Linhof Technika with the last sheet of Quickload about to be exposed. Notice the envelope retracted from the holder.
On a view camera a sheet of film must be loaded into a holder. This can be done in the complete darkness of a proper dark-room, in some odd, windowless hotel bathroom, or using a film-changing tent. After the camera has been set up and focused, the holder is inserted into the camera, the dark slide removed from the holder, and the exposure is made. The dark slide is then reinserted, and the film holder removed from the camera.
The standard (Riteway, Fidelity, and Toyo, among others) film holders hold two sheets, one on each side of the pressure plate. The Grafmatic holders held six individual sheets but they were not very reliable. Consequently, one has/had to carry multiple film holders, extra sheet film, the changing tent, and an empty box to store the exposed film. This kind of nuisance kept me away from the view camera for some time.
But when in the early 1990s, 4×5-inch films were made available in single-shot, pre-loaded envelopes (named Readyload by Kodak and Quickload by Fujifilm ) I was sold. I bought a used Linhof Technika with a set of Schneider and Rodenstock lenses. I was sure to obtain the best image quality at the time, short of 8×10-inch or larger systems that were prohibitive for airline travel or on locations that required any hiking.
In addition to eliminating problems of dust, scratches, and fingerprints, the daylight-loading systems (aka Quickload) reduced the amount of gear to be carried, because different film emulsions could be shot using a single film holder without the risk of double-exposure. Moreover, the envelopes of the sheet film could be marked for the subject and receive individual processing by about +- one stop. I always took two shots of a scene with the same composition, focus, and exposure. I had them developed in two batches, which yielded a backup for exposure errors. The price per sheet of film was some 40% higher than that of conventionally boxed film though.
Kodak’s Readyload system died in 2008 when Polaroid went out-of-business, as they were packaging it for Kodak. In the same year the Fujifilm Quickload film holder was discontinued, which was the writing on the wall for the suppression of Quickload film a year after. Fortunately, the Kodak holder worked also with the Fuji Quickload envelopes. In 2009 I bought a fridge worth of Quickload from refrigerated or outdated stock. By now that stock has depleted and I ended up with the last six sheets of Fujichrome 160 S color negative film.
In order to pay homage to a past epoch, I went to Chamonix to photograph the “Mer de Glace”, which itself may soon belong to bygone times.
Mer de Glace, Chamonix, France. While the film is not yet developed, here a preview taken with the Nikon Z7 and 24-70 f/2.8 Z. Three horizontal images at 45 mm, stitched and cropped in PS to match the composition and the 4×5 aspect ratio of the sheet film.
Not having used the camera for quite a while, it felt almost like a spiritual practice, being questioned by the onlookers. It was also a pleasure to compose for the 4×5 aspect ratio. For me, the 24×36 is not wide enough for landscape orientation, while it is too wide for portrait orientation.
Now there remains the challenge where I can get my film developed, as all the labs in Geneva, running E-6 and C-41 processes on sheet film, have shut down their services; stay tuned for the second part of the endeavour. There’s a lot to be said for instant gratification. As the tripod was set up, I shot the same image with the Nikon Z7 and the 24-70 f/2.8 Z at 45 mm with stitch and crop of three horizontal images to match the 4×5 aspect ratio.
SR