Calling all ebay Junkies-Quickload holder needed.

[keithwms]

The Polaroid holders don't have a pressure plate, so film flatness may be an issue.

At least in my experience with quickloads, it's not an issue. I find that the sheet film is so rigid and firmly held that a backplate really isn't necessary. I think if you sacrifice one and poke it with the darkslide removed, you'll arrive at the same conclusion.

Of course, you could certainly install a backplate if you felt the need....

[L Gebhardt]

I thought I would check this since I have all three holders. I checked the Polaroid 545 holder, the quickload, and the Readyload with two scrap sheets of Quickload (screwups in the filed I saved for this sort of thing). I noticed I had one warped piece of Astia, and one perfectly flat piece of Acros. The warped piece of Astia has wavy edges, and I'm not sure what the cause of these were. This may have been the film I was having trouble with years ago with the Polaroid holder. I had assumed it was the holder and not the film.

The polaroid holder uses springs to hold the edges of the film against the fixed back of the holder. This worked fine, and the only parts not perfectly in line with the rest were about 1/2 and inch on the end away from the clip, which was bent towards the lens by 1/4mm or less. Not terrible, but not great. This seems to be because the springs don't extend all the way to the end. The springs were not strong enough to make the wavy warped film lie flat. Not really an issue as most film shouldn't be warped.

The Readyload hold uses a pressure plate to pus the film into the from rails of the holder. This worked well for the flat film, but the spring strength wasn't enough to flatten out the warped one. So with my warped film you would have definite focus issues, but again not a real world issue.

The Quickload holder also uses a pressure plate, and the springs on this were much stronger. They were almost able to flatten the warped film out, and the focus issue would be much less.

In the end all three holders should do an equal job of holding the film flat and in the proper plane. The polaroid holder may show a very slight focus shift on one edge, but probably only a few mm of image are would be affected. I wouldn't worry about it. If I needed to buy a "new" holder I would probably go for a lightly used Kodak Readyload as it should be cheaper than the Fuji. Why not the Polaroid holder? Simple, it's heavier and the point of Quickload film is to shave off the pounds. If Polaroid film was still made, it would be a different story.

Another bonus of the Readyload holder is it came with a nice nylon pouch for protection.

Hope this helps someone.

[daleeman]

I thought I would check this since I have all three holders. I checked the Polaroid 545 holder, the quickload, and the Readyload with two scrap sheets of Quickload (screwups in the filed I saved for this sort of thing). I noticed I had one warped piece of Astia, and one perfectly flat piece of Acros. The warped piece of Astia has wavy edges, and I'm not sure what the cause of these were. This may have been the film I was having trouble with years ago with the Polaroid holder. I had assumed it was the holder and not the film.

The polaroid holder uses springs to hold the edges of the film against the fixed back of the holder. This worked fine, and the only parts not perfectly in line with the rest were about 1/2 and inch on the end away from the clip, which was bent towards the lens by 1/4mm or less. Not terrible, but not great. This seems to be because the springs don't extend all the way to the end. The springs were not strong enough to make the wavy warped film lie flat. Not really an issue as most film shouldn't be warped.

The Readyload hold uses a pressure plate to pus the film into the from rails of the holder. This worked well for the flat film, but the spring strength wasn't enough to flatten out the warped one. So with my warped film you would have definite focus issues, but again not a real world issue.

The Quickload holder also uses a pressure plate, and the springs on this were much stronger. They were almost able to flatten the warped film out, and the focus issue would be much less.

In the end all three holders should do an equal job of holding the film flat and in the proper plane. The polaroid holder may show a very slight focus shift on one edge, but probably only a few mm of image are would be affected. I wouldn't worry about it. If I needed to buy a "new" holder I would probably go for a lightly used Kodak Readyload as it should be cheaper than the Fuji. Why not the Polaroid holder? Simple, it's heavier and the point of Quickload film is to shave off the pounds. If Polaroid film was still made, it would be a different story.

Another bonus of the Readyload holder is it came with a nice nylon pouch for protection.

Hope this helps someone.

Yes this is helpful. I deesire to get out and shoot my Tachihara more than I have in the past. I have a Poloroid back, and like you did I do not have any idea what model it is, nicely tucked away in tha atic above the garage. I'll have to find it. I have been wondering about spending the money to get a Fuji quickload and not rob Santa of his gifts for others this Christmas.

So I will spring for some Fuji quickload film and give it a try. BTW, was stunned to see your name. My name may be very close to your

Lee Gephart
Dayton Ohio
daleeman

[Venchka]

The Polaroid 545 in all of it's versions works. Remember, Polaroid packaged an E-6 film Readyload clone of it's own way back when in addition to packaging all of Kodak's Readyload products. That explains the demise of Readyloads with the demise of Polaroid.

[Frank Bunnik]

Badger sells quickload holders for US$ 129 which is really cheap compared to what they cost where I live in Western Europe (they are about 199 euro here). http://www.badgergraphic.com/store/c..._detail&p=1267

Adorama has a few of the last model Readyload holders in their used section for about 70 US$.

[Shangheye]

At least in my experience with quickloads, it's not an issue. I find that the sheet film is so rigid and firmly held that a backplate really isn't necessary. I think if you sacrifice one and poke it with the darkslide removed, you'll arrive at the same conclusion.

Of course, you could certainly install a backplate if you felt the need....

Agree, never had a problem with my 545 back either with Quickloads...and they are cheap now Polaroid have st0oped making film...