[LargeFormat] Kodak Specialist Model 2 half-plate camera

[Helge Nareid]

> I thought quarter plate was 4x5, half plate 5x7. 

Not that simple, I'm afraid. I am in no way an expert in the history of
plate/sheet film formats, but I am aware of at least three different
systems.

One is the US inch-based formats:
4x5", 5x7", 8x10", 11x14" and so forth

The second is the metric formats, mainly used in Germany and other
continental European nations:
6x9cm, 9x12cm, 13x18cm, 18x24cm, 24x30cm, 30x40cm and up...

In addition, the dominant range in the UK until fairly recently was the
various "plate" formats:
Full plate:	6.5x8.5"
Half pate: 	4.75x6.5" (yes, I _know_ this is not half a full plate)
Quarter plate:	3.25x4.75" (I believe)

Which set of sizes were used in which country appears to be largely a
historical accident. Most continental European countries appear to have
used the metric formats, as far as I know, they are still dominant in
countries such as Germany and Sweden. My own home country of Norway,
which is otherwise staunchly metric, normally uses the US formats, even
though I know that the half-plate format was popular in both Norway and
Sweden well into the 70's.

When I first got into large format photography in the early 80's, the
normal formats used in the UK appear to have been 4x5", half plate and
full plate (this was a long time before I moved to the UK, but I bought
a fair bit of film from here) - it was difficult to find 5x7" or 8x10"
films in the UK. Full plate went the way of the Dodo some years back,
but I believe that you can still buy a few emulsions in half-plate
format in the UK.

For my (relatively) modern 5x7" camera, I have holders for half-plate,
5x7" and 13x18cm. The holders all have the same outer dimensions, but
the holder had better be matched to the film - 13x18cm film does not fit 5x7"
holders or vice versa, even though the difference in size is minimal.

-- 
Helge Nareid <helge@nareid.demon.co.uk>
Nordmann i utlendighet - Aberdeen, Scotland