Whole plate Premo film/plate holders; fit only Premo?

Kino · Jun 28, 2021

I stumbled into a pair of double-sided, Premo, whole-plate film holders. Of course, the camera didn't come with these holders, so I was wondering if they fit any other whole-plate camera, or are they proprietary?

They are not stamped "universal" as some I have seen online, nor do they have the brass pins as others seem to have.

They are in great shape, so (of course) I am thinking of tracking a camera down that would work with these holders. Yes, it's going at it backwards, but that's how it's happening...

awty · Jun 28, 2021

I have some Premo half plate holders, we could do a swap
How hard would it be to make a film back to fit them. Or add some timber to fit a 8x10 camera?
It would come down to its size, if whole plate is anthing like half plate then sizes are wide and varied.

Kino · Jun 29, 2021

Thanks for the comment, Awty but just the shipping to and from our respective homes would make them very expensive in the end!

Maybe I'll eventually build a primitive camera with the odd bits I have laying around.

If nothing else, they are nice bits of wood sculpture for the display case.

Nodda Duma · Jun 29, 2021

Premo whole plate holders are pretty good at fitting other cameras, iirc. I have a couple that fit my Century No. 1, which was about as universal as you could get

Kino · Jun 29, 2021

Nodda Duma said:
Premo whole plate holders are pretty good at fitting other cameras, iirc. I have a couple that fit my Century No. 1, which was about as universal as you could get

Thanks! That's good to know. I do believe they are glass plate holders but am unsure if they handle sheet film; no inserts, but the spring loaded wood strip is present across the base of holder that would hold a plate firmly.

Nodda Duma · Jun 29, 2021

Kino said:
Thanks! That's good to know. I do believe they are glass plate holders but am unsure if they handle sheet film; no inserts, but the spring loaded wood strip is present across the base of holder that would hold a plate firmly.

If you can find them, whole plate film adapter sheaths will let you shoot film in them

Mark Crabtree · Jun 29, 2021

Pictures and dimensions would really help since I believe Premo made at least a couple different sizes for whole plate. I have some from a whole plate Pony Premo that are kind of flimsy little things, but do fit whole plate Cycle Graphic. I did add extended tape tabs to make it easier to pull the slides in that application. There are quite a number of variations on whole plate holders and it is not all that easy to adapt them for different uses.

BTW, at least most of the holders stamped "Universal" are anything but. I got a number of them from eBay and they were decidedly odd. Then I happened into a Rochester Optical Universal camera and finally remembered those old holders in the basement...

Kino · Jun 29, 2021

8 3/8 inches wide (20.5mm) x 10 inches (25.5mm) to the stop on the top of the holder, tall and 5/8 inch (1.5mm) thick.

Opening for plate is 6 1/2 inches (16.6mm) x 8 5/16 (21mm).

Sorry for the crappy photos, I have a real light table with real lights and a neutral background slated for one corner of my darkroom/studio/computer room when it is finished, but until then.... crappy phone photos.

awty · Jun 29, 2021

Mark Crabtree said:
I did add extended tape tabs to make it easier to pull the slides in that application. ...

Do you have any pictures of the tabs? Premos are a pain to pull out the dark slides. I have some 4x5 with film holders I use to hold 90x120 film, and trying to get my fatty fingers in to pull out the slides is a challenge.

Nodda Duma · Jun 29, 2021

Kino said:
8 3/8 inches wide (20.5mm) x 10 inches (25.5mm) to the stop on the top of the holder, tall and 5/8 inch (1.5mm) thick.

Opening for plate is 6 1/2 inches (16.6mm) x 8 5/16 (21mm).

Sorry for the crappy photos, I have a real light table with real lights and a neutral background slated for one corner of my darkroom/studio/computer room when it is finished, but until then.... crappy phone photos.

the stop rib is in a non-standard position, proving there is an exception to every rule.

Kino · Jun 30, 2021

Nodda Duma said:
the stop rib is in a non-standard position, proving there is an exception to every rule.

Ah! Interesting! The plot thickens...

Ian Grant · Jun 30, 2021

I'm not sure when these DDS became more uniformly standardised.

These are all 5x4 DDS, first (black paint) Graflex, second Premo and the third one is the dodd one out Eastman Kodak 3 Patents marked inside two 1904 & the last MCH (March) 1906

The Premo states made by the Rochester Optical Division, Eastman Kodak Company and also states Patent 1904, it's odd that the Eastman Kodak holder positions the plates differently.

Nodda Duma said:
the stop rib is in a non-standard position, proving there is an exception to every rule.

I wonder if that's to make the DDS holder slightly more compact to fit a case. I can't fit more modern DDS into the case of my Century Model 46, the Graflex plate holders are a tight squeeze.

Ian

Mark Crabtree · Jun 30, 2021

Kino said:
8 3/8 inches wide (20.5mm) x 10 inches (25.5mm) to the stop on the top of the holder, tall and 5/8 inch (1.5mm) thick.

Opening for plate is 6 1/2 inches (16.6mm) x 8 5/16 (21mm).

Sorry for the crappy photos, I have a real light table with real lights and a neutral background slated for one corner of my darkroom/studio/computer room when it is finished, but until then.... crappy phone photos.

View attachment 278798 View attachment 278799 View attachment 278800 View attachment 278801

Funny enough, that sure likes like the holder for Rochester Optical (or ROC, hard to keep straight) Universal camera and some others from that company. All of these companies were eventually owned by Kodak I think, but I was not aware of any Premo branded camera taking that holder; maybe ROC products were moved under the Premo brand at some point. Kodak made all the various sizes since they bought the various companies, but there is one Kodak size I think of as sort of standard. A right mess it is. I'll do some measurements in a bit.

Whole plate Premo film/plate holders; fit only Premo?

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