Does anyone own Fidelity 11x14 film holders ? I've just bought 4 holders from ADORAMA and found the fact that the flap area doesn't set properly. The cloth-bonding part seems fatter than it should be. The area collapse a liitle bit When I pinch. The holder is engraved "MEDICAL HOLDER". Is this for usual film holder for 11x14 sheet films ? Anyway it doesn't look like any other Fidelity holders I'm using. Please give me advise.

-- Shigehiro Ishii (shige-i@tkd.att.ne.jp), December 27, 1998

Answers

Yes, "Medical Holder" is stamped on all current Fidelity 11x14 holders; the hospital market in the US is huge and I suspect Fidelity can charge its institutional customers much higher prices if the holders are sold as custom-made for medical use.

As far as the the cloth/flap problem is concerned: no, this isn't normal. The flaps and tape should be as snug as with Fidelity's smaller holders. If you were in the US, I'd recommend calling Fidelity and seeing if they'll do an exchange with you from the factory, as Adorama's customer service is often weak; only if Fidelity won't help would I go back to Adorama. The problem with getting an exchange from Adorama is that they don't sell very many 11x14 holders, and if Adorama sends you replacements they could likely be from the same batch from the factory--and may have the same defect.

However, because you're in Japan and any exchange would be difficult and expensive, I would try to make an exposure with the loosest of the film holders (being careful not to scuff the holder during insertion, so it still looks like new) and see if it has problems with fit or with light leaks. If it looks like there's a problem or even the potential for a problem, I'm afraid you'll have to call Fidelity or Adorama and work on an exchange. Good luck, and let me know if you can't track down contact numbers for Fidelity; I'll try to find something.

-- Micah Marty (sterlingbk@aol.com), December 30, 1998.