Film Holder

a lightproof device that contains photographic film or a photographic plate. Film holders (cartridges) for compact cameras consist of a cylindrical housing containing a spool, with the film wound around its core, and a cover for the housing. The film is drawn out of the holder through a slit in the housing. Such film holders are made of plastic or metal. To provide more rapid loading of the camera, special film holders are used, including the rapid (spoolless) and the Kodapak, which has both supply and take-up parts (with a spool only in the take-up part). Film holders also exist that are loaded with wide, rolled film or film units for cameras in which the photographic image is produced by the one-step (diffusion) process.

Plate holders (magazines), which are flat and rectangular, have a movable shutter (sliding plate) in front of the photosensitive layer on the plate. The housings for such film holders are made of metal, plastic, wood, or cardboard. Plate holders are either inserted into the camera’s housing or are fastened to its rear portion. They are classified as single, double, or magazine types, depending on the number of photographic plates they contain. A variety of the plate holder is the adapter, which is usually loaded with film packs.