O.k. Finally got an old 545 holder for my Crown. On Tuesday I finally got my first negs back from my first B+W print film shoot. I did o.k. considering. Two good shots for two loads. One load was a bit wonky (the first one), but the second was spot-on (which is what I expected). So I was jazzed tonight about getting some Polaroids out of this beast.

Anyway, One the third go I got it working (the other two were user error problems). I got myself a nice shot and it developed nicely too. Third times a charm. This was also my first hand-held shot with pure "guesstimation" at work. Came out nice. Thank you f8...

Anywho....as excited as I was, I noticed that 545 holder is DAMN heavy and can be a bit problematic with the standard Crown back. When I pull on the envelope, the force is such that the whole holder seems to want to twist out of the back. Now being careful can avoid this issue. My film holders are plastic Fidelity Elites that came with the camera, so this is the first time weight has become an issue. I'm wondering if the back springs need adjustment, or is this just a reality of using the old 545 with a Crown. Should I look at eventually getting the newer (pricier) 545i which I assume is lighter?

Well there is no real standard Crown back. You either have a Graphlok back with chrome arms that attach the ground glass to the body of the camera, or a Graphic back, which has flat springs.

If you have a Graflok back you can remove the ground glass and use the chrome slides top and bottom to lock a 545 on to the body. (I suspect you can do this with a 545i but not sure.

It's a noticeable difference without the ground glass. The same can be done with Grafmatics.

I would check the lock grove on the back and make sure it is free from any obstructions, and check the 545 for any damage to the rib that should seat into the grove. You might have been pulling back as well as out. Try pulling toward front of camera while pulling out.
Charles

Quote:

On 2002-09-04 19:13, Schmell wrote: ... Anywho....as excited as I was, I noticed that 545 holder is DAMN heavy and can be a bit problematic with the standard Crown back. When I pull on the envelope, the force is such that the whole holder seems to want to twist out of the back. Now being careful can avoid this issue. My film holders are plastic Fidelity Elites that came with the camera, so this is the first time weight has become an issue. I'm wondering if the back springs need adjustment, or is this just a reality of using the old 545 with a Crown. Should I look at eventually getting the newer (pricier) 545i which I assume is lighter?

I use a 545 and 545i on both a Crown and Speed. Of course the Speed is heavier to beging with. I may have had a similar problem to what your talking about at the start? Although I didn't consider the weight to be a problem in comparison to the entire camera setup.
But this is how it works for me...
After the shot is taken and the sleeve is slid back into the holder, arm moved to Process... If you just try to pull the sleeve out, you have to get it out of that deep inside resting place that it likes to grip into. It's a hard pull, then a smooth slide. That initial hard pull is what I didn't like. It moves the camera on the tripod and sometimes moves the holder out of position if any slight backwards angle is applied.
I resolve this by first grabbing the sleeve with my thumb and first finger while holding the 545 with my other hand. Then gently pulling the sleeve until it just barely 'pops' away from that snapped-in resting place, just where it would start it's smooth slide, but well before the chemical pod reaches the rollers. To be a bit more exact, I don't really 'pull' the sleeve because it's too easy to go too far and hit the pod because of the initial snap. I use the holder itself as a leverage point on my knuckles to ease the sleeve out by no more that a 1/4 inch or so, just past the sticky part. Now it's in position for a smooth slide out. Then I just look at my watch for a good second hand position and slide the sleeve out in one smooth motion until the snap of the clip going through the rollers.
This prevents any camera movement on a tripod and gives better control over removing the sleeve from the holder. When I hand-hold, I generally take the 545 out of the camera to pull the sleeve or rest the camera on a table or my lap for support.
Unless your ribs & grooves are excessively worn (as mentioned), this should prevent any movement of either the camera or the 545 inside it.
Now if your problem is weak springs in a spring back and the holder isn't held tightly enough against the back of the camera, that's another whole problem... But I did use the 545's in my GVII with a spring back with no problem before I got the Grafloc for it.

Rich...