Likely a stupid idea but...

[Robert]

This is likely a stupid idea but thought I'd ask. What's the worst that could happen? You all get a good laugh? -))

Anyways. I'd love a 6x12 roll film back. The problem is I doubt I could find one that I could justify the price. Throw in the odd comment about questionable film flatness for the cheaper holders. Now I have plenty of 4x5 holders. I have tape. I have 120 film. Lets say I tape some film to the inside of the holder. Any chance this could work?

 

[bmac]

there is a chance, but why not just mask your 4x5 film?

 

[Donald Miller]

If I were wanting to play around with a 2-1 perspective ratio considering what you have on hand and not wanting to buy anything new. I would use 4X5 sheet film and would take a damaged dark slide and cut it to the width that would give me a width equal to one half the length of a sheet of film (appr. 2 /12 inches). I would then use this cut down dark slide as a mask that I would insert into the holder after I removed the darkslide prior to exposure. To give me an idea of how the negative will appear compositionally, I would mark off my ground glass with litho tape to show the width as it will be exposed. I wouldn't worry about the unused and unexposed section of the sheet of 4X5 film. Considering the hassle of taping 120 film into a holder, the waste will be relatively inexpensive.

 

[Robert]

I've got this wierd urge to do it in colour. For me the very idea of using colour film is wierd -) I just checked the cheap 4x5 colour film is a chunk. Worse I'm not sure I trust this new supplier. His prices seem good but then the website he tells me is right up to date show Agfa APX 25 film. Doing this in 120 would be cheaper. B&W 4x5 film is a fraction of the cost of 4x5 colour.

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

Lots of cheap out of date, cold stored, color transparency film to be found at www.freestylecamera.com. I've tried the Astia in 8x10" and it's pretty good. I think they have some in 4x5". It would be easier than taping film to holders. And what are your plans for processing it? I wouldn't want to have to deal with little strips of film on reels.

 

[Robert]

For processing my reels shrink down to 6x9. If the difference between 6x9 sheet film and 120 is too great I was just going to load it onto the 120 reels. The reels are designed for loading multiple rolls. It will be a bit of a pain to load a bunch of little strips.

I just glanced at freestyle again. I only saw 8x10 but then I could cut that down to 4x5.

 

[Super Graphic Guy]

I agree with the suggestion to cut down a 4x5 dark slide. It works like a charm.

 

[juan]

Fred Picker used to tape film into his holders for various tests - both 120 and 4x5 in an 8x10 holder, for instance. So, it's possible to do, but I'm not sure how you would know exactly where to tape the film. I would think the masked 4x5 would work better.
juan

 

[Robert]

I would put the tape on before I turn the lights off.Using double sided tape.

 

[juan]

I wish you hadn't written that - that makes too much sense. Now you have me thinking about doing it.
juan

 

[L Gebhardt]

I think cutting roll film down and taping it would be a pain. I also would worry about film flatness and the focus shift because of the different thicknesses.

I have been cutting down the Freestyle 8x10 Astia with no problems. The colors are not to far off. The best trick I can offer is to use a corner rounder to mark the emulsion side. This lets me experiment with color for about $0.15 a sheet plus developing.