E- Bay 6x12 roll film backs

[richard littlewood]

Any body bought one of these off E-Bay. They come from China/Hong Kong and have GUOHUA (or something) as a make. They look simple and good value but are they?

[Nick Zentena]

Don't know about Guohua but I bought a Shen Hao 6x12. The only problem I have is the ruby red window is pretty dark. I bought some film that had black numbers on black paper. Lets just say I missed a few frames. Buying the Shen Hao direct from the factory is a pretty good deal at about $220 US. It comes with three masks so the back is really a 6x4.5,6x6,6x9 and 6x12. Mine looks well made if not overly complicated.

[Digidurst]

Hey Nick, I'd be interested to know what you think of your roll film holder. And how do you order it direct from the factory?

Thanks

[David A. Goldfarb]

I have one of these 6x17" backs. There seem to be a few different manufacturers making slightly different versions of these, or maybe one manufacturer making them to different specs. In any case, I'm pleased with mine, sold under the Da Yi brand. If you hunt around, there are a couple of threads on them, and I've posted some sample shots in one of them.

[Nick Zentena]

http://www.badgergraphic.com/search_product2.asp?x=3375

That's basically mine. The one I got cost about $220 and came with an additonal 6x9 mask. The ruby window is fairly dark. Not the best thing if the film you're testing with uses black writing on black paper. Other then that it's simple and works.

To order direct you need to go to the Shen Hao website and send them an email. I don't know how much shipping on just the back would be. It makes sense if you're ordering a camera from them since they don't charge much more to ship the back over just the camera. But if all you want is the back the shipping might eat up some of the savings.

[Digidurst]

Good point, Nick, as I would be just ordering the back.

I'm seriously considering one... But never having used one before, I'm curious about the 'workflow'. Do you have to remove the back completely (using a Shen-Hao in this case) or just clip it on? In other words, how easy is it to utilize?

[David A. Goldfarb]

With a 6x12 back you would focus on the groundglass, remove the groundglass, clip in the back with the Graflok slides, and shoot.

With the 6x17 back there is a separate viewer for focusing (since it is wider than 4x5" and the film plane is set back from the normal film plane) that you would use in place of the normal groundglass, and you would switch it with the rollfilm holder to make the exposure. The 6x17 back also includes masks for 6x9 and 6x12, but the whole arrangement is bulkier than a 6x12 back, not only because it's bigger, but because you need the separate viewer. Also, you can't switch between formats on the fly with any of these backs.

[Digidurst]

So you're saying that you can't start shooting 6x12's then shoot a few 6x6's on the same roll?

[Nick Zentena]

Actually if you're carefull with the 6x12 you can switch formats. The masks are on the outside. Just slide off the mask and either go with no mask [6x12] or add the one you want. But you need to be carefull the film has been advanced enough to not get over lap. I'm doubtfull how usefull it is but it's possible.

[David A. Goldfarb]

Well, that's an improvement! On mine and some of the earlier ones I've seen, the masks go on the inside, so you can't switch between rolls.