the back rotates.... and doesn't look like it would be easy to remove / replace.

Sorry, I was thinking that you had the wood flatbed B&J! My error

 

[k_jupiter]

But that is a might fine camera. The B&J Tailboard 5x7. I have one with both backs, easy to rotate, folds up to a small binder size. All the pieces (lens board, film backs) fit on a 5x7 Grover for your studio work.

tim in san jose

 

[c6h6o3]

Save some more money and buy used 5x7 film holders from Midwest or other reputable dealers

Easier said than done. They don't have a single holder. I certainly wouldn't subject myself to Ebay were it not for the fact that I had looked (exhaustively) in less chaotic venues.

 

[Ted Harris]

I'll add a couple of other updates to the chart. The J&C film is no longer available. I'm not sure about the Kodak EPR and EPY in 5x7 but they are astill available in 13x18. BTW special orders are always available from Kodak and Fuji. The total dollar amount seems daunting but it can and has been done. There was an order placed recently for Fuji color negative film.

 

[Ted Harris]

Regarding holders, stay tuned, Fotoman has gone through the first iteration of prototypes and should have some in stores in the next few months. Meanwhile, Chamonix has some nice wood ones available but they are pricy ... around $130.

 

[c6h6o3]

Regarding holders, stay tuned, Fotoman has gone through the first iteration of prototypes and should have some in stores in the next few months. Meanwhile, Chamonix has some nice wood ones available but they are pricy ... around $130.

The Shen Hao holders are half that price, and Scott Davis reports that they are of very high quality.

 

[Ted Harris]

I had heard the Shen Hao holders were well made but hadn't heard anything on price. For myself, I have plenty of 5x7 and 13x18 holders bu tit is nice to know that those entering the wonderful world of 5x7 don't have to pay two fortunes for a holder.

BTW, following German eBay often turns up 13x18 holders at very favorable prices. Before someone asks, no, you can't use the film and holders interchangeably. The outside dimensions are the same but the insides are different.

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

I bought four of the Shen Hao holders; they are well worth the money, considering the random and dubious quality of what is available on the used market for the price. From what I've heard, the Fotoman holders will come in somewhere around halfway between the Shen Hao and the Chamonix. If/when I need more 5x7 holders, I'll get more Shen Haos, and save the difference for the Fotoman whole plate holders when they eventually hit the market. I just hope they'll come available before my Ilford whole plate film outdates.

 

[John Kasaian]

New is nice, but if you're a bottom feeder like me even ebay isn't quite as risky as it looks. Buy wood holders and you'll get a few leakers (or conversely a few good ones) in just about every stack. Buying from a studio increases the odds they'll be more good than bad in my experience. Also lots of 2 tend to be ok in general. If you buy single holders you'll take a beating on shipping. Stick with one or two manufacturers for parts interchangability and the bad holders you can't return keep in a cannibal box and use the parts to fix other film holders. A little effort in developing rebuilding skills has more than paid off for me. The math looks kind of like this:
Used holders $12-15 each
50% usable(a conservative estimate) the cost goes up to $24-30 each
Out of three leakers, if you can reassemble one usable holder then out of a stack of 6 holders you pay $72-90 for you'll get 4 useable holders for a cost of $16-21.50 not including shipping or your time or incidentals such as tape for reattaching hinges or hardware for fabricating replacement "ells"

 

[Nick Zentena]

I thought the rumour was the Shen holders are actually made by the same people making Chamonix holders?

The problem with Ebay is shipping on small number of holders. If you can find 5+ it's fine but if you're buying one here. Two there shipping ends up more then the holders.

I've said in the past watch KEH. They show up every so often for better then Ebay prices.

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

John- I've not often found 5x7 holders that didn't obviously need WORK for under $20-25 each. If I've got to buy three of those to get a keeper, I'm at the price of a new Shen Hao, and I don't have unlimited storage space for all the junk/spare parts ones. 5x7 film is expensive enough I don't want to have to waste any on holders I don't know I can trust. More to the point, I'm often shooting people, people whose schedules don't allow me to call them back to shoot again at will, so re-shooting something lost to a light leak is not a realistic option.

 

[Sal Santamaura]

I thought the rumour was the Shen holders are actually made by the same people making Chamonix holders?...

Not true -- completely different holders made by two separate companies.

I've just finished checking out some evaluation samples of the 5x7 Chamonix holders. IMHO they're even nicer than my Lotus 6 1/2 x 8 1/2 holders!

 

[JCT]

I've managed to buy a few good 5x7 holders from both Ebay and KEH-- definitely keep your eye on the KEH pages and jump when they appear, the return policy is quite reasonable as well, so it is worth a shot.

Having said that, once I get the final "spousal approval" for a 5x7/4x5 Canham Wood Field I will probably invest in some of the new Shen Hao holders to go with it. I spent nearly an hour with Keith Canham at PhotoPlus and I'm really looking forward to having a more portable 5x7.

Boy, it just took a few negatives from the B&J I bought from MPEX on a whim to fall in love with 5x7 -- especially for portraits.

JT

 

[Curt]

'Would love to have a Canham 5x7; anyone have the new Shen Hao holder/holders yet?

 

[Soeren]

John- I've not often found 5x7 holders that didn't obviously need WORK for under $20-25 each. If I've got to buy three of those to get a keeper, I'm at the price of a new Shen Hao, and I don't have unlimited storage space for all the junk/spare parts ones. 5x7 film is expensive enough I don't want to have to waste any on holders I don't know I can trust. More to the point, I'm often shooting people, people whose schedules don't allow me to call them back to shoot again at will, so re-shooting something lost to a light leak is not a realistic option.

Wouldn't that being a matter of testing your equipment before using it for important asignments. Somebody somewhere gave the advise to number your holders thus keeping track of their perfomance.
Kind regards
Søren

 

[Nick Zentena]

'Would love to have a Canham 5x7; anyone have the new Shen Hao holder/holders yet?

A couple of us in this thread do. They're lighter then I expected.

 

[jgjbowen]

I'm waiting for Richard Ritter's new camera design. I understand it is extremely light and will offer interchangeable backs for 4x5, 5x7, 8x10 and probably any back in between. This camera is based on the same rail design he uses for his ULF cameras.

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

'Would love to have a Canham 5x7; anyone have the new Shen Hao holder/holders yet?

Curt-

Yes, I have them. Read further back in this thread, and do a search on APUG for my review of them. In short, they're excellent.

 

[WRSchmalfuss]

ROLLEI R3 sheet film

ROLLEI-FILM is able to cut EACH DESIRED FORMAT after customer's request. Also for old or special sheet film holders.

For instance, so for approx. 500 sheets, depending upon format. The well known ROLLEI R3 film is supplied.

Left in German language: http:www.aphog.de/index.php?option=com content&task=view&id=198&Itemid=1

With the 5x7 available ROLLEI R3 sheet film the cut measure is of 127mm x 178mm +/- 1 mm tolerance.

Cheers