I have seen a few of these on ebay.
Can anyone clarify if they are still usable if you make note of what point to stop pulling film out. You establish this by wasting a sheet and noting at what point the film sheet leaves the area of the film plane.

I have seen this same above comment that Polaroid have put on a Q&A section of their site.

There are a few of these old backs around and one with good rollers might be worth a look if cheap

You are aboslutely correct. the model 500 will work if you know where to stop pulling the slide.

Back a few years ago when the model 500 could be had for $20 and the 545 was selling from $75 to $100, I touted the 500 as a good cheap alternative.

Now that 545 backs are selling in the $20-50, I think any savings will be quickly eaten up by spoiled film. I say watch compare what the two are selling for on ebay. At $2 a sheet it won't take long to lose a $10 savings.

Les

Looking at the Sheet of Film from the back side, as though you were taking an exposure, with Type 52, the gage line is 2" left of the left hand pod dotted line. That is, if you pull the dark slide out of EITHER the M500 OR the M545 (metal) Polaroid Film Holder until the left hand pod dotted line is 2" PAST, or to the Right of the right edge of either the top or the bottom film holder hinge point edges, you will have JUST cleared the negative area, but will not have pulled the dark slide completely OFF the negative - so that it can be reinserted easily. There is about 1 1/8" of tolerance from the 2" point, but to be safe, pulling the dark slide out from 2" to 2 1/2" should give 100% reliability.

Perry,

I have only used Type 57 (B&W ASA 3000) film in my Model 500 film holder, but it seems that if you align the "5" (in the big 57 on the rear surface of the dark slide) with the right edge of the film holder, all is well.

I have not tested other films in it, so I can't be sure that aligning the left edge of the left hand digit in the film type number will work across the board.

--Micah in NC

I just made a little gage for ease of using Polaroid Model 500 Film Holders with current production Polaroid sheet film, Type 52, in this case.

1) take a piece of cardboard (or 1/8" plywood), and cut a rectangular piece 2" by 3"

2) from that, cut out a piece 1" by 2" leaving an "L" shape that has two legs, one is 2" long the other is 3" long, both are 1" wide

3) turn it upside down and backwards so that the 2" leg is horizontal and pointing left, and is above the 3" leg that is vertical pointing down

4) punch a 1/4" hole in the bottom right corner of the 3" leg

5) slip this gage on your meter neck strap

Now when you shoot, slip the film holder under the GG; then slip a sheet of film into the holder.

Then with your left hand, GENTLY touch the right bottom edge of the film holder with the top left edge of the gage. Pull the dark slide slowly with your right hand until the left hand pod vertical dotted line on the film sheet back JUST clears the right hand edge of the gage.

You will have pulled the dark slide the exact distance needed to both clear the negative image area for Type 52 film, but not so far that you can't slip it back over the negative to process it.

Costs nothing but 10 minutes with a pair of scissors! (you could get fancy and bump off the corners...)

No reason to not use em if you've got em.

Other Polaroid film Types may need to have their own gages.

I made mine 2 1/4" in the short direction to give me a 1/4" more insurance that the dark slide has completely cleared the negative image area.