[pure-silver] Re: [OT] Filmholders, Septums, Total-Disasters

  • From: "Gary W. Marklund" <Gary@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: pure-silver@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Wed, 23 Nov 2005 09:43:38 -0700

Michael,

My experience has been that while his recommendations are not necessarily cheap 
and he is a salesman with strong opinions, he invariably recommends top 
products. I have a good supply of old, used holders and about a dozen of his 
Toyos. My only problem with the Toyos is that they aren't as easy for me to 
load, but they are better quality.

Gary

On Wednesday 23 November 2005 08:04, Michael Healy wrote:
> So I'm trolling for a darkslide replacement the other day, and the house
> guru of the LF department says, "Ho jees, not a Riteway, I absolutely
> refuse to carry those." Awhile back, he says, he sat down with his buddy
> (who happens to be one of the big-time LF camera makers, and happens to
> live-work-manufacture in this neck of the woods). They made  measurements,
> and every one of fhe film holders they measured, every one, had the septum
> ever so much off center. I think he told me that the Riteways are the worst
> culprits, but Liscos and Fidelities didn't escape him either. Very little
> tolerance for the placement of that septum, you know, and all these
> manufacturers are cranking out shoddy septums. He had one guy who could
> never get pictures in focus. First he replaced his camera. (This is a sales
> guy talking...) Next all the lenses. Finally there was only one thing it
> could be: those holders. And that, presumably thousands of dollars later,
> probably spent in this sales guy's shop, THAT turned out to be the problem!
>
> He isn't finshed yet. The real problem, he says, is that you can't always
> even tell. It won't be the whole image that's out of focus. It'll be out of
> focus here or there only. So here's what I gotta do: I gotta throw away my
> two dozen 4x5 Liscos and Fidelities, and of coursre those Riteways, too,
> those things belong in hell's Nineth Circle. Throw out every one of them
> and get myself a bunch of Toyo holders. And mirabile dictu! He just happens
> to stock those. (He didn't say what I'm supposed to do about my pre-WWII
> 8x10 holders. Those seem to be working fine, too, but who we gonna believe,
> my lying eyes?)
>
> I've been needing to get myself a feeler gauge anyhow, because I need to
> check a couple of my spark plugs. So when I do, I'm going to check all of
> mine just to spite this guy. Trouble is, I have never, but never, heard of
> any rampant problem with maladjusted septums. Nor have I ever experienced
> any noticable problems with spotty focus. Well, none at least that I
> wouldn't attribute to a maladjusted back standard or maybe a maladjusted
> lensboard.
>
> Is there legitimacy to this guy's claim? Have I been ignorant all these
> years about something known to everybody else? Are all of my images
> secretly out of focus?
>
> Mike Healy
>
>
>
>
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