4X5 Film Back Loading and Tips to Improve your 4X5 Photography

This quick tutorial shows how to load 4X5 film backs and then provides tips on how to make the most of your 4X5 shooting experience. A key benefit to recording data is to communicate with your future self so that you don't have to remember everything about every photo. This video shows a reliable way to do that with 4X5 photography while also improving your work.
My Patreon Page:
/ davidhancock
Follow me on Twitter:
/ _david_hancock_
Gear I used for Filming and Editing:
Video Capture and Film Digitization- Pentax K-3 (www.ricoh-imaging.co.jp/englis...) or Pentax K-1 (www.ricoh-imaging.co.jp/englis...)
Secondary Capture- Sony CX330 (www.sony.com/electronics/camco...)
Lens- Pentax 31mm FA Limited (www.pentaxforums.com/lensrevie...)
Off-camera Audio- Tascam DR-70D or Tascam DR-60D MKII and Tascam DR-05 (tascam.com/product/dr-70d/ or tascam.com/product/dr-60dmkii/ and tascam.com/product/dr-05/)
Video Editing- Sony Movie Studio Platinum (www.vegascreativesoftware.com/...)
Audio Processing- Adobe Soundbooth (www.adobe.com/sea/products/so...)
My Photography Website:
www.5119photography.com/
Follow me on Google+:
plus.google.com/+DavidHancock

[@TheScienceofPhotography]

For best practices you really need to use the darkslides properly - white/silver for unexposed film and black for exposed film. Every manufacturer of film holder makes some sort of tactile mark on the white/silver part of the darkslide. Usually it is four bumps or indents. If you can load film emulsion side up by feeling the notches, you can put the darkslide in the right way every time by the same method of feeling for bumps.

[@buyaport]

This is an important tip! If you don't use the white/dark side of the darkslides properly, you will very soon be very confused about which sheets were exposed and which were not (even if you try to keep track of them with your notes)!

[@DavidHancock]

Thank you!

[@new.asteroid.tracker]

The one thing I do when shooting 4x5 sheet film is not pulling the dark slide completely out of the film holder when I make an exposure. I pull the dark slide out just far enough to clear the sheet film area yet keeping the dark slide in the film holder to prevent any light leaking through the slit that the dark slide sets. It was a trick a professional large film format photographer taught me to do if the film holder is very old and has seen a lot of use.

[@DavidHancock]

I realized this morning that I forgot to mention that in the video. I do that, too, because I use a LOT of very old film backs and I don't really trust their light-proofing at the slide entry point.

[@oldfilmguy9413]

Thanks for the tips - just getting into 4x5 and agree the masking tape is a great tip along with the field notebook. Cheers!

[@DavidHancock]

Thank you!

[@waynesimon2963]

Thanks for the short video David. The "glow in the dark" watch thing is something I never considered. Makes perfect sense... The masking tape method is another good idea for recording information on the film holder as well as a notebook. I just purchased a Wista 45D and am looking forward to receiving and using it soon. Looking forward to more info on 4x5 from your channel. Stay safe guy. Cheers from Canada.

[@DavidHancock]

Thank you, Wayne! The masking tape tracking helps me a LOT when I organize my negatives. I'm going to work on my camera movements video this month so I hope that I can get that out to explain how they work. Also, that Wista, nice camera.

[@user-se5gc8jt3m]

Top Class 🎉. Excellent tutorial. You focused on the subject of the lesson perfectly and not on yourself. Count me in to all your future lessons and pragmatic advice. Regards. Thomas C

[@DavidHancock]

Thank you! That's one of my foundational approaches here, to make the gear in the review the star of the video, not me.

[@vimerveilles]

I have a 4x5 pinhole camera I've been anxious about using. This makes me feel better about it.

[@DavidHancock]

4X5 pinhole photography is fantastic. It's a whole other world from any format smaller than it. Let me know how it goes for you. I've been shooting 4X5 pinholes in a camera I made out of a cigar box using an old ball bearing shutter off a Kodak 1A (retrofitted with a pinhole). 4X5 pinhole images are kind of a dream-like softness, but still with a lot of detail.

[@kennethhouston4838]

Good stuff. I picked up a Crown Graphic and about to start my 4x5 shooting. Tapping the film backs to get the film to slide down; I never would have thought about that. Thanks!

[@DavidHancock]

Thank you!

[@gchristopherklug]

Really useful. I borrowed a 4x5 for the summer. Going to try it out soon. This is great.

[@DavidHancock]

Thank you!

[@johnmartin8526]

Great tips and I like the masking tape note book idea and will incorporate it. Look forward to seeing more !

[@DavidHancock]

Thank you!

[@paulcarlsen4088]

Thanks for the tips. I’m just “getting into” 4x5 with a thrift store graflex.

[@DavidHancock]

Thank you! Graflex cameras are fantastic as a first 4X5.

[@DixonLu]

More 4x5, yes. Thanks.

[@DavidHancock]

There will be. A lot more. It will be a few months before my first 4X5 slideshow review, but there will be camera manuals coming for my three 4X5 cameras this summer.

[@Francois_L_7933]

I just love the masking tape trick. Too simple.

[@DavidHancock]

Thank you!

[@mjgreeneaudio]

Amazingly helpful. Thank you.

[@DavidHancock]

Thank you!

[@Nat.ImagesLarge.F.Photographer]

Great,many thanks!!!

[@DavidHancock]

Thank you!

[@craigfouche]

Looking forward to more 4x5 videos from you David. Your channel is very informative and I used your Pentax 6x7 videos to help me make the right decision when buying my setup two months ago. With regards to 4x5, any chance of a video with studio lighting and setup, no much out there on KZbin?

[@DavidHancock]

Thank you! As for studio lighting, I don't have a studio. Our apartment is too small for that. The quality lighting tutorials are all in print. In general, there's a huge science to lighting for (I assume) portraits as gender, skin tone, and ethnicity, and the culture of the photographer and intended audience, have an affect on how lighting arrangements make a person look. As an example, men are more easily flattered by having the side of their face closer to the camera in shadow than women. That lighting setup conveys a sense of mystery, which is perceived (at least in America) as more masculine. A good and basic lighting setup that is flattering to basically everyone is known as the Rembrandt setup. IIRC, it's a single key light up and left with a reflector below and right. Second, dimmer light in lieu of a reflector can allow for greater shadow and subject depth control. Hair lights, eye reflections, and all that jazz are advanced techniques that generally add little to a solid Rembrandt setup (IMO). But once you've mastered the Rembrandt setup, you can really capitalize on added features and complexity.

[@brianmccutcheon3205]

Good advice thank you 😊

[@DavidHancock]

Thank you!

[@jaredfadel]

Just got my first 4x5 camera, looking forward to trying it out. Thank you for the tips

[@DavidHancock]

Thank you!

[@jdebultra]

You are awsome thanks buddy

[@DavidHancock]

Thank you!

[@ZommBleed]

I quit watching NASCAR for explosive racecar wrecks because I found this channel. I'm quite disappointed today because you didn't drop or break anything. I'll accept you tapping your filmback on the tabletop as sufficient blunt force contact for this video. You did, however, mangle a shot in the developer, too, so you're still on track.

[@DavidHancock]

I do what I can not to disappoint.

[@juancarlosguzman2827]

Great video! Thanks for sharing these tips, just got my 4x5 and I have no idea how to start shootings with. Thanks 🙏

[@DavidHancock]

Thank you! I love 4X5 and I'll be making some more videos about using 4X5 camera soon since, as of yesterday, I suddenly have an extra 40 hours each week.

[@juancarlosguzman2827]

David Hancock hahaha exactly I guess I am in the same way 👍

[@mamiyapress]

I have made every mistake possible with DDS's, I will now do the " Hancock " masking tape method.

[@DavidHancock]

Thank you! :D

[@rlfsoso]

I would add that the use of an antistatic brush both for the film holder itself (both sides/rims; the flap; surface of the inside of the film area) and both sides of the dark slide PRIOR to using canned air is quite important. The dust you mention in the beginning is just going to settle on the surfaces of the film holder and thus detrimental to the whole effort of cleaning the holders before loading!

[@DavidHancock]

Good point and one I didn't know about. Thank you!

[@rlfsoso]

@@DavidHancock a good brand to look for are made by Kinetronic, I got lucky and got me a Kinetronic 5cm antistatic brush used but very nice and clean. They are expensive new but still worth it.

[@jameslabeck6407]

I was hoping for some magic tips for loading film. I am a hot mess getting film in the holder!!

[@DavidHancock]

At first, same here. My best tip on that is to sacrifice a sheet of film as a practice film. See how it behaves when you try and load it, load it with your eyes closed and when it jams see what's going on. Look at what happens when it mis-loads and feel the area with your fingers while you look at what's wrong. Then you can recognize what's going on by touch and recall how to fix it.

[@jeremoe1]

Thanks for the good advice. I'm just getting into large format - bought a Tachihara 4x5. Question: Will any 4x5 film back fit any 4x5 camera? Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

[@DavidHancock]

Thank you! The answer is maybe. If you have a standard 4X5 sheet film back, Fidelity, Lisco, Toyo, Kodak Linhof, etc., then yes. If you have a Calumet roll film back, Polaroid holder, or glass plate holder, also yes. If you're using an old Graflex roll film back, then no. (These backs have a bulky film holder for 120 film and a flat flange around them; they look kind of like turtles resting on a flat rock.) But in general, a 4X5 two-sided sheet film back will work with no issue at all. Also good choice on a first 4X5. Tachiharas are good learning cameras because they can grow with you for a long time.

[@zarmindrow5831]

you explained the shit outta loading that film yo

[@DavidHancock]

Thank you! I do try to make sure that people of any skill can leave each video confident in themselves.

[@zarmindrow5831]

Word. @@DavidHancock

[@covershowchan]

Thank you for this video. Could you give an advice on buying 4x5 camera with the best price/capabilities ratio? Currently shooting with russian folding plate camera Fotokor 1 and x-ray film

[@DavidHancock]

4X5 is a market I'm still learning. There are a surprising number of in-production models. If you're looking for new, here's a thread I made in the Large Format Forum comparing SOME of the in-production 4x5 cameras: www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?152481-Comparing-Currently-In-production-4X5-Field-Cameras For used, the world is your oyster. I'd say start simple, a speed graphic or the like, that is light and easy to use and has only a few movements to start learning on. I started with a monorail and that was a huge mistake. Getting a speed graphic made my 4X5 work a lot better. Burke & James and similar press cameras will be the cheapest. Speed graphics will be more because they have focal plane shutters (some do). Start without an FP shutter unless you have barrel lenses sitting around to use. a press camera and a 150mm to 210mm normal lens is a great entry.

[@covershowchan]

David Hancock thank you

[@motorvelo]

So that would be film ID marks top right as you look at the film, which you then slide into the holder. Double check the film is correctly loaded by gently lifting the film. If it’s in the wrong slot, that for the dark slide it will move too much. As for using a note book it always worked for me. Those were in the days when we would regularly take 3 types of film, colour neg, B&W, and Transparency film, maybe 20 sheets of each. The note book was just as much of the kit as the film or the lenses. Of course that was before ‘enthusiasts’ thought they knew how to do things.

[@DavidHancock]

Thank you!

[@motorvelo]

Not bottom left always top right. That way you can then check the film after loading. Also just write the notes in a book against the slide number.

[@DavidHancock]

If top right, then the notch would be hidden by the top of the film holder. And how would the film be readily checked once loaded without ruining the film? And why carry a book when I could put masking tape with the film type on the film holder itself and not be up a creek if I forget the book at home?

[@sniperjudofreak]

Dark Slide. Dark Slide. not film back.

[@DavidHancock]

Dangit. Thank you.

[@retromograph3893]

Why does everybody make these films 180 degrees flipped from POV? We want to see it from our POV!

[@DavidHancock]

Actually, this would be your point of view. The film holder is upright here. The way that I film these is to simulate me sitting across a table from you. I'm the one doing all of this upside-down.

[@retromograph3893]

I understand, but it's confusing! But thanks anyway!@@DavidHancock

[@mom6701]

I am pretty sure u loaded the wrong side into the holder. The notches were there where u thumb was

[@DavidHancock]

Notches go on the bottom left when looking at the holder with the bottom facing you. Alternately, top right.