TravelWide: Modified for Grafmatic?

Has anyone modified a WanderLust TravelWide to accept both Grafmatic magazines and regular sheet film holders?

How was it done and how well does it work?

I don't know if anyone else has done it or not, but I'm getting ready to modify my Travelwide so I can use Grafmatics with it as that's the primary 4x5 film holder that I use, as I usually use a Linhof with it's side mounted rangefinder, and rarely focus on a gg anyway, so it just makes sense to have 6 shots at the ready.

It looks like the modification is going to require the removal of the spring back (if you can call it that), then the left side of the camera body is going to need to be cut back some. From just rough eyeballing the job, it looks like once enough is cut away so the Grafmatic can clear the camera body on the left side so it can go all the way in so it properly mates with the rib on the Grafmatic (the same rib that any 'Graphic' film holder has), there won't be any threads left for the 3 screws that held on the Travelwide's idea of a springback, so from that point on the backs will have to be held on with a couple of strong rubber bands, even regular dual sided graphic film holders. The big issue for me is if I try and file it down by myself, or if I try and find one of the machine shops I used to work with back when I was in the machinery biz (about 20 years ago), and ask them to just cut off the required amount. I know if I have a shop do it, it will look a whole lot nicer, but I don't know how much they would charge me to do it! Other than cutting down the lefthand side of the camera body, the only other main thing is holding the holders in the camera. As I said, it can be done with strong rubber bands, but I was wondering if anyone has any better ideas for me?

-MikeS

Will longer screws be in the way?

John Koehrer said:

Will longer screws be in the way?

Click to expand...

It's not so much that they would be in the way, if the back is cut down so the grafmatic can sit in the back properly, the entire screw holes would need to be removed! I've been reading thru some of the other travelwide threads today, and was just getting ready to reply to another thread, also regarding modifying the back to use the grafmatic, but rather than have replies spread across several older threads, I think I'll try and keep them here in this one. As with many things in life, there's more than one way to get a grafmatic working on the tw, and some are more 'correct' than others (depending on how you look at things). For me, I think that removing material from the lefthand wall of the back is the way to go, as I plan to primarily use grafmatics, so other holders would be secondary to using them. But for somebody that is interested many different styles of holders, I've been thinking of another fix. If you wouldn't mind loosing amount of space on the right hand side of your negative, and wanted to be able to use the camera with the largest amount of holder types, I was thinking that if you measure the distance from where the groove in the tw's back is, and where the rib in the grafmatic is (the inner one), then using either a jeweler's file, or a dremel tool, add another groove into the back of the tw, to the right of the existing one, so a grafmatic can sit flat (and so make a light tight seal). As I said before, this isn't the best answer, but it does let you use a grafmatic with a lot less machine work, although it's technically not correct, and you still might not be able to use the original spring back to hold in the grafmatic, and you also run the risk of accidentally putting other style of holders that would fit in normally, into the newly made groove, which would cut off some of the right side (well, actually the left side of the image). I hope I haven't made this all sound too confusing. As a short recap of the problem:

With the grafmatic film backs, along with some others, such as the graphic film pack adapter, on the left edge of the film holder, after about 1/4" or so (I would want to measure most of my grafmatics, etc. before coming up with an exact figure) from the back edge of the camera (or front edge of the film holder) the holders, the left edge goes out further, but the tw's side doesn't. Because of this, when trying to put a grafmatic into a tw it won't fit all the way in as it is currently.

Modifying for a Kinematic is easier.

It might be easier to modify it for the kinematic, but when you have almost a dozen grafmatics, and no kinematics, the idea of modifying it for a kinematic doesn't enter into my mind! Actually after I found out that my grafmatics won't fit, I tried one of my double sided film holders, and found out that they won't work either! I rarely use regular double sided film holders, and the only ones I have are made by Linhof, and it seems their holders are not made to a 'standard' size! First off, they're as thick as a grafmatic, and secondly they're too tall to fit within the opening of the travelwide. Then I remembered that I had an old Mido setup, and the Mido holder (this is the original one, not the Mido II system) fits into the travelwide as if it was made just for it! It fits under the U shaped spring, and it holds the holders left side in nice and tight, as well as holding the right side down fairly well. Just to be 110% sure I added a heavy duty rubber band around the right side that goes over the tips of the spring as well, and with it in place it's just about impossible to accidentally pull the holder away from the back of the camera while putting film into or out of the camera. I loaded 2 of the sheaves with film (each one holds 2 sheets of film, and kind of looks like a Kodak Readyload, except that it holds 2 sheets) and took 4 quick pictures just to check that the Mido system was light tight (that was one of the complaints about the earlier Mido system). After developing those shots, I was rewarded with 4 negatives that worked out pretty good, no light leaks from either the camera, or film holder system!

While it was originally my intention of using grafmatics in my travelwide, considering out light weight the whole mido system is, and it's only slightly more 'hassle' than using grafmatics, I think I've found the way for me to go. Now if only I could find additional Mido 4x5 film sheaves (I only have 5 of them for a total of 10 shots), I would be a really happy camper!

-MikeS