Sam,
I do wet plate collodion work in 4x5, 5x7, and 8x10. The 4x5 camera is an Intrepid folding camera, the 5x7 is a rickety old Seneca I got for $100, lens included, and the 8x10 is a 1930s Deardorff. All three of these cameras were designed to be used as sheet film cameras, but the only thing that needs to be done to make them usable for wet plate work is to acquire an appropriate plate holder. If its 4x5 you want to do (and I suggest you avoid traditional wet plate sizes, because those will limit what else you can do) then
Lund Photographics makes a serviceable 4x5 wet/dry plate holder for just under $100, and
Chamonix makes a beautiful wood one for about $140. The Lund holder is mostly plastic, so it can be taken apart and scrubbed with soap and water if it ever needs a "deep cleaning". (The reason people often advocate for a dedicated wet plate collodion camera is that it is inevitable that you will get silver nitrate on the camera, no matter how fastidious your technique, and the silver nitrate will eat the wood and metal parts and eventually destroy them.) Another advantage of the Lund plate holder is that it takes plates
exactly 4 x 5 inches, whereas the Chamonix holders are sheet film size, which is about 1/16th inches smaller than 4 x 5 inches, in both dimensions. For that, plates have to be cut to fit exactly. If you have an old wooden guillotine style paper cutter, it does a fine job of cutting aluminum plates to fit specific size holders. But if you want to make it easy on yourself, the Lund plate holder for 4x5 is ideal.
The J. Lane Dry Plates are cut to sheet film standards, so they will for in both the Chamonix plate holder and the Lund Photographics holder (looser fit in the Lund holder, of course)
If you want to perform a DIY film-to-plate holder modification on a film holder you already own, it CAN be done. See
this video by Alex Timmermans. My 5x7 camera uses a modified film holder converted to a plate holder (I did it myself) and its perfectly usable. I have two 8x10 plate holders - one is a Fidelity 8x10 film holder that I sent to Lund Photographics to have them modify it for wet plate use. It works well, but it has one disadvantage: it takes plates 7.5" X 9.25" which you have to either cut yourself from larger plates, or Lund will sell you custom cut plates that fit this holder exactly. (In any of these scenarios, if you opt to shoot wet plate on glass, its easy to cut glass at home to fit any plate holder) My other 8x10 plate holder is by Chamonix, and its beautifully crafted from wood and steel. Its both handsome and very easy to use. The dark slides just glide in and out of the slots like no other film or plate holder I have. It also takes sheet film sized plates, which are 1/16th of an inch smaller in both dimensions than 8x10. So you have to trim 8x10 plates yourself, or have someone custom cut to the correct size. Main Trophy Supply will custom cut plates for you to any size you need. I buy about 120 8x10 plates at a time from them, as they are the most economical option. (You can get custom cuts from several wet plate suppliers like Modern Collodion, Bostick & Sullivan, and Lund Photogtraphics.)
The Bottom Line
If I were you (and it seems you are wanting to find a camera that will allow you to shoot both film and wet/dry plates) I would get a standard 4x5 camera kit, and buy or make a wet plate holder for the camera (in addition to film holders) so that all you need to do to change from one process to another is to switch holders. It couldn't be easier. There have been several occasions when I am shooting something and I opt to do several tintypes/glass negs of the shot, but also do a couple sheets of film just as a kind of backup, in case I don't like how the wet plate work looks when finished. Its nice to have that option, and using a standard camera with both styles of holders makes it ridiculously simple. I strongly urge you to make it as easy for yourself (since it seems you are about to jump into plate work for the first time, yes?) and to use a system that is as flexible as possible, and the case I've described will give you Easy
and Flexible.
Any questions? Have you bought your wet plate materials yet? Need help choosing what to buy?
Paul
PS: an example image made with my Intrepid 4x5 camera (with 1940s Kodak Ektar 203mm lens). This is a scan of a 4x5 inch glass negative (wet plate collodion on glass)
