Want to Buy Wanted, if available: Kodak No4 D plate holder.

film4Me · Mar 30, 2025

I wish to purchase a plate holder for said Kodak No4 D 4x5 camera. I want to convert it to take film. I have a 4x5 film sheath and hopefully pack something behind it to achieve the correct film plane.

Note that the 139mm dimension is to the middle of the location groove for the tongue on the plate holder. The 119mm dimension can't vary, it's set, and it's the dimension of the holder, not the camera back.

Thank you.

Ian Grant · Mar 30, 2025

I have a Century 45 and some plate holders, also some early Graflex holders. Dimensionally, they are the same as a modern 5x4 holder, except for the light trap area. The Premo holders extent 12mm, from the rib, the early Graflex 20mm, and a modern Fidelity holder 32mm.

So I can use any of these 5x4 plate holders, and I have a lot of MPP film sheaths to shoot film. Be aware some very early Eastman Kodak plate holders have the plates offset an extra 5mm towards the left away from the light trap, see below.

Ian

film4Me · Mar 30, 2025

Thanks Ian. That holder on the right looks good, it has the narrow wooden frame at the bottom, it should be 8-9mm, and that matches the narrow frame of the camera where the holder sits. Is it for sale?, subject to the other dimension being correct according to my OP post of course.

Ian Grant · Mar 30, 2025

Unfortunately it's not for sale. They are interchangeable in terms of fit, so I was posting for reference.

Don_ih · Mar 30, 2025

I have 4x5 holders that appear to be for Premo cameras (they are unbranded but the lock fits the groove profile in the Premo camera perfectly), but the holder doesn't extend past the top of that lock more than a couple of mm. They are exactly 119mm wide but they are too tall for the opening in that pictured camera. Was the camera made for a film pack? I assume the bellows is adjustable, so you could build onto the back to have a frame that would hold a graflok ground glass and film holder. It's just two sliding lock clips on a wooden frame.

That 139mm looks too small a dimension for any 4x5 holder I've seen. The Premo holders, which I dug out of hiding this morning - 139mm is still in the film opening. And they are by far the shortest holders I have. They do not have as narrow a bottom frame as the holder on the right in Ian's photo.

film4Me · Mar 30, 2025

Ian Grant said:
Unfortunately it's not for sale. They are interchangeable in terms of fit, so I was posting for reference.

My eyes lit up seeing that holder. If it was the correct dimensions and for sale, I'd pay a premium for it, US$120.00 + postage.
I've seen many of the other holders, the Premo ones, but their film gate is too far out of alignment with the film gate on the camera.
If worst comes to worst, I'll fabricate a holder just for film sheets, and devise some method to protect the film from light before and after exposure.

Ian Grant · Mar 31, 2025

As the non Premo Eastman Kodak holder doesn't match my camera, I could be tempted to sell it. The dimensions are right. I think the offset is Eastman's original holders and then that was changed when he acquired Rochester Optical, Century, etc. I will check postage costs, later and PM you this afternoon (GMT)

Ian

film4Me · Mar 31, 2025

Much appreciated Ian. Does it have both darkslides? I just can't see both in your pic.

Ian Grant · Mar 31, 2025

It does, I'll be in touch later, have some work to finish & post.

Ian

film4Me · Mar 31, 2025

Ian Grant said:
It does, I'll be in touch later, have some work to finish & post.

Ian

No probs

film4Me · Wednesday at 10:41 PM

Many thanks to Ian Grant. I now have a plate holder for the Kodak No4 D. The Kodak 4x5 film sheaths I bought on ebay fit snugly the way they should, only the flat spring behind the sheath needed tensioning, by bending it up slightly, to provide a more normal pressure against the sheath. Also thanks to Don_iH for posting in the thread with info about Premo holders.

Want to Buy Wanted, if available: Kodak No4 D plate holder.

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