6x7 roll film holders, any improvments yet?

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There has been much discussion through the years on roll film holders. I was in the market for a 6x7 roll film holder and was curious if there was any new satisfactory "slide in" roll film holders. (similar to inserting a film holder) I do have one Toyo one now, but it puts a lot of stress on the back when inserting due to its excessive thickness. The other big problems has been film buckle caused by sharp turns on the rollers. Any new RFH that solved some of these problems? Or is the Horseman 6x7 still the standard? As a side question, anyone have experience with Horseman or Toyos Rotary 6x7 back for 4x5? Is it bulky, is it worthwhile?

-- Bill Glickman (bglick@pclv.com), April 07, 2001

Answers

Linhof Rapid Rolex

-- Bob Salomon (bobsalomon@mindspring.com), April 07, 2001.

I just installed a 6x9 sliding back on a Wista VX, and am converting a couple of lenses to "press" shutters, for studio portraits. The Wista back has an interesting feature: a coupling cable that automatically opens and closes the (press) shutter when the back is shifted from viewing to taking positions. I'm still putting the system together, but it looks promising so far. The Wista sliding back is essentially the same size as the sheet film back, and only a couple of ounces heavier.

-- Chris Ellinger (chris@ellingerphoto.com), April 07, 2001.

I used the Calumet 6x7 roll film holder for several years. That holder has come in for some criticism for light leaks and film flatness problems. However, I never had any problems with mine, it worked flawlessly in the Tachihara with which I used it. The only thing I didn't like was the complexity of loading it with film.

-- Brian Ellis (bellis60@earthlink.net), April 08, 2001.

Be careful when using a Toyo back on a non-Toyo camera since they are designed to compensate for the focusing shift caused by Toyo's use of a Fresnel ahead of the ground-glass. Accordingly, the pressure plate is recessed slightly further into the body (.197" on mine) versus the .185" - .187" of the typical Horseman or Graflex backs.

Mind you, they're great backs otherwise and although expensive, worth every penny in my opinion. Of course, I have a Toyo 23G so they work perfectly on my camera without any modification or adjustments.

-- Jeffrey Goggin (audidudi@mindspring.com), April 16, 2001.


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