Graflex.org

[400d]

Recently I scored a big lot of film holders, the lot has film holders of different brands:
Linhof, Fidelity, wood, Riteway, Lisco

Because I am new to large format photography, can someone rank brand as a list or a score of 1-5 for each brand? I have to desicide to keep/sell which one of them.

[ This Message was edited by: 400d on 2005-05-29 21:46 ]

[Rangemaster]

I don't think I could rate any of them, I have shot them all over the last 20 years and have never found one to be worse or better than another for the type of shooting that I do, Lisco, Fidelity and Regal are all esentually the same holders, you said wood, are there any markings to let you know what brand? You have also not said, if the Lisco, Fidelities or the Regals are plastic or wood?

But if you take care of any of them, they will take care of you!

Dave Parker
http://www.satinsnowglass.com


_________________
Focus on the Picture, Not on the Glass.
Satin Snow(TM) Ground Glass

[400d]

Thanks a lot for the response!

I haven't got them yet (still in delivery), I will update this when I got them.

[glennfromwy]

I use any and all of them. I always thoroughly clean inside and out, replace hinge tape where necessary, glue loose joints, light leak test and discard any that are warped or otherwise not repairable. Always keep them in a platic bag until ready to use. Dust is your enemy! I rarely pay more the two or three bucks apiece for these things. Mostly because my idea of what "good condition" is, is usually different than the seller's.

_________________
Glenn

"Wyoming - Where everybody is somebody else's weirdo"

[disemjg]

While some of us have our preferences, the bottom line is condition for a particular holder. When you get the batch, examine them critically and weed out the heavily worn holders that may be marginal. After all, if you have as many as you suggest you should only use the best ones. How many are in your "big score 'o holders"?

Older wooden holders in good shape can be perfectly usable; some of them can be opened to clean the light traps which should be done to really clean out the accumulated dust trapped in the felt. Otherwise give any holder that you intend to use a thourough cleaning before trying to use it. As Glenn points out, dirt is the enemy of sheet film and is always a problem.

And do not expect to get a lot of money by selling the discards; tired holders should be sold by the pound for cheap. The going rate for nice, clean modern holders is only about ten bucks (Glenn excepted!); I have been able to find virtually new ones locally for that price. Unless you wind up with a LOT of these it may not be worthwhile to sell them. We all wind up with a box of old, tired holders that is raided occasionally for a dark slide or whatever.

And when you get your batch of holders, check to see if any of them are grooved on the edges to fit Graflex backs; that may change the perspective on what they are worth used since such holders are harder to come by.

[ This Message was edited by: disemjg on 2005-05-31 14:09 ]

[MikeS]

Basically all the listed film holders you named are more or less the same, they all hold film. The Fidelity, Riteway, and Lisco are all made by the same company, just with different names (I think at one time, back when these holders were more of an everyday thing, it was to create the illusion that there was competition). The same thing with the wood ones, they could have been made by the same company as well, as they also made the Graflex branded film holders (or were a part of Graflex at one time, I'm not sure). About the only ones that are different are the Linhof ones, they are made by a different company (Linhof), and in fact they work differently too, the door that opens to load it hinges in the wrong direction, and they're a pain to use intermixed with other holders, and don't really offer anything the other ones don't. If you're looking to sell some of the holders, I would sell those first!



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-Mike