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No more Quickload/Readyload B&W sheet film?

bensonga

Well-known member
This may be old news to some....but I've just discovered there is no Fuji Quickload 4x5 Acros Neopan B&W film available anymore (or so it seems). And no Kodak Readyloads in B&W either (though I've preferred Quickloads for many years).

I'll admit that I've gotten used to the convenience of the Fuji Quickloads and was more than happy to pay extra $$ for the convenience they offered....since I don't have a darkroom and never enjoyed loading film into the standard film holders.

I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, but it's still a sad day.....I guess it's just another marker in the long, slow decline of film useage. :cry:

Gary
 

jotloob

Subscriber Member
Hello Gary

I just had a look to ROBERT WHITE's homepage .
http://www.robertwhite.co.uk

It reads: ACROS 100 20sht to order from Japan , delivery time 4 weeks .
That of course does not mean , that the ACROS quickload is still produced .

Regards Jürgen
 

bensonga

Well-known member
Thanks Jurgen. I guess I'd better order some now and put it in the freezer. No longer possible to phone in an order to B&H and have it here by the end of the week.

I might have to start practicing loading film holders again, just in case.

Gary
 

jotloob

Subscriber Member
Gary

Who likes loading sheetfilm ? ? ? I don't like it either .:grin:
What I do , when I have not loaded sheetfilm for a longer time , I just take an old sheet of film and practice in daylight . Then , when that works fine again , I close my eyes and try again .
Then it is time to use the film changing tent . I do close my eyes as well , because I can't see anything anyway .

But still I don't like loading sheetfilm .:ROTFL:

Jürgen
 

Stuart Richardson

Active member
Sad news -- I also really liked Acros in quickload...it is my favorite film. I guess I will stick with the regular holders, a grafmatic and a fuji quickchange which I managed to get a few months ago....I still need to unload the film from that one. I was waiting because I am the only person in this country who will process E6 in 4x5, and I still need to learn how to do it consistently!
 

jotloob

Subscriber Member
Stuart

Your contribution turns out a bit of sadness to me .
Of course it has got nothing to do with you , but it shows me again , that
there are only very few KODAK Q-labs left here in Germany .
STUDIO13 is one of the oldest and best KODAK Q-labs here in south Germany and I know , they are fighting against digital .
Does that mean you have to process C41 and E6 yourself in the future ? ? ?

Jürgen
 

Jack

Sr. Administrator
Staff member
Quick/Ready/load was the only reason to shoot 4x5 IMO, bummer. Now that you've got to load your own holders again, IF I were getting back into LF, I would look to a custom 5x8 cam. You cut your own from 8x10 sheets and get a regular 5x7 back and use precut 5x7...

Bummer.
 

jotloob

Subscriber Member
Quick/Ready/load was the only reason to shoot 4x5 IMO, bummer. Now that you've got to load your own holders again, IF I were getting back into LF, I would look to a custom 5x8 cam. You cut your own from 8x10 sheets and get a regular 5x7 back and use precut 5x7...

Bummer.
Jack

Why doing the hard job and cutting the film yourself .
The Fuji ACROS 100 is available as sheetfilm in 4x5 .

Jürgen
 

Stuart Richardson

Active member
Hi Jürgen,

There is really only one place in Iceland who will do 4x5 film, and they do it only on a special order basis. They just use a Jobo and don't really do it on any regular basis, so I don't think they really count. I am actually now opening a custom printing and processing lab here (digital and film), so when I say that I will be processing E6, it will also be a service I offer to other photographers. There are one or two other labs that do E6, but they only do up to 120/220...to be fairly frank, they don't do the greatest job with it either. Film comes back very dirty. So I will do it myself with my CPP-2 and Expert Drum. I will not start offering it to others until I really have it down perfectly.

I don't really think that quickloads were THAT much easier...probably because I developed my own film anyway. They are great if you just want to process at a lab, but if you are going to do your own processing then it only really saves you the loading (which is indeed a bit of a pain, as well as the potential issues with dust and fingerprints).
 
S

Soren

Guest
I prefer quickloads simply because of the wieght and volume for transporting gear via backpack. Anything that is lighter and and takes up less space when hiking to a photo spot is a good thing in my book.

FYI.. I am new to this forum, but have been shooting large format since 92. This is my first post but I have been reading the forums here for a couple years now. So hello to all as well.
 

Jack

Sr. Administrator
Staff member
Jack

Why doing the hard job and cutting the film yourself .
The Fuji ACROS 100 is available as sheetfilm in 4x5 .

Jürgen
For *5x8* you need to cut 8x10 sheets in half. (You need to go back and read my entire post ;))
 

darr

Well-known member
Quick/Ready/load was the only reason to shoot 4x5 IMO, bummer. Now that you've got to load your own holders again, IF I were getting back into LF, I would look to a custom 5x8 cam. You cut your own from 8x10 sheets and get a regular 5x7 back and use precut 5x7...

Bummer.
I was sadden when Polaroid 55 was no longer available. I decided that I would continue shooting 4x5" for black & white and my film of choice is Acros, leaving the color to digital. Now this is heartbreaking!
 

Tex

Subscriber Member
Folks, is it really that much trouble to load 4x5 holders? Granted the Quickloads are convenient but for the extra expense and needless waste of packaging, I will stick with holders.
 

Lars

Active member
I have a Fuji QuickChange holder and three cartridges, each cartridge takes 8 sheets so I can bring 24 sheets in the field.
 

bensonga

Well-known member
I hadn't heard of the Fuji QuickChange film holder before. Can't find them new at B&H or other sites.....do you know if these are still available?

Gary
 

Lars

Active member
I hadn't heard of the Fuji QuickChange film holder before. Can't find them new at B&H or other sites.....do you know if these are still available?
Oh, they're gone a long time ago. I got the last three cartridges from Robert White in 2003.
 

bensonga

Well-known member
Seems like all of the possible improvements to the basic 2 sheet film holder are going, going, gone......

Gary
 

Stuart Richardson

Active member
Yes, I have a quickchange that I found last summer, but no one in iceland processes e6 in 4x5, so I have not started to use it yet. Once we get some light I will start processing E6 and then I can start using the quickchange. Right now I am just using a grafmatic and regular holders.

But I will miss quickloads -- the biggest advantage they had for me was the lack of dust and the time saved in loading tons of holders. I generally bought them short dated to save on the money. I agree the packaging was over the top, but there really the best option in certain situations. I wish I had been shooting when the quickchange system was being used...that was a much better solution overall.
 
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