Fuji PA45 and/or Polaroid 550 holders

Can someone confirm that either or both Fuji PA45 or Polaroid 550 holders fit in a regular 4x5 camera back without modification? Is the holder opening actually 4"x5" or something smaller?

Also, I would be grateful if someone could post a few pics of these showing both the exterior and interior. I'm thinking it may be possible to easily convert these holders for use as wetplate collodion plate holders. If so, the bookform would be much easier to use than modifying standard film holders for that purpose.

TIA,

Joe

Both holders are designed to fit a 4x5 back. They might be too thick for some field cameras (like the linhof technica). I'm not sure of the internal dimensions of the holder.

The opening on the PA45 is 3-9/16" X 4-15/16" (9 cm X 12.5 cm).

Paul

Wasn't the 550 for pack film? As I recall that's about 3 1/4X 4 1/4, not 4X5.

The Polaroid 405 or Fuji PA-145 are for the smaller pack films. The Polaroid 550 or Fuji PA-45 are for the larger pack films, which only Fuji has been making for a few years (Polaroid stopped these pack films several years ago). The exposed area is 90mm by 122mm or about 3.54" by 4.8". Just for comparison 4x5 transparency film has an exposed area of about 95mm by 121mm.

The naming of some Fuji Instant films and the holders they make do seem to cause slight confusion. When you see FP100C and FP100C45, that 45 indicates the larger pack film. Both those films are 10 shots in a pack, but they need different holders. The Fuji PA-145 is the smaller holder, and their PA-45 is their larger holder. The smaller pack films will not fit nor work in the larger holder.

Whether either could be converted for wet plate work depends upon your skill converting them. Considering that used any of these holders are now going for fairly good money, it might be cheaper to modify different holders, or find some old vintage holders instead. Most of the Instant pack film holders I have seen tend to be made mostly of plastic, though many have a metal base.

The Polaroid 405 or Fuji PA-145 might fit under the ground glass spring back of most 4x5 cameras. It would be tougher to do the same with a Polaroid 550 or Fuji PA-45 holder, because these are thicker; you might break the springs on some cameras. All these holders have slots which would work in a Graflock set-up, and I would recommend using them that way.

Ciao!

Gordon Moat Photography

Hey guys... quick question. I just picked up a Fuji holder yesterday, and it came with an already loaded pack of FP100C45, and 3 expired packs, which I promptly put in the fridge. Anyhow.. I noticed when I took a shot yesterday that grey's turned out with a purple tint. I am wondering if this could be a colour shift due to the expired film? Or if this is normal. Could have also been ligting conditions, although to the naked eye, the concrete did not appear to have a purple tint. Anyhow... I am looking forward to shooting more with the Fuji instant film, and I have heard great things about it.

thanks,

David

Yes, the purple tint is just due to old film, however the Fuji color instant film dries more neutral than it looks just after peel-apart. The 4x5 pack film holders WILL fit in most 4x5 cameras under the ground glass..particularly studio type monorail cameras. It might not fit under older wood cameras that have the flat brass springs holding the ground glass back. It will also fit IN PLACE of the ground glass back on graflock back equipped cameras.

HerrBremerhaven said:

The Polaroid 405 or Fuji PA-145 might fit under the ground glass spring back of most 4x5 cameras. It would be tougher to do the same with a Polaroid 550 or Fuji PA-45 holder, because these are thicker; you might break the springs on some cameras. All these holders have slots which would work in a Graflock set-up, and I would recommend using them that way.

Click to expand...

I have Polaroid 405 and 550 holders, and they are both just about the same thickness. I don't have them with me today, but I could measure them if anybody wants an exact figure.

They will -just- fit under the glass on my Pacemaker Speed Graphic with Graflok back, but not on my MPP Micro Technical Mk.8. Even on the Speed Graphic it's stretching the springs to the limit, and I'm not sure that it's a good idea.

The 550 holder gives a slightly larger image size than the 500/545/545i/545 Pro holders, but the paper is smaller, i.e. the borders are narrower on the pack films than on the sheet ones.

I have the measurements of the paper and image sizes for almost all of the Polaroid holders for 5x4 cameras on a page here:

Dead Link Removed

The sizes for the old roll film back are missing, but I now have them, and will add them this weekend.

Note that this is not a proper website, I do not have one; it is simply some space which I use for testing, and to upload pictures which I can link to when asking questions on the graflex.org forums. I put the information on the Polaroid holders there because somebody asked for it.

I'm new to 4x5, just bought a Sinar F2. OK, I'm not that new, but it's been over 30 years since I last used my Dad's famous Speed Graphic. So the Sinar came with a couple of 545 backs. I don't seem to be able to find any film that I can use with them. All the Fuji instant stuff seems to want a Polaroid 550 back. Or am I mistaken? I figure there's got to be something out there for use with the 545s because they bring a good price on eBay.
Thanks!

matt@traskphoto.com
www.traskphoto.com