Fotoman 5x7 holder troubles

[Larry H-L]

Anyone using Fotoman holders?

I'm having trouble with some new Fotoman 5x7 holders. In the field some slides won't go back in and seat completely. VERY frustrating.

It seems that the finger tabs / pulls (or whatever you call them) are hanging up on the top of the holder, or somehow interfering with the slide locks. I don't have trouble when loading them, so it might have something to do with the design of the slides when they are flipped over to the other side after exposure.

I've tried adjusting the tension on some of the screws near the top of the holder, but that doesn't seem to help.

Any suggestions?

Thanks. Larry

 

[keithwms]

I usually avoid pulling the slides out all the way- this is a practice I adopted after getting varying degrees of minor fogging through the seals of older holders, and noticing that this could vary a lot depending on the orientation of the camera. Plus some of my lenses are shutterless so it becomes a bit of a problem to have to reinsert a fully drawn slide with one hand whilst holding my hat over the lens with the other :rolleyes: I have so many different kinds of holders that I find it hard to keep track of which ones are more or less prone to leakage! So, as long as there is no breeze to blow my slides, I leave them partially in. You can make marks on the slides that show you have pulled them out far enough.

Anyway, what are the slides made of? Maybe the tabs could be sanded down a bit if you really want to pull and flip 'em. Should be easy enough. You should do that anyway, since the practice of leaving them partially in really won't work on a windy day!!

 

[Michael Kadillak]

This is simply unacceptable. Send them back to the distributor to get them repaired and/or replaced - immediately.

You should not have to dick around with this issue in repair mode and you should not have to modify your field process to accommodate this condition. Holders are designed and manufactured to make photographs. If they do not work as intended then it is not your responsibility assuming that you did not damage them in any way. This is precisely why you should not try to fix them yourself.

 

[Larry H-L]

Thanks Keith and Michael.

I will send back two of the holders for replacement, the others seem fine.

Must be some sort of manufacturing tolerance issue.

 

[Michael Kadillak]

Let everyone know how this situation plays out. Prospective buyers of Fotoman holders will appreciate the fact that your situation was remedied.

You cannot pay for better advertisement.

Cheers!

 

[Larry H-L]

Following up on the 5x7 holder troubles...

Before returning them to the dealer, I took one more look at the two troublesome holders after I had "cooled down" a few days.

The problem turned out to be the dark slides. The bottom edge of each slide was slightly bowed, keeping the slides from slipping into the "loading flap." The problem was worse when the slides were flipped over after exposure because the now "outward" bow prevented the slides from slipping in.

So, I heated up the slides in front of my darkroom ceramic heater, gave them a bow in the opposite direction and let them cool. Problem solved. They now work great.

I'm betting that the holders, at some point in their shipping, had a heavy weight rest on them, bending the slides.

Thanks for the earlier replies.