Shooting Instax Wide in 4x5 film holder

[MattiS]

Hi,

does anybody of you know how to disassemble a Fidelity 4x5 film holder? I would like to put a mask in it that holds Instax wide sheets centered. Works fine with a slightly modified 9x12 holder, but the offset drives me nuts... .

 

[jeffreyg]

instead of disassembling the film holder why not take a sheet of 4x5 film expose it completely, process it and cut out a window the size of the mask you want. Slide the film and mask in at the same time. It might take some practice to get the feel of it but you can have a dual purpose film holder .

http://www.jeffreyglasser.com/

http://www.sculptureandphotography.com/

 

[138S]

Hi,
does anybody of you know how to disassemble a Fidelity 4x5 film holder? I would like to put a mask in it that holds Instax wide sheets centered. Works fine with a slightly modified 9x12 holder, but the offset drives me nuts... .

You may use 3M Re Mount spray glue to place that mask and the medium.

...but remember that septum to flange distance is calibrated, so your focus will be shifted, so you have address that

 

[MattiS]

I think I´ll change the title to "Shooting Instax in 4x5 film holder, as there are more aspects coming up.

instead of disassembling the film holder why not take a sheet of 4x5 film expose it completely, process it and cut out a window the size of the mask you want. Slide the film and mask in at the same time. It might take some practice to get the feel of it but you can have a dual purpose film holder .

I think I got your Idea, but as you see here, the grey pockets on the film which hold the chemicals are quite thick and they are near to the edge of the film holder. I doubt that sheet film can cope with that.

What I have seen is that the Instax film is held on a modded sheet film with pockets in the corners. But that adds height... .

...but remember that septum to flange distance is calibrated, so your focus will be shifted, so you have address that

That´s what I expected, too. But at a first glance I can´t confirm it. The thickness of the Instax stuff (not developed, not the grey pockets, but with the white frame) is app. 0,3mm, sheet film app. 0,2mm. And by now I have no clear idea where the Instax negative layer is placed. The Chocomel box was focused on the ground glass of my Technika both times.

 

[MattiS]

You may use 3M Re Mount spray glue to place that mask and the medium.t

A spot of that stuff in the middle of the frame might help keeping things flat, indeed.

 

[138S]

A spot of that stuff in the middle of the frame might help keeping things flat, indeed.

Well... it's a DIY imitation of the SINAR adhesive holders : https://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?3076-Sinar-Adhesive-8-X-10-holders

As Wehman noted in that thread, this is not much necessary with modern film that tends to seat well on the septum, as it's coated in the concave side. ( Wehman cameras don't show much in the used market because people don't want sell that kind of gear )

But the Re Mount glue always can help in some situations... I use it to adhere paper negatives in pinhole devices.

 

[Donald Qualls]

The Chocomel shots look to me as if the f/8 has missed focus, plane of focus is an inch or so closer to the camera than intended (look a the blue wood, lower left of the Chocomel for the sharpest zone).

I've seen fixed-out or just sacrificed film sheets cut with corner slits to hold the film (on YouTube), works like album pockets but the film still goes into the slots in the holder and as such holds the Instax sheet against the septum. And you can locate the cuts to center the Instax where you want it, within limitations of the pod and upper frame vs. the film slot. Still, with the Instax sitting on top of the film sheet, you get enough extra thickness you might well have to recalibrate your focus. One of my 9x12 cm plate cameras has dual infinity stop settings, for glass plate and sheet film in a sheath -- the film sheaths are retained under the same spring clip that would hold the plate, so the film is further from the lens by the thickness of the sheath's metal. Solution was to set the infinity stop back that same thickness for film, relative to its position for glass plates. Seems as if one or the other would still focus wrong with the ground glass, though; it might be a setting that was intended for a rangefinder that my camera doesn't have (and never did, as far as I can tell).

 

[MattiS]

In the meantime I´ve cut two masks that helps positioning the Instax image area centered in the film holder. The next try is to fix the film with a bit of remount glue.



I´m not sure at the moment if there is a general need for recalibrating the focus. But that could be solved by e.g. tesa film on the surface of the film holder (that touches the back) or between the film and bottom of the holder.