Film sizes and designations
Contents
Roll film and cassette- or cartridge-based films have been available in many different standardized sizes to fit specific cameras and film holders or backs. The longest-lived film size, type 120 introduced in 1901 by Kodak, has been continuously available for over 120 years.
Kodak's standardized roll film size numbers were gradually introduced starting in 1912, and first appeared as a complete list in the 1914 Kodak Condensed Price List. Prior to this, films were identified only by the image size produced and the specific cameras the films fit. This made it difficult or impossible to cross-reference films made by different manufacturers for different cameras, especially as the number of amateur cameras available on the market greatly expanded toward the end of the first decade of the twentieth century.
When standardized roll film sizes were introduced by Kodak, the sizes were assigned to all of the film sizes produced by Kodak at that time, using numbers 101 through 129, numbered sequentially in order of the date when the original film size was first used. Only one other roll film size using the same sequential numbering system was introduced after that: size 130 introduced in 1916.
In the 1930s Kodak introduced two revised versions of existing roll sizes, which used the same size film but were rolled onto smaller diameter spools: 616 is a variation of size 116, and 620 is a variation of size 120. Initially, the leading "6" in these sizes was meant to indicate the number of frames on the roll; however, by the time these films came to market the length of film actually used on the rolls generally permitted more frames per roll, and the "6" became only an arbitrary means of distinguishing the film size. Kodak also introduced roll size 828 in the 1930s, which is a 35mm wide film with only one perforation per frame. The number 828 was chosen to represent "8" frames of "28"mm-wide (by 40mm long) images on a roll.
In Europe and Japan, many film sizes had alternative names; see also Japanese formats.
See also: Plate Sizes, Sheet film and Film packs.
Designation | Width | Typical Frame Size |
Introduced | Discontinued | Equivalents | Notes | ||
Roll Film | ||||||||
101 | 3½x3½" | 1895 | 1956 | Agfa H-6[1] | ||||
102 | 1½x2" | 1895 | 1933 | |||||
103 | 3½x3½" | 1897 | 1949 | Agfa K-6 | ||||
104 | 5x4" | 1897 | 1949 | Agfa L-6 | ||||
105 | 2¼x3¼" | 1897 | 1949 | Agfa C-6 | ||||
106 | 3½x3½" | 1898 | ||||||
107 | 3¼x4¼" | 1898 | rollholder | |||||
108 | 4¼x3¼" | 1898 | rollholder | |||||
109 | 4x5" | 1898 | rollholder | |||||
110 (roll) | 5x4" | 1897 | Rollholder; not to be confused with 110 cartridge | |||||
111 | 6½x4¾" | 1898 | ||||||
116 | 70mm | 2½x4¼" | 1899 | 1984 | Vulcan No. 232 Agfa D6 (6 or 8-exp)[1] |
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117 | 2¼x2¼" | 1900 | Agfa B1 (6 exp) | |||||
118 | 3¼×4¼" | 1900 | Vulcan No. 236 Agfa E6 |
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119 | 3¼×4¼" | 1900 | ||||||
120 | 22/5" 61.5mm |
2¼x3¼" (6x9) 2¼x2¼" (6x6) 1⅝x2¼" (6x4.5) |
1901 | Brownie No.2; Vulcan No. 210; Agfa B2 (6 or 8 exp) Ilford Selo 20 Dufay Y20 Ensign 2¼ 'medium format' |
"The" rollfilm, introduced by Kodak | |||
121 | 15/8×2½" | 1902 | Agfa AB-6 (6 exp) | |||||
122 | 3¼×5½" | 1903 | Vulcan No. 244 Agfa G6 (6 exp) Agfa G10 (10 exp) |
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123 | 4×5" | 1904 | Agfa J-6 (6 exp) | |||||
124 | 3¼×4¼" | 1905 | Vulcan No. 248 Agfa F6 (6 exp) |
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125 | 3¼×5½" | 1905 | Vulcan No. 250 | |||||
126 (roll) | 4½inches | 1906 | 1949 | Roll film, not to be confused with 126 cartridge | ||||
127 | 4cm | 4x4cm,4x6cm,3x4cm | 1912 | "Vest Pocket" film Agfa A8 (8 exp) Ilford Selo 27 |
Introduced by Kodak | |||
128 | 2¼×1½" | 1913 | Agfa 0-6 (6 exp) | |||||
129 | 2"x3" | 1913 | 1951 | Agfa N-6 (6 exp) Ensign E29 |
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130 | 27/8×47/8 | 1916 | Agfa M6 (6 exp) | |||||
220 | 6cm | 6x6cm | 1965 | Similar to 120, but without the paper backing, allowing double-length | ||||
616 | 70mm | 2½x4¼" | 1932 | 1984 | almost like 116 film but slimmer spool | |||
620 | 6cm (2¼") | 6x9cm (2¼×3¼") | 1931 | 1995 | Ilford Z20 | A version of 120 film with a slimmer spool, introduced by Kodak, to allow smaller cameras | ||
70mm | based on perforated movie film; alternate medium format film size | |||||||
F.16 | 6.5x11cm (2½×4¼") | Ferrania version of 116 or 616 | ||||||
P16 | 6.5x11cm (2½×4¼") | Premier brand of 116 | ||||||
Rajar No. 6 | 6cm | Introduced by APeM; square-drive spool | ||||||
50 | 3¼x2¼" | 1915 | 1941 | 150 | Kodak film for the Graflex Roll Holder | |||
51 | 4¼x3¼" | 1915 | 1951 | 151 | Kodak film for the Graflex Roll Holder | |||
52 | 5½x3¼" | 1915 | 1949 | 152 | Kodak film for the Graflex Roll Holder | |||
53 | 5x4" | 1915 | 1951 | 153 | Kodak film for the Graflex Roll Holder | |||
54 | 7x5" | 1915 | 1949 | 154 | Kodak film for the Graflex Roll Holder | |||
35mm | ||||||||
135 | 35mm | 24x36mm | 35mm; miniature |
"standard" 35mm film cassettes with sprocket holes | ||||
Memo | 35mm | 18x23mm | 1926/7 | Agfa/Ansco 50-exp film for the Ansco Memo | ||||
Karat | 35mm | c.1936 | c.1948 | Agfa's predecessor to Rapid film | ||||
126 (cartridge) | 35mm | 26x26mm | 1963 | 2007 | Instamatic; Kodapak |
Cartridge film; introduced by Kodak | ||
Rapid | 35mm | 1964 | Rapid-load dual-cassette system introduced by Afga as a competitor to the new Kodak 126 cartridge | |||||
SL | 35mm | Schnell Lade; Eastern-bloc version of Rapid film; unperforated | ||||||
Bolta | 35mm | unperforated, paper-backed | ||||||
828 | 35mm | 28×40mm | 1935 | Introduced by Kodak | ||||
Ensign E10 | 35mm | 3.5x4.5cm | used by the Ensign Midget | |||||
paperbacked 35mm rollfilm |
35mm | used by Sida Extra, Liliput, and Unette | ||||||
Subminiature | ||||||||
8mm | subminiature | Based on 8mm cine film. A few Japanese cameras; see 8mm film category | ||||||
9.5mm | subminiature | A few Japanese cameras such as the Doryu 1, Fujica 8×11mm SLR and the German Minox range; see 9.5mm film category | ||||||
16mm | subminiature | several film cartridge systems, for example for Edixa 16, Kiev-30 or Minolta 16 | ||||||
17.5mm | 14x14mm | 1937 | Japanese half-35mm rollfilm size for Hit-type cameras | |||||
110 (cartridge) | 16mm | 13x17mm | 1972 | 2009[2] | resumed production in 2012. | |||
Disc film | 8x10.5mm | 1982 | c.1990 | |||||
IX240 | 24mm | 30.2x16.7mm | 1996 | APS | Introduced by Kodak, Fujifilm and others |
Links
- History of Kodak Roll Film Numbers on Walker Mangum's Kodak Collector site
- Negative Sizes by Mischa Koning's Kodak Classics
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Agfa Ansco Photographic Materials catalogue, circa 1930 reproduced at Pierce Vaubel; p11. The number in the Agfa sizes gives the number of exposures, for the most part: in some cases this has been overtaken by the introduction of half-frame or square-format cameras (thus A8 is 127 film for 8 exposures 4x6.5 cm in Agfa's only 127 camera, the Billy 0). B2 (Kodak 120) and D6 film (Kodak 116) were for some reason made in both 6- and 8-exposure rolls.
- ↑ Sayonara 110 film