Roll film holders (612)

[Nigels]

Its a bit quiet on here so here is my hot topic of the week.
I am thinking of adding a 612 RFH to my kit bag and have three in mind. Firstly there is the Horseman which seems to be the number one choice of many. Its well built and reliable but has a bit of a high price tag. Next is the Shen Hao which I believe works in much the same way as the Horseman but is very much built down to its more reasonable price tag. Thirdly there is the Cambo C2N which works differently by allowing the holder to be fitted under the GG in the same way that a QL holder does. Its even a bit cheaper than the Horseman. I like the loading method but it also has its problems with film kinks if film is left in far any period of time and there maybe problems with film flatness.
So, what do people use and are there any comments on the three models above. Who knows I my get some money out at Focus next week. TIA.

[Emmanuel Bigler]

Hi !
I have a Horseman 612 rollfilm holder, I bougth it as a used item. I already knew the 6x9 Horseman (or Arca Swiss) holders and was very happy with them, so I stayed within the Horsman/Arca catalog.
I do not know the other brands so I am not eligible for any comment.

The Horseman 612 RFH is a good compromise between mechanical precision and weight. Only some non-crititical parts are made of plastic.
Other top-class 612 RFH that would be considered superior, at least for the "all-metal" aficionados would be the Linhof 612 Techno-Rollex and the Sinar Vario... Both are hard to find as a used items and (ahem !!) so expensive as new items !

The question of a choice between the Horseman/ Graflok type and the insertion type is important since sliding the graflock bars after takng the ground glass off is OK but sssslllllooooowwwwww..

I have eventually solved the question : since I'm using a 5x4" Arca Swiss back (141mm) on my 6x9 A/S camera (hence I'm using the 5x4" 'field' configuration), I have eventually purchased a second 141 mm graflok frame so my 612 RFH can replace my GG in a matter of seconds, exactly like my 6x9 "baby graflok" RFH mounted on their own 6x9 (A/S 110mm size) graflok frame replace my 6x9 GG in one second, thanks to the one-hand operated self-locking latch system.

[BarryWilkinson]

Interesting solution Emmanuel. I had not thought of that.

Barry

[Tim Myers]

Personally I have the Shen Hao; it's crude but effective. I don't carry it with me all that often but on the occasions I have used it I've had no issues with it.

The flexibility of having 6x9, 6x7 and 6x6 masks is great, and you can switch between formats mid-roll, but it can be confusing as to where to wind the film to!

I couldn't justify paying any more for an RFH considering how much I believed I'd use it. I don't believe I've seen any issues with film flatness, but you have to be careful when winding and keep tension in the film.

[Brian E]

Hi

I've been using the Horseman 6x12 RF Holder for almost 10 years now - Very well made still works perfectly without wind-on problems or frame overlap - In fact a 1st class piece of equipment. OTOH if cost is a problem you could just use normal 5x4 film and crop OR cut an old darkslide in half (or a little more to be exact) and with a good memory expose two on one sheet. The memory is required to keep in mind which way up for the Dark Slide on each exposure.

The cost of the holder will by a lot of film

Incidently - one of my favourite combinations is 65mm lens and 6x12 back - It looks right to me

Brian

[Henry]

Hi

Apologies for coming in so late on this topic... I use a second-hand Horseman 612, and find it works well, well once you've sussed how to load the film - I knew that hole in the pressure plate was there for a reason, just didn't know the reason! Doh!

I like it with my 65mm too, which now has more movements available thanks to the smaller size.

Henry

[dennis]

FWIW I have used a Horsman 612 holder for around 10 years (bought new from RW) & finss it excellent. Cheapo is fine until it fails just when you have that special shot in the bag! Works well with 150, 90 & 55 mm lenses. Dennis

[Thingy]

I've finally ordered one of these whilst waiting (still..... ) for my camera to arrive from Japan. Maybe I should have kept my old MPP Mk V all those years ago, just for emergencies....

Whilst using sheet film is nice when you can get it, not all the film I like using are available in sheet film format.... and I feel more confident developing my own roll film than I do sheet film. I look forward to trying out some infra-red monochrome photography in the future using the 6x12 format.

[more photography]

Its a bit quiet on here so here is my hot topic of the week.
I am thinking of adding a 612 RFH to my kit bag and have three in mind.

Nigel

I bought a second hand horseman from Ebay and is in excellent condition and perfect - I paid £250 and I have seen them go for @£200.

The question I asked myself after, will it pay for is self as some one else said you could always crop 5x4. It all depends how many 6x12 you are going to shooe.The advantage is you could bracket and shoot quickly before the light changes.

[Thingy]

I think it is an attractive format for certain types of landscape work, especially when 5x4 will be filled mostly with water and sky, as with a great deal of my current 35mm and 6x6cm work is when I photographing coastlines in Norway. Sheet film is expensive and I expect this format to pay for itself within 3-5 years. Paradoxically I now expect to use 5x4 QL film far more than I anticipated and will probably not be able to justify me buying my Horseman 6x9 RF back last year.

Having said that, with VAT the Horseman 6x12 set me back over £600 new!

[BarryWilkinson]

...

you could always crop 5x4. It all depends how many 6x12 you are going to shoot.The advantage is you could bracket and shoot quickly before the light changes.

Another advantage is the range of film available in 120.

Barry

[Thingy]

There is a Horseman (Universal back) on sale on ebay at the moment... current bid £100 - with only one bidder.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Horseman-6x12-bac ... 240%3A1318