5 x 7 transparency film availability?

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Does anyone know about availability of 5 x 7 color transparency sheet film (preferably Fuji) outside the U.S.A., and/or a source for importing it into the U.S.? I've been told that neither Fuji nor Kodak offer 5 x 7 color sheet film in the U.S. market. Thanks, Oliver

-- Oliver R. Barrett (orbs@ix.netcom.com), September 06, 1997

Answers

One year ago I had a friend in Tokyo buy 5x7 Velvia for me and send it over to me. I think it would be difficult to make a deal with them from abroad. It was in Tokyo's largest camera store. If you want more details, I can try to dig out the name of that store. I stopped going that route because of the inconvenience and the cost (a box of 20 sheets is almost $100) and now I buy 8x10 velvia that I cut. Kodak still makes a few varieties of film in 5x7, among them EPP.

-- Quang-Tuan Luong (luong@ai.sri.com), September 09, 1997.

Does cutting work well enough to keep minor scratches & glitches from getting on the film? Anyhow, try Freestyle in the USA. That is where I got my last 100 sheets of 5x7 Velvia. They are probably the only ones who might still have it. Possibly they have contacts to get it into the USA.

-- Dan Smith (shooter@brigham.net), October 05, 1997.

5x7 sheet film cutting

I've exposed about 20 cut 5x7 sheets of Velvia and Provia so far (2 per stock 8x10 sheet) and have seen no dust or debris problems - have been vacuuming the holders and dusting off the loaded sheets just before closing the dark slide (same as I've done for years). I have been using the Rotatrim cutter as per Quang-Tuan Luong's suggestion - I keep it in a clean garbage bag when not using it.

I had tried about 10 or 15 high-end outlets with no luck - also called a dealer in England where I found out that the European metric equivalent to 5x7 is a little larger and requires metric film holders (which still fit in 5x7 inch cameras, I'm told) - didn't pursue this further.

Hope this is helpful,

Oliver

-- Oliver R. Barrett (orbs@ix.netcom.com), October 31, 1997.


Calumet Photographic stocks Ektachrome EPN (ISO 100) transparency film in 5x7 sheets (10 sheet box). They also sell 5x7 sheet film holders. I have made several photos with my Grandfather's Century 5x7 field camera. They're not 8x10, but quite spectacular ~ Enjoy!! (Calumet's phone # is 800/225-8638)

-- Ted Brownlee (omfbh@aol.com), December 05, 1997.

The Adorama catalog lists both Kodak EPN (ISO100) and EPP (ISO100) in 5 x 7 sizes. They only list the 10 packs. EPN is very good where you need very faithful color reproduction. EPP is a saturated version. Both give very good results in large format.

-- Ron Shaw (shaw9@llnl.gov), February 25, 1998.


>One year ago I had a friend in Tokyo buy 5x7 Velvia for me and send >it over to me. I think it would be difficult to make a deal with >them from abroad. It was in Tokyo's largest camera store. If you >want more details, I can try to dig out the name of that store

Do you mean Yodobashi Camera? It's the largest chain store in Japan. My guess is that the head store in Shinjuku would carry it, as they carry the most LF stuff of all their stores.

It's a shame that 5x7 sheet film is so difficult to find. 5x7 would be the ideal format, in that the lenses/cameras aren't as ludicrously expensive as 8x10, nor is the equipment as bulky. Next time I visit Yodobashi's head store, I'll try to note if they have 5x7 sheet film. The International Pro Photo Show in Tokyo is next month, so I guess I can ask the Fuji rep. I noticed that the Fuji Quickchange cartridges also aren't sold in the US.

-- James Chow (jchow@atom.isl.melco.co.jp), February 24, 1999.


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