Anyone know what this is and how it is used?

newton · Joined: 10 Mar 2011 Posts: 343 Location: USA

I am wondering how this is used. It says it is a bulk film back. What did they use these for? How does it work? What does it do?

Attila · Expire: 2025-11-18

You can put into long,long roll of film and it is motor driven you can make many shoots under a short time. I think it is designed for sport actions.

cooltouch · Joined: 15 Jan 2009 Posts: 9096 Location: Houston, Texas

It's called a "250 Exposure Back." The 250-exp back also uses special film canisters and will need the bulk film loader for these canisters. A regular bulk film loader won't work. And obviously you would need to buy your film in bulk also.

There are two areas where a bulk-film back is/was widely used. As Attila indicated, sports photography is one venue, where the photographer doesn't want to risk losing a shot while changing rolls of film. Another area where the big backs are/were used is in unattended photography, where a camera may be set up in a location to take pics at a given time frame using an intervalometer, or perhaps if a subject trips a sensor, causing the camera to take a picture.

I'm not an expert on the appearance of the different ones that Nikon has made over the years, but I'd say that the one in the photo is either for an F2 or F3. I see contacts at the lower right side of the back that indicate to me it interfaces with a motor drive at that point. The 250-exp back does not have a motor. F3 HP with MD-4 motor drive and 250 exp back:

SVP · Expire: 2017-12-17

Scheimpflug · Expire: 2011-11-18

Also note that while the convenience of loading & shooting 250 exposures is very tempting, you may find that developing that many shots becomes difficult. Neutral

10 meters (33 feet) of film is quite a bit when you think about it... and unless you keep very close count of your exposures and shoot a few blank frames every so often (say, two or three every 36 frames), you won't be able to cut it before developing without ruining pictures. If you are doing the development yourself, some larger developing tanks & spirals are available which are made for movie film developing, but they are a bit costly. You also have the issue that if you make a mistake, you ruin the equivalent of 10+ rolls of film all at once. Shocked