Repair/Refurbish Plastic Film Holders?

photomc · Oct 15, 2006

Since new 5x7 film holders seem to be hard to find these days, have had 4 on order since the 1st of Sep. Was wondering if anyone hear has tried to repair/refurbish the light trap felt on Lisco/Fidelity type plastic film holders?

I have a few older Kodak wooden holders and it is easy to take them apart and refresh the felt, but I just don't see how to get to the light trap on the plastic ones. Is this just a case of when they go bad, you toss 'em?

TIA

Capocheny · Oct 15, 2006

Hi Mike,

I don't know why you're having such a time getting 5x7 holders... if you contact Rob skeoch, he has them in stock. Here's the link:

http://www.bigcameraworkshops.com/default2.asp

Can't advise on repairing the light traps on the newer plastic ones since none of mine have gone on me yet.

Good luck.

Cheers

photomc · Oct 15, 2006

Thanks for the link, not sure why 5x7's are hard to find new.

Will take a look, maybe I'll just "break" into one of the bad ones to see if it is repairable or not.

John Kasaian · Oct 15, 2006

I tried working on plastic film holders and found it to be a "no-go" as far as the light traps are concerned. There may be some makes that lend themselves to being taken apart but I haven't found them yet.

Philippe-Georges · Oct 16, 2006

photomc said:
... maybe I'll just "break" into one of the bad ones to see if it is repairable or not.

I had the same problem, I think so.
When I had a close look, I saw that the felt was sticking together becouse of the dirt that came along with the slide, this is what I was thinking. So I toke a verry small oilpaint brush, moistered it with isopropanyl alcohol and cleaned the felt through the slide gap. It toke a lot of time and patience but after a wile the felt became 'thick' again.
Now I clean the slides time by time.

Good Luck,
Philippe

Capocheny · Oct 16, 2006

5x7 Film holders...

photomc said:
Thanks for the link, not sure why 5x7's are hard to find new.

Just click on "Products" and go down to "film holders." That's where you'll find the 5x7 holders.

Just buy a bunch of new ones and make sure to keep them spic'n'span! They'll last you for a very long time.

Good luck

Cheers

photomc · Oct 16, 2006

Yes, figure mine get better than average treatment anyhow...as soon as they are loaded they go into "ziplock" bags along with a 3x5 inch card for exposure info, etc. Does a great job of keeping the holders clean, they are only out to load film, place in the camera, then out again to remove the film.

Strange, have found some very nice (like new) 4x5 and 8x10 holders, but the 5x7's either are beat up or not worth buying. Thus the reason for the new ones.

BTW found them on the link - THANKS!!

Capocheny · Oct 16, 2006

Mike,

BTW, Rob is a great guy to deal with... take a peek at the other stuff on his site.

I've bought film and holders from him in the past.

Well packaged and speedy delivery.

FWIW, I agree with you... there are a lot of beat up holders out there and, in most circumstances, I think new ones make a lot more sense. Especially, if you treat them well... they'll last you a very long time. Besides, if you're going to take the time and effort to get out for a shoot... why risk coming back with fogged images. That, to me, would be really frustrating.

Good luck... btw, what are you shooting with?

Cheers

photomc · Oct 16, 2006

The film holders are usually loaded with Efke PL100 and are used to feed either a B&J Field (with 4x5 and 5x7 backs) or a very old (104 yo) Eastman No. 1. The Eastman is a lot of fun to use and just looks good, but the B&J gets most of the use...mainly because it has all the movements one could want.

That said a Canham 5x7 (with the 4x5 and 5x12 backs) would be just about perfect IMO...or one of the new Shen Hao 5x7's. But for now, the B&J looks pretty good to me for the $$ I have in it. Usually have a 210mm or 240mm up front. But do have a nice old brass RR that just got front mounted to an Ilex No. 4....plan to give it a good workout week after next (plus it goes well with the 8x10 Korona...Hey I figure why have a new camera when there are so many old ones still ready to work)

Capocheny · Oct 17, 2006

photomc said:
The film holders are usually loaded with Efke PL100 and are used to feed either a B&J Field (with 4x5 and 5x7 backs) or a very old (104 yo) Eastman No. 1. The Eastman is a lot of fun to use and just looks good, but the B&J gets most of the use...mainly because it has all the movements one could want.

That said a Canham 5x7 (with the 4x5 and 5x12 backs) would be just about perfect IMO...or one of the new Shen Hao 5x7's. But for now, the B&J looks pretty good to me for the $$ I have in it. Usually have a 210mm or 240mm up front. But do have a nice old brass RR that just got front mounted to an Ilex No. 4....plan to give it a good workout week after next (plus it goes well with the 8x10 Korona...Hey I figure why have a new camera when there are so many old ones still ready to work)

I've yet to try the Efke PL100... I hear it's a pretty nice film. Will have to get my mitts on some soon. Isn't it great to have two formats on one camera? And, just think... you can shoot 8x10, 5x7, and 4x5 on one camera too. I'm still looking for backs for my Dorff. But, I also have one of the Specials that can be interchanged between 5x7 and 4x5. Great camera!

I agree... a Canham would be pretty nice. BTW, there's one for sale on this forum at the moment. And, there was a Shen-Hao on the bay a few days ago too. Nice cameras too!

Yup, an old one... lots of them around. But, I wouldn't turn down a brand new 8x!0 Ebony though!

Cheers

photomc · Oct 17, 2006

Capocheny said:
Yup, an old one... lots of them around. But, I wouldn't turn down a brand new 8x!0 Ebony though!

Cheers

Oh Yeah, don't forget, with a splitter board or darkslide, the 8x10 can also be a nice 4x10 (did a couple of negs that way...works pretty good).

Capocheny · Oct 17, 2006

photomc said:
Oh Yeah, don't forget, with a splitter board or darkslide, the 8x10 can also be a nice 4x10 (did a couple of negs that way...works pretty good).

I agree.

Cheers

Repair/Refurbish Plastic Film Holders?

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