Roll film holders

[paul_frank]

I have a shen-hao camera (graflok back) and want a 6x7 roll holder. Will the graflex rh-10 fit my camera? I can either buy that holder, or the wista 6x7 holder, however the wista is twice the price. Is the quality difference between the two enough to justify the extra expense of the wista?

[peter_latner]

I'd hold off on the graflex for something better. The graflex will

fit, but they're old, touch to get parts for, and not as well made as

some current holders. What's most important is the degree to which

the holder keeps the film flat. In my experience, Horseman holders

are pretty good at film flatness, space the frames evenly, and are

mechanically more reliable than the Wista. Whatever you get, make

sure it's a model for a 4X5 camera, and not a 6X9/6X7 camera.

[george_nedleman]

I agree with Peter.If you do buy a Horseman back, try to get the

newer black ones instead of the silver. 1) they are lighter and more

importantly, 2) key parts are no longer available for repair jobs.

George

[pete_andrews]

There are some important detail differences on various Graflex RF

backs. The camera plate part should be fitted with two thin roller

guides. If those aren't there, then the film won't be held flat. The

details are on the Graflex.org website. Here's a <a

href="http://www.graflex.org/speed-graphic/accessories.html#RollFilmBa

cks">link to the relevent section</a>, since it's a bit difficult to

find.<br>Graflex.org reckon that if the back is one that's fitted with

these needle rollers, then film flatness is better than a lot of other

RF backs.<br>The one gripe I have against Graflex backs is that they

don't allow you to get the full number of frames from a roll. The 6x7

and 6x8 Graphic backs give you a stingy 8 pictures per roll, when 9

frames are easily possible.

[paul_frank]

pete - 8 exposures? then why is it called the rh-10?

[harry_martin]

I don't believe that the Graflex rh-10 will fit on the standard

Graflok back. Although I don't own a 6x7. I do own five Graflok

backs that do fit for my 4x5 Crown Graphic camera. Two are

Graflex "22" Graphic backs and three are "23" Graphic backs and I'm

quite happy with them. Be careful, check with www.graflex.org.

[lyle_aldridge1]

Harry is perhaps referring to some other problem I don't know about,

but I own an RH10 and an RH20, and both fit perfectly on the graflok

of my 6x9 Crown Graphic. I believe that the models actually bearing

the "RH10" designation are all of the roller variety mentioned in

Pete Andrews's post. These usually say "Singer-Graflex" in the

elongated rectangle on the back, and they use a lever wind instead of

a knob.<p>What stands out from your posting, however, is that the

RH10 I'm familiar with will NOT fit a 4x5 camera, which I thought the

Shen-Hao was. It's definitely designed for the smaller 6x9 graflock

fitting. Take a look at the picture on the site that Pete linked to

his post, and note the large flat surround on the holder pictured by

the section title. That one is built for the 4x5 graflok, while the

holders pictured in the table below it are not.<p>My own experience

has been that nothing works as well on my camera as a properly

working RH10, but the properly working units are getting rare. Most

of the units I've handled have had inconsistent film advance

mechanisms, which will cause an overlap of frames. They were very

high-quality when they were made, but time and use do take a toll.

[wayne_firth3]

There is nothing to prevent you from putting an RH-8 mechanism into

an RH-10 shell. This mismatch occurs often on the used market which,

of course, is the only market for these. This would result in eight

exposures on a back that had RH-10 on the nameplate. The outer shell

for each format can be found in both the 4x5 size and the small

camera format and the internal mechanism is interchangable from one

to the other. Sometimes it is possible to find the outer shell

without the internal parts so you could have both for one internal

film carriage. Just make sure that the formats match by matching the

number on the exposure counter with the number on the outer shell.