SINAR Zoom Rollfilm Back: One year later...

Last year I was watching a Steve O'nions' video where he used a Horsman 6x12 roll filmback on his Intrepid 4x5. I had picked up years ago an old 6x9 MPP filmback that I have used on the Intrepid I have. I am a sucker for the panoramic format (I really enjoy shooting a Fuji G617.) so when I saw the 6x12 I thought that might be something I could use. 

With rollfilm backs on a 4x5 the inevitable question why not just crop the 4x5 image? The usual response is economics. 120 film is cheaper than the 4x5 equivalent. Processing is easier to find as well and more affordable. 

I researched 6x12 backs and stumbled across the SINAR film backs and the Zoom model in particular. These backs fit like a sheet film holder and so do not require the ground glass to be removed for each image. The Zoom model allows one to shoot a variety of formats on the same roll of film. This means 6x12, 6x9, 6x8, 6x6, and 6x4.5. I am a sucker for versatility and fortunately at the time I found one for sale for less than the price of a Horsman 6x12 back. I reported on all this in more detail at the time I bought it. 

One year on I find myself extremely satisfied with the purchase. For the first few months I shot exclusively 6x12 as I like the format and I was a little intimidated by changing the formats. When I dusted my Intrepid off for fall photography back in September I decided to utilize the filmback as well. When I did I found it very useful for giving me more framing and cropping options. I found myself solving composition problems with a 'flick of a switch'. The film back comes with an aid for framing that fits over the ground glass. 

Viewscreen mask for composing different frame formats on ground glass. 

Here is an example contact sheet from one roll of film. There are two 6x12 on the top row, the next row is 6x6 and 6x9, then 6x9 and 6x12 and finally two 6x6. 

The last row is a good example where I did not have a long enough lens and found if I walked up closer the foreground tree dominated the scene. I almost gave up on the shot then remembered I could do a 6x6 crop on the Zoom filmback. This allowed me to get the scene I visualized. I find myself now thinking in terms of the different aspect ratios as I visualize a scene.

The next example I used 6x9 to get the composition I was after. I cropped it again later to about 6x8 in photoshop. 

This filmback also gives me some reserve film capacity for when I have shot the 4-8 sheets of 4x5 film I typically carry. I always have a roll or two of 120 film along with the filmback in my backpack. If I run out of sheet film it is easy enough to put in a roll of film and keep shooting.  

On the Intrepid I have made a few modifications to make it work better. It worked without the modifications but it always felt delicate and tentative. The modifications are referenced in the blog post mentioned above. I can't in all honesty claim the same great experience without these modifications. 

The most important modification was cutting away part of the plywood holding the ground glass to allow the back to fit better. If one uses the Graflock clips and removes the ground glass from the back like a normal filmback then that problem is alleviated. There is still a slight tendency for the back of the camera to rotate while in landscape orientation and I offer a fix for that in the above mentioned blog post.

There are a few idiosyncrasies like loading the film, keeping track of how much film is left, and changing format/aspect ratio but like all camera equipment a little bit of use soon has you familiar with the functionality. If on the other hand you only anticipate 6x12 images then it is perhaps a little more trouble than it is worth.