What's a Packet?

Ordinarily, 4x5 sheet film is purchased in a box - the box contains somewhere between 10 and 100 sheets of film, typically sealed groups of 10 or 25 sheets inside protective envelopes.  To use the film, you get out your normal film holders (empty of film), turn out the lights, open up the box (and an envelope), and load the loose sheets of film into the film holders.  After all the film is secured either in holders or back in the box, you turn the lights back on.

Naturally, this loading of film holders is a primo opportunity for dust (the bane of large format photographers) to affix itself to your film.  Photographers often long for a way out of this film loading routine, especially when traveling away from their convenient darkroom.

The way to avoid this film loading hassle is to use film in packets. A packet is a cardboard or paper envelope with a sheet of film inside - you put the packet into a holder, which grabs the carrier to which the film is attached.  Then you use the envelope as a dark slide, pulling it out part way, exposing the film, and then running it back.  After exposure, you can withdraw the entire light-tight packet from the holder, and handle it in daylight without worry.  You can write your exposure notes on the packet, you can sort your film into groups easily, and life is generally grand.

Why use packets?

The downside of film in packets is cost; figure that on a per sheet basis, film in packets will cost you quite a bit more than buying loose film and using conventional holders. For example, at a local retailer here in Seattle, a 50 sheet box of Provia 100F costs $105.55 or $2.17/sheet.  The very same film in Quickloads costs $67.44 for a box of 20, or $3.37 a sheet.  The older two sheet Kodak Readyloads had an even higher premium; loose TMX costs $.73 a sheet, and in Readyload form it cost $1.82, more than double the cost.  Kodak's new single sheet Readyloads are not yet available retail, but we can be sure they're not going to be cheap.

The upside of using packets is ample compensation for the cost, however.  Because the packets are assembled in clean rooms by the manufacturer, there's no dust on the film.  The packets themselves are dust tight, so using packetized film essentially eliminates dust specks on your film.

Because the film is all pre-loaded, you don't need to spend time loading and unloading holders.  The fact that you can mark the outside of the packet with notes greatly reduces the number of sheets that were intended for N+1 development but somehow ended up in the N-1 box.

Film in packets is a lot more compact and a lot less weight than film in either conventional holders or grafmatics (see my review of film holders at www.butzi.net/reviews/filmholders.htm for details). No sensible field photographer is likely to carry more than perhaps a dozen conventional holders, but it's perfectly reasonable to carry 100 sheets of film in packets. This makes packets very popular among field photographers.

Who makes packets?

Films are sold in packet form by three manufacturers: Polaroid, Kodak, and Fuji.  The Polaroid product is just called 'Polaroid'.  The Kodak and Fuji products are called 'Readyload' and 'Quickload' respectively.

The Kodak Readyload product used to carry two sheets of film - you turned the packet over to expose the second sheet.  In September, 2000, Kodak announced that the two sheet packets would be discontinued and replaced with a single sheet packet.  As of May 1, 2001, the single sheet packets appear to be available on Calumet's web site, but I've not actually seen any in the stores.  If you buy some and use them, please send me email with your experiences (especially if you encounter failures) and I'll put the results on the Readyload Reliability Page.

Both the two sheet Readyloads and single sheet Readyloads are discussed here, although by the end of 2001, I expect that the two sheet packets will be a thing of the past and the material on them will be of historical interest only.

Holders - Polaroid, Kodak, Fuji

Each of the three manufacturers of packets also sells a holder specifically for packets.  The construction of the packets is such that the film holders are almost but not quite interchangeable.

The following table demonstrates the compatibility between holders:

*Film positioning and flatness is not as good with the Polaroid holder as it is with the Fuji and Kodak holders.

Naturally, the film holders themselves are not identical, either.  They differ in physical dimensions, quality of construction, smoothness of operation, etc.

The following table summarizes some of the specs of each holder.

The body width and thickness measurements are for the portion of the holder which gets inserted under the groundglass; the end thickness and width are for the bulge at the end where the film is inserted.  

The Fuji Quickload holder comes with a plastic cover which keeps dust off the pressure plate; the Kodak and Polaroid holders have no such cover.  

The Kodak Readyload holder and Fuji Quickload holder both use a spring-loaded pressure plate to index the film forward against a stop and to get it into the correct position and hold it flat; the Polaroid 545/545i holder has no such pressure plate; the film is instead held back against a plate.  The Polaroid arrangement results in packet thickness affecting film position and in poorer film flatness.

The older two sheet Kodak Readyload holder went through several revisions.  Each different revision (version I, II, III, IIII) is marked in the throat of the holder. If you hold the holder with the packet entrance up and the back of the holder toward you, the version number can be found on the left hand side of the throat on the side farthest from you.  Versions I through III had a silver pressure plate; version IIII has a black pressure plate.  

Version IIII seems to produce better film flatness.  The black plate of the Version IIII holder was introduced by Kodak in anticipation of the single sheet packets.  Double sheet Readyloads have the sheets of film mounted on opposite sides of an opaque black carrier; single sheet Readyloads have the film attached to the carrier only at the ends; there is no opaque plastic backing.  As a result, the film rests directly on the pressure plate, and with the older silver pressure plate, halation may result (depending on the opacity of the unexpose/unprocessed film).  Despite this theoretic risk, many people have successfully used Fuji Quickloads (which also lack an opaque film carrier) in the version III (silver pressure plate) Kodak holder without problems.  

Kodak Single Sheet Readyload holder

As of 10/20/2001, the much anticipated Kodak single sheet Readyload holder is at last available.  It is quite a bit different from the previous Readyload holders.  Physical specs are in the table above.

Differences include:

• it DOES have graflock slots in the sides (a nice improvement over the previous holder) [note: I have been told that holders later versions of this holder (labeled letter E or beyond) do NOT have graflock slots.]
• held together with six small cross-point screws, which will make it a lot easier to disassemble and reassemble than the previous version which used locking plastic tabs that you had to pry back with great force.
• Also, the mechanism behind the pressure plate has been improved; the release button now withdraws the pressure plate, and the tension on the pressure plate is even across the length of the plate. In addition, there's a shallow rebate in the pressure plate at the entrance end, which looks designed to prevent the minor film curve that is caused by the thickness of the packet end at exposure time. All in all it looks like film flatness and positioning should be improved over the old holder, although to be honest I never had problems even with the old holder. (Kodak told me that some people working at magnifications close to 1:1 had  problems and this change was intended to solve those problems).
• In a nice touch, the release button is made of some vinyl like rubbery material which is non-slip, and the working surface is curved so it's a little easier to work.
• Finally, the end that gets tucked under the ground glass is now beveled instead of being full thickness, so that it will be a bit easier to slide in. The sharp corners and edges of the old holder are gone, replaced with radiused edges and corners.
  

For those of you who are ordering and want some confidence you're getting the new holder and not an older double sheet holder, the Kodak catalog numbers are different, so you can identify them by the new catalog number even if the sales person on the other end of the phone connection is clueless.

The catalog number for the OLD holder was 157 2502.
The catalog number for the NEW SINGLE SHEET holder is 893 7542.

Packet Specifications

The following table summarizes the size and weight of the various packets.  Each type is discussed separately below.

dimensions are in inches/cm., weights are in ounces/grams

Kodak Double Sheet Readyloads

The two sheet Readyload packets were discontinued in September, 2000, although supplies of them are still on store shelves.

In the two sheet Readyload packets, the envelope covers a flexible plastic carrier.  The metal clip is attached to one end of the carrier; two sheets of film are fixed to the carrier (one on each side of the carrier).

At the end opposite the clip, there's a tab.  Grasping this tab through the envelope allows you to remove the packet from the holder without the film carrier slipping.  The cutout next to the tab allows you to grab *just* the envelope, allowing you to pull back the envelope without pulling the film carrier out of the holder.  The film carrier is also held in the holder by a clamp which grabs the metal clip at the end of the carrier.

Two sheet Readyloads were plagued by the fact that some people found them impossible to use, encountering packet failures, light leaks, and a host of other frustrating problems.  Making matter more perplexing was the fact that many people used them with great success.

Kodak single sheet Readyloads

Kodak discontinued the two sheet Readyload product in Sept, 2000, replacing it with the new, single sheet Readyload.

On March 22, 2001 I got a sample box of the new single sheet Readyload packets from Kodak to evaluate for them.

I had a chance to try exposing them in three different holders: an older, version III Kodak Readyload holder, a nearly new version IIII Kodak Readyload holder, and a borrowed Fuji Quickload holder.  Since I was sending the exposed packets back to Kodak for them to process and evaluate, I also exposed two sheets of TMX in a two sheet Readyload, for me to keep.

I was very, very pleased with the new single sheet Readyloads.  They're thinner than the old two sheet Readyloads, and in fact are even thinner than Fuji Quickloads.  Despite this thinness, they are not overly flexible and I had no problems with the packets bending or buckling as used them.  The thin wall of the packet makes it easier to feel the carrier inside, although the carrier is made of a very thin material, harder to feel than the older version.  The net result is that in terms of feeling confident that the film is in the right place, they're about the same as the older, two sheet version.

I did wonder about the change from having the film mounted on a plastic carrier that ran behind the film to having it bound to the carrier stub at the clip end, and another stub at the other end.  Despite this change, film flatness and position is unchanged and very good in both the version III and IIII holders.

The thinner packet, along with the new clip shape, results in very smooth operation.  Unlike the two sheet version, the new single sheet Readyloads do not bind in the holder at all.  It's no longer necessary to hold in the release when inserting a packet; the packet glides into the holder effortlessly.  

A new clip design, along with a new design for the clip end of the packet, seems like it will eliminate the corner fogging problems that people encountered with the old, two-sheet version.  In the roughly 15 exposures I made in the Kodak holder, I had no packets come apart, and close examination of each packet after it was exposed and taken out of the holder showed the envelope firmly seated in the clip.  Kodak provide 'exposed' stickers to secure the clip after exposure; the single sheet Readyloads came with much larger stickers, making them even more secure.

I attempted to expose 4 packets using a borrowed Fuji Quickload holder, with lamentable lack of success.  Each time, insertion and exposure of the packet went without a hitch.  Unfortunately, I was unable to remove the packet from the Fuji Quickload holder without snagging, with the result that in each case, envelope was not firmly seated in the clip when the packet was withdrawn.  It's possible this was just a problem with either this particular Quickload holder, or with me; I've never used one before, and didn't much care for the release design.  Also, these were pre-production single sheet Readyloads; it's perfectly possible Kodak will be making changes to the design before shipping the retail product. 

[update July 11, 2001]

I've now had a chance to do a fair amount of work with production/retail single sheet Readyloads.  On a recent trip, I exposed roughly 180 sheets of film, of that 180, around 150 were single sheet Readyloads.  All the film was exposed in a single Kodak version IIII (black plate) holder.  I'd intended to expose roughly equal amounts of single sheet and double sheet readyloads, but found that the single sheet variety were so nice I was using them almost all the time.  All of the trip was on the Pacific coast, conditions were very windy, fairly damp, in light ranging from bright sun to near darkness.  Exposures ranged from 1/30 second to about 10 minutes.  I had no trouble at all with the single sheet readyloads - no missed exposures, no fogging, no problems at all.  

[update October 20, 2001]

Single sheet Readyloads are now in stock continuously at the dealers I visit.  My experience with them has been uniformly excellent.

Fuji Quickloads

Fuji's Quickloads have been popular for a long time, both because of their failure free record compared to the Kodak two sheet product, and because Fuji makes their popular color transparency emulsions available in Quickloads, including Velvia, Astia, and Provia.

In addition, Fuji now sell two different Quickload packaged color negative films, NPS 160 and NPL 160.  At the time this is written (June, 2001) NPL is the only tungsten balanced color negative film available in packet form.

Badger Graphic (www.badgergraphic.com) are now importing Fuji Acros in Quickloads, contact them for details.  I've not used it but Acros is getting some pretty rave reviews.  Brace yourself on the price ($65 for a box of 20).  Call your Fuji representative and tell them to import the stuff to the US!

Polaroid packets

The image size on polaroid type 55 p/n film is masked down by a paper mask in the packet, and is 3.5"x4.5".

Polaroid sells a variety of films in packet form:

• type 51HC - a high contrast black and white film; you get both a negative and a positive.  The film speed is 640 (5500 degrees K) or 400 (3200 degrees K) for the print and 20 for the negative
• type 52 - B/W 400 speed, print only.  The prints must be coated.
• type 53 - 800 speed, print only, coaterless.
• type 54 (polapan 100) - 100 speed, intended for proofing for chrome films,  coaterless.
• type 55 P/N - the classic film - coater style print and a very nice negative.  Film speed is about 40, print speed is about 80.  The negatives from type 55 p/n are very fine grained and produce beautiful prints.
• Type 56 - Sepia, coaterless, iso 400
• Type 57 - high speed (iso 3000) prints.  Fairly grainy.
• Type 59 Polacolor - iso 80, color prints
• Type 72 - (polapan 400)  Coaterless, iso 400
• Type 79 -  Pcpro 100, iso 100
• Type 64T - (tungsten), iso 64

(Thanks to Bill Jefferson for providing corrections!)

All these films must be exposed and processed in a Polaroid holder (model 545/545i/545 Pro).  None of them will work in either the Kodak or Fuji holder.

To keep the negatives from type 51 or type 55 you need to soak the negative in a sodium sulfite solution.  While wet, the negatives are very fragile and easily scratched.

Although the Polaroid holders have the largest aperture, all the Polaroid films have a built in paper mask which reduces the actual image size to 9cm x 11.7 cm (3 1/2 x 4 5/8 inches)