ChromaGraphica 4x5" Double Dry Plate Holder

A new, modern double dry plate holder for 4×5, dry plate photography. Designed in conjunction with PictorioGraphica as part of a successfully-funded Kickstarter campaign.

The ChromaGraphica Double Dry Plate holder is a modern, purpose-made dry plate holder designed by photographers for photographers.

• Holds two dry plates or other glass- or metal-based media up to 2mm thick.
• Ergonomics and function similar to sheet film holders. Plates load very similar to film.
• Dark slide handles have white on one side, black on the other. You can use this to indicate exposed or unexposed.
• Unique loaded dry plate indicator tells you at a glance whether you have a dry plate loaded or not. No more running to the darkroom to check if its loaded, or shooting that million dollar shot with an empty holder.
• The dry plate indicator also helps removal of the dry plate without touching the emulsion surface. Open the loading lid in the darkroom and push the dry plate indicator to start unloading the dry plate, giving you enough room to push the edge of the dry plate out with your fingers.
• Antique film sheath adapters can be loaded to allow you to shoot sheet film. We’re realists — When you take a break from shooting dry plates, you don’t want a useless holder cluttering up your camera kit. So we made sure you could still use this holder for film photography.
• Fits all 4×5, 5×7, and 8×10 cameras that we’ve been able to test.
• The 4×5 holder is compatible with Graflok backs.. slots are dimensioned for the holder to be held tight against the back without movement or being loose (heads-up: they’re a tight fit when you first load it on a Graflok back but will break-in with use).

These holders are not intended for use with wet plate. We’ve designed a dedicated, very nice single-sided wet plate holder for that application, scalable to any format you may wish (wet or dry, including ULF). Please see my dedicated wet plate holders.

Holders conform to key dimensions in ANSI/PIMA IT3.108-1998 “Double Film Holders of the Lock-Rib Type – Dimensions”. One exception: They are designed to accommodate true 4″x5″, 5″x7″, and 8″x10″ dry plates in addition to J Lane Dry Plates, and are thicker than sheet film holders to accommodate up to 2mm thick glass plates.

For more details and the history of development, see https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dryplateholder/the-chromagraphica-double-dry-plate-holder