Is half plate film still available?

[pete_andrews]

Prompted by a question on this forum, I recently attempted to find out if any maker still made half-plate (4.75" x 6.5") film and drew a total blank.<br>Agfa and Ilford have the best availability, with 10x8", 5x7" or 13x18cm, 4x5", quarter-plate and 2.5x3.5" available between them.<br>Kodak commonly list only 5x4, and 10x8, with 5x7 available in a more limited number of films, and as for Fuji? Hah! Forget it!<br>In short, none of the major manufacturers lists half-plate at all. Yet a recent book on Rollfilm and View camera photography by Roger Hicks (no relation I hope, John) states that 5"x7" and 13x18 cm are in fact two separate sizes, and further, that half-plate film is still available in a few emulsions. The implication being that half-plate (and 127 rollfilm!) is still a perfectly viable format.<br>I thought at first that this might just be due to outdated information, but the publication date of the book is this year, 2001.<br>SO. Is the information in the book total rubbish, or is there some secret supplier of obscure film sizes that I should know about.

[fw1]

Pete ; I use a half plate camera - the first Toyo metal field, albeit

fitted with a 4x5 back. I did come across some half plate film

holders in a secondhand shop in Tokyo last year, and remember

thinking what a great format! I am also sure that in a 2000 Ilford

catalogue, they listed one or two emulsions in half plate - it may be

worth checking with Ilford directly.

[pete_watkins]

Silverprint in London might be able to help.

[dave_willison]

You might try contacting Filmforclassics.com. They market odd

rolllfilm sizes and carry some sheetfilm. Their web page does not show

half-plate, but they may provide custom cutting. You might also be

able to cut your own film, possibly from 5x7. Somewhere on this forum

there is a discussion of cutting 4x10 from 8x10 using a jig or a

rotary trimmer. I suspect that the book you are citing was probably

published in 2001 but concieved much earlier. In fact, if you take a

look at View Camera Sept./Oct. 1997, Roger Hicks has an article

entitled "Plate and Other Old Film Sizes." Hope this helps.

 

<p>

 

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[david_f._stein]

It is easy to make a jig: I use the Fiskar cutter-not the greatest,

but until a Rotatrim comes along. Among those who will custom cut

film are PhotoWarehouse in Oxnard CA (125 Pan Portrait) and Lotus View

Camera in Austria. It cna be done ...

[david_f._stein]

It is easy to make a jig: I use the Fiskar cutter-not the greatest,

but until a Rotatrim comes along. Among those who will custom cut

film are Photo Warehouse in Oxnard CA (125 Pan Portrait) and Lotus

View Camera in Austria. It can be done ...

[pete_andrews]

Thanks everyone.<br>If all the readers of this forum can't come up

with a ready source of half-plate film, then it must be well and truly

dead.<br>If I can find an address for Roger Hicks or Frances Schultz,

then I'll politely ask them not to include such misleading

information in future issues of the book.

[fw1]

Pete ; I have just found one advertised source for 4.75 x 6.5 film ;

Mr Cad are advertising Maco 100ASA in this format - GBP6 for 10

sheets, and GBP17 for 30 sheets. Good luck......

[mark_eban]

Silverprint in London has HP5 and FP4 in stock in this size.

[carsten_boettcher]

Maybe worth a try!?

 

http://www.foma.cz/Upload/foma/prilohy/F_pan_100_en.pdf (FOMA BOHEMIA)

 

As of Dec. 2008, they offer FOMAPAN 100 Classic in 12x16.5cm - which IMO is half plate

 

Carsten

[johan_niels_kuiper]

<p>Up until today, FOMA still lists that same PDF file that states their Classic 100ASA available in Half Plate.</p>

<p>Has anybody here recently bought it from them? I'd be interested, it would beat cutting film to size all the time!</p>