Fuji quick load film

[mickey_grewal1]

Hello everyone

I am absolutely new to LF and I am planning to get myself a Sinar 4"x5" very soon. I would appreciate if anyone out there could advise me about Fuji Quick load film. My problem is I do not have facilities to load film holders in the dark so I am looking to resolve the problem by getting Fuji Quick load film . What i do not know is whether I can use this film in the Sinar film holder or do I have to use the Fuji Quickload film holder. One of the other problems I face is that of equipment availability as unfortunately Hong Kong does not always have everything one needs:-(

Can anyone inform me how the Quickload system works i.e do you have to shoot all film in the pack or can you shoot say 5 and give these for developing and shoot the rest later.

Lastly (for the moment:-)) once all the film has been exposed how is it removed from from the film holder to give for developing i.e does one take the film holder to the processing lab and they extract the film or is there some other technique?

With apologies for being a dummy and with thanks for your help

Mickey

[jim_brick]

Film comes in single sheet packets. You insert the Quickload holder

into the camera, insert a Quickload sheet, pull the paper slide, take

the photograph, push the paper slide back in, push the button on the

holder and remove the Quickload film packet, put an exposed label

(supplied) on it, and repeat if you want more exposures of the same

scene. The holder is specifically for Quickloads. You can use a

Polaroid 545 holder as well.

 

<p>

 

The film comes 20 sheets to a box. You give the packets to the lab

for processing. One to twenty. They are single sheet packets. You can

shoot and process how ever many you want.

[gavin_.1]

Actually, for Fuji you've got *two* choices, QuickLoad and

QuickChange. QuickLoad is single sheets of film in light tight paper

holders, similar to Kodak's ReadyLoad and Polaroid's 4x5 sheet film.

This means that all three can share a Polaroid 545 (i or Pro) holder

with no major problems, which is what I do. There are supposed to be

film flatness issues with this approach, but I'm a beginner in LF so

don't really mind at the moment. QuickChange is different beast

altogether, an 8 shot pack with a dedicated holder. You shoot, change

to the next leaf in the holder, shoot again. To me it looked like a

CD changer mechanism that I once had. :o) Pretty neat, but only Fuji

and only three films to choose from at the moment (Provia 100, Astia

100 and Velvia). I'm not sure if you can get 5 from 8 processed or

what have you. If you're a low volume type photographer then it may

be best to go the QuickLoad route. Get a QuickLoad holder if you just

want to do Fuji, as it'll avoid any potential issues caused by using

a non-Fuji holder.

[d_g]

you can also use a charging tent with regular holders and 4x5 films

this is the cheaper way (regular sheet films are 35% less expensive) , and the less convenient, but it works !

[pierre_kervella3]

I have tried the Fuji Quickloads for a while, but I found it

inconvenient for the type of photography I am doing, i.e. travel

and landscape photography. Three reasons for that:

 

<p>

 

- the QL boxes take _a lot_ more space than the regular film

boxes and are much heavier. When I go for a 2 weeks trip where

I will expose 100 sheets of film, there is absolutely no question

that 2 boxes of 50 regular sheets are much more practical than 5

(huge) boxes of QL. Changing the films in the evening at the

hotel is very easy (and also pretty relaxing :-)) as I have a

changing bag that folds to the volume of a rolled T-shirt (brand:

Kaiser). I can even change films on location (never had a single

light leak, even in midday desert). I carry 6 regular holders, and

they allow easily a full day of autonomy wihout reloading.

 

<p>

 

- you have to use the Fuji QL holder. I used the Polaroid holder

and got light leaks. Therefore you need this special holder in

addition to the Polaroid (it you are taking Polaroids of course...). I

have read so many times that the Kodak holders are crap that I

tend to believe it also, but I never tried...

 

<p>

 

- price: I don't want to pay more for the same film and more bulk

:-).

[jim_brick]

One of the reasons for using Quickloads is the elimination of dust.

Keeping film holders clean and trying to load them in a dust free

environment (which a changing bag or tent is not) is a monumental

task. Dust causes clear spots on negatives that print black. A real p-

a-i-n to deal with. And dark slides on holders and most holders

themselves are made of plastic, which can hold a static charge and

attract dust.

 

<p>

 

I attended Brooks Institute of Photography (1959-1961) and spent a

great deal of time learning how to clean, load, and keep clean, film

holders. This is not a trivial task! I was never so happy to see

Quickloads appear on the market. I cannot stand Kodak Readyloads (the

double kind) and the Kodak Readyload holder is a joke.

 

<p>

 

I use Fuji Quickload Provia and Velvia for transparency film and for

B&W I buy Fuji Acros Quickloads from Robert White England. For other

B&W I use Grafmatic holders which are all metal, seem to be static

free, and seem to be pretty much dust free.

 

<p>

 

I don't use Kodak sheet film. I use Agfa and Efke sheet film.

 

<p>

 

And I have used my Polaroid 545 holder many many times for Fuji

Quickloads with no problems. I usually use the Fuji holder as it is

the best. Do not ever try to use a Kodak Readyload film in a Fuji

Quickload holder! The metal end gets caught in the holder and you

have a mess on your hands. The holder may not recover.

[john_sarsgard1]

I have the Fuji Quickload holder, and it works great. I use it for

Provia, my usual transparency film. However, I do available light

portraits with Kodak Portra 400NC, and like Ilford HP5+ and Tri-X for

black and white. They don't come in any kind of quickload...Kodak or

Fuji. You can get any sheet film in sheets to load yourself, but only

a very few in quickload. Dust can be an issue (worrying seems to make

it worse) but if you blow out the holders with compressed air, stack

them carefully, and load directly from the film package, you can

manage. I use my darkroom, but when traveling use hotel

bathroom(lights off in bedroom, towel under door) if no windows or a

changing bag. In any case, if you run hot water a few minutes to

increase humidity, dust settles out of the air and that helps a

lot...as long as you keep the holders and film covered! I also keep

the loaded holders in zip lock plastic bags. A rubber band around the

holder lengthwise keeps the dark slides under good control. I once

craved everything in quickload, but holders are now second nature.

[hisun_wong]

Don't plan on buying TMAX or Fuji b&w film in Readyload/Quickload

packaging in Hong Kong. I don't think they are available n HK. I now

use QuickChange and load film myself, any films. Not restricted to

Kodak or Fuji anymore. I bought my Fuji Quickchange in Tokyo. You can

buy it from Robert White in UK if yo don't go to Tokyo.

 

<p>

 

I am Hong Kong, have been using Readyload/Quickload for a long time

and switched to Quickload last year. I have been buying all these

supplies from U.S. mail order or in person in case of Quickchange.

 

<p>

 

Regards

Hisun

[mickey_grewal]

thank you all for your very informative responses. the only issue I

still have is if I use regular film in a Sinar holder as opposed to

Fuji Quickload, how do I get the exposed film developed i.e do I

simply take the film holder with exposed film inside to the developer

for them to remove it from the holder or is there some other trick to

it. Again apologies for being a dummy and again thanks for your help.

Mickey

[ellis_vener_photography]

<I>"thank you all for your very informative responses. the only

issue I still have is if I use regular film in a Sinar holder as

opposed to Fuji Quickload, how do I get the exposed film

developed i.e do I simply take the film holder with exposed film

inside to the developer for them to remove it from the holder or is

there some other trick to it. Again apologies for being a dummy

and again thanks for your help. Mickey "</I>

I fyou are asking about the regular holder (and I'd just get the

standard Lisco/Fidelity/Elite holders overthe much more

expensive but not necessarily better SINAR holders any day of

the week) the easiest way to get the film to the lab is the same

you got in the holder in the first place: Unload the film in a

darkroom or a changing bag, putthe film in the triple layer

tightbox it came in and take that to the lab.<P>If you area sking

about the single sheet Quickload packets, the answert is that the

packet is what you keep the film in. the lab unloads the film from

the packet and tosses the paper packet into the recycle bin.

[gavin_.1]

Bizarrely, I get the opened QuickLoad packets back, along with the

processed film. Can't quite work out why. Maybe the lab is trying to

help remember the film batch number or something?

[p. butzi]

Folks interested in Fuji Quickloads and Kodak Readyloads might want

to take a look at http://www.butzi.net/reviews/readyquick.htm which

contains a review of film packet systems, holders, etc. including

weights, sizes, cross-compatibility between packets and holders, etc.

 

<p>

 

Various film holder options are reviewed (with photos) at

http://www.butzi.net/reviews/filmholders.htm

 

<p>

 

and finally, illustrated directions on loading film holders at

http://www.butzi.net/articles/filmload.htm