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Which is the EXACT size of a 4x5 film?


marck mcgill

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...I ask after having seen that 2x3 plates are indeed 2 1/2 x 3 1/4

or something similar. I couldn't seem to find this information on

Ilford, Kodak or Agfa websites.

 

The reason why I'm asking is that I'm purchasing a split frame for

POP paper, and I want to make sure that the negatives will fit.

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Obsolete 4x5 film pack is slightly larger that sheet 4x5 films. In todays scanners; the 4x5 film pack negatives need a slight sometimes 1/16 inch trim; to fit the holder. In enlargers; there were different holders for both types of 4x5 negatives; with some enlargers. In plates; the sizes can be different than film sizes.
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Don't forget that the image size is approximately 5mm smaller in each dimension than the overall film size. So 4x5 is actually more like 95x120mm. And if that's not bad enough, you lose a few more mm when sticking it into a negative carrier. For my Omega D2 carrier, it is 92x118mm.
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What I read a while back- they used to use 4x5 glass negatives, and when they switched to film negatives, they made it where the adaptor/holder still fit the slot for the glass plate, making it slightly less than 4x5. About 3-7/8 x 4-7/8 as I recall. I was making a pinhole camera, and the film would fall out of the homemade holder- that's how I found this out!
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Exactly right -- the glass plates that originated the format were genuinely 4" x 5" (101+ mm by 127 mm). Film is smaller in order for the film sheath (a folded sheet metal adapter with an edge thickness of a millimeter or so) to fit where the plate used to go. Modern film holders, in turn, are sized to hold the film that goes in the sheath that fits the old plate holders.
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