A new hobby and love

[DennisL]

Hello, my name is Dennis. I am an American living in Brugge, Belgium. I have been shooting film, mainly 35mm and medium format, for about 40 years. I have slowly worked myself into the world of large format, specifically tin types and glass plates. Quite the learning curve for sure. Several months ago I acquired a Kodak 4A at a boot sale. It is now fully functional again. Thankfully the plate holder adapter was still with the camera, but alas, there is no plate holder. Technically it is an American "half plate" camera (4 ¼ x 6 ½), but none of the half plate holders that I have or have seen online will fit it. Anyone have a spare 4A plate holder they would like to sell? Or a 3D file to print one? Looking forward to hearing about other people's projects. Best wishes, Dennis

 

[Ian Grant]

Welcome from North Worcestershire, UK.

Can you post some photos and rough dimensions. I have Kodak Half plate holders, and very early Kodak 5x4 holders (I sold one).

Essentially the early Eastman Kodak 5x4 holders are identical in fit to modern DDS film holder, but have a much longer light trap area. Some Graflex DDS have a light trap area roughly midway between the two.

A question would be when did Kodak Half plate DDS have the same outside dimensions as 7x5 holders.

George Eastman visited the Hüttig factory in 1889 wanting Richard Hüttig to work for him, he declined. However, he did supply Eastman Kodak with parts like focus track, front standards, etc. Krügener also supplied parts, including when ICA was formed. So you can see cameras from a few pre-WW1 manufacturers with very similar parts, which evolve from the rod front standards to castings.

Try asking https://zebradryplates.com he is starting to make holders for all sorts of cameras.

Ian

 

[Soulstar89]

Hi Dennis,

Welcome. @Monsta does wet plate. It may be good to reach out to him. Really helpful

Aaron

 

[Ian Grant]

I have a 3a with just the roll film back. Looking at a 3a with the plate back online, it appears they take single sided metal plate holders.

Ian

 

[DennisL]

Welcome from North Worcestershire, UK.

Can you post some photos and rough dimensions. I have Kodak Half plate holders, and very early Kodak 5x4 holders (I sold one).

Essentially the early Eastman Kodak 5x4 holders are identical in fit to modern DDS film holder, but have a much longer light trap area. Some Graflex DDS have a light trap area roughly midway between the two.

A question would be when did Kodak Half plate DDS have the same outside dimensions as 7x5 holders.

George Eastman visited the Hüttig factory in 1889 wanting Richard Hüttig to work for him, he declined. However, he did supply Eastman Kodak with parts like focus track, front standards, etc. Krügener also supplied parts, including when ICA was formed. So you can see cameras from a few pre-WW1 manufacturers with very similar parts, which evolve from the rod front standards to castings.

Try asking https://zebradryplates.com he is starting to make holders for all sorts of cameras.

Ian

Hi Ian,

Apparently Kodak only made 15,000 of the 4A's because they were so big to carry around for the average consumer photographer, so it is understandable that they are so difficult to find.

Here are a couple of photos. I saw one on Ebay several weeks ago that had several plate holders with it (photo uploaded). I offered to buy just one of the plate holders but the selling was not willing to do it. The plate holder has channels on both sides and slides down a rail. I have the 3A as well, and the 3A plate holders are double sided too.

I have considered the option of Nejc at Zebra making one, but when I put in the dimensions of a custom holder the cost is almost €200. That is a bit beyond my budget at the moment.

Kind regards,
Dennis

 

[DennisL]

I have a 3a with just the roll film back. Looking at a 3a with the plate back online, it appears they take single sided metal plate holders.

Ian

I have the 3A as well, but all the plate holders are double sided and wooden. Here are a few pics. I have a Kodak half plate, that is metal and single sided, however, apparently there is an American version and a British version. The British version is both wider and longer and it doesn't fit between the side rails.

 

[Ian Grant]

I have a couple of Kodak half plate holder sat nearby, I'm wondering if they could be modified. That would mean disassembly, narrowing, routing the groove, etc.

There are people who have made their own wooden ULF film holders. This video made me think, it needs more thought as it is too simplistic, but is a starting point. I work a lot with Mahogany (it's more accurately likely to be Sapele) laminating it to build lens boards, as well as a camera.

An alternative is make an adapter to use modern 5x4 DDS.

Ian