Difference between revisions of "126 film"

From Camera-wiki.org
Jump to: navigation, search
m
(Fotoimpex)
Line 8: Line 8:
 
The inventor, Hubert Nerwin, was granted [http://www.google.com/patents?id=ddtnAAAAEBAJ&dq=US+patent+3138081 US patent 3,138,081] on June 23, 1964. The patent was assigned to [[Eastman Kodak]].
 
The inventor, Hubert Nerwin, was granted [http://www.google.com/patents?id=ddtnAAAAEBAJ&dq=US+patent+3138081 US patent 3,138,081] on June 23, 1964. The patent was assigned to [[Eastman Kodak]].
  
At the end of the roll, you don't have to rewind. Even if you remove the cartridge in mid-roll, only the current exposure is [[light-struck]]. The rest of the film is protected inside the cartridge.  
+
At the end of the roll, you don't have to rewind. Even if you remove the cartridge in mid-roll, only the current exposure is [[light-struck]]; the rest of the film is protected inside the cartridge. 126 cartridges can be reloaded with [[135 film]].
  
 
It also incorporated one of the first widely-used mechanical [[film speed|film-speed]] sensing mechanisms. Markings on the cartridge set the camera's exposure mechanism. However, not all cameras took advantage of this feature. Kodak patents decades earlier (for example: [http://www.google.com/patents?id=_TVYAAAAEBAJ&dq=2186611 2186611], [http://www.google.com/patents?id=_zVYAAAAEBAJ&dq=2186613 2186613]) described this innovation.
 
It also incorporated one of the first widely-used mechanical [[film speed|film-speed]] sensing mechanisms. Markings on the cartridge set the camera's exposure mechanism. However, not all cameras took advantage of this feature. Kodak patents decades earlier (for example: [http://www.google.com/patents?id=_TVYAAAAEBAJ&dq=2186611 2186611], [http://www.google.com/patents?id=_zVYAAAAEBAJ&dq=2186613 2186613]) described this innovation.
  
126 film is 35mm wide and has a single perforation per frame. The image size is nominally 26×26mm, though actually it is 29×28mm masked to approximately 26½×26½mm. Therefore 126 frames have around 4/5ths of the resolution of 35mm frames. The film has pre-exposed borders and exposure numbers. Cameras accepting this film are also called '''[[Instamatic]]''' cameras (or simply Instamatics), from the name of the first [[Kodak]] models taking it, the [[Instamatic]] series.
+
126 film is 35mm wide and has a single perforation per frame. The image size is nominally 26×26mm, though actually it is 29×28mm masked to approximately 26½×26½mm. Therefore 126 frames have around 4/5ths of the resolution of 135 35mm frames. The film has pre-exposed borders and exposure numbers. Cameras accepting this film are also called '''[[Instamatic]]''' cameras (or simply Instamatics), from the name of the first [[Kodak]] models taking it, the [[Instamatic]] series.
  
<!-- Wrong info: "126 catridges were last produced in 2007 with only freezer-bound stock still for sale today." The film appears in the 2009 catalog of fotoimpex !!! --> The decline of the format didn't originate from a lack of cameras in circulation but from the fact that 126 cameras were generally cheap, low end units which were easily superceded long before the arrival of the digital era. Some quality 126 cameras were produced including SLRs but they were rare in absolute numbers. The square nature of 126 exposures discouraged their uptake in professional fields and meant film developers often made prints very small to fit within the 4" high [[photo album]] threshold of 6x4" prints and to counter the blur caused by the slow shutter speads and inadequate lenses usually found in these cameras.
+
The decline of the format didn't originate from a lack of cameras in circulation but from the fact that 126 cameras were generally cheap, low end units which were easily superceded long before the arrival of the digital era. Some quality 126 cameras were produced including SLRs but they were rare in absolute numbers. The square nature of 126 exposures discouraged their uptake in professional fields and meant film developers often made prints very small to fit within the 4" high [[photo album]] threshold of 6x4" prints and to counter the blur caused by the slow shutter speads and inadequate lenses usually found in these cameras.
 +
 
 +
126 catridges were last produced in 2007 by [[Ferrania]] with only old freezer-preserved stocks still for sale today. Some are available under Ferrania's own ''[[Solaris]]'' label while others are sold rebadged as ''[[Adox]] Adocolor Instamatic'' by [[Fotoimpex]]. These catridges contain [[ASA]] 200 film but there are user reports of them having ASA 64 [[notch]]es.
  
 
==Links==
 
==Links==
Line 23: Line 25:
 
*[http://www.collection-appareils.com/kodak/html/x15f.php and here a French one (Sylvain Halgand)]
 
*[http://www.collection-appareils.com/kodak/html/x15f.php and here a French one (Sylvain Halgand)]
 
*[http://www.google.com/patents?id=ddtnAAAAEBAJ&dq=3138081 Nerwin's US patent]
 
*[http://www.google.com/patents?id=ddtnAAAAEBAJ&dq=3138081 Nerwin's US patent]
 +
*[http://www.adox.de/ADOX_Filme/ADC200/Instamatic.html Adox Adocolor Instamatic]
  
 
[[Category: Film formats]]
 
[[Category: Film formats]]
 
[[Category: 126 film|*]]
 
[[Category: 126 film|*]]

Revision as of 11:57, 16 January 2009

See the Category: 126 film. See also 126 film (roll)

The Kodapak 126 film cartridge is a roll film magazine for 35 mm wide film with a paper backing.

It was launched by Kodak in answer to consumer complaints about the complications involved with loading and unloading roll film cameras. With the cartridge film, you don't have to attach the film leader to a take-up spool. The cartridge simply drops into the camera. Since the cartridge is asymmetric, it cannot be loaded incorrectly. You close the back, wind, and shoot.

The inventor, Hubert Nerwin, was granted US patent 3,138,081 on June 23, 1964. The patent was assigned to Eastman Kodak.

At the end of the roll, you don't have to rewind. Even if you remove the cartridge in mid-roll, only the current exposure is light-struck; the rest of the film is protected inside the cartridge. 126 cartridges can be reloaded with 135 film.

It also incorporated one of the first widely-used mechanical film-speed sensing mechanisms. Markings on the cartridge set the camera's exposure mechanism. However, not all cameras took advantage of this feature. Kodak patents decades earlier (for example: 2186611, 2186613) described this innovation.

126 film is 35mm wide and has a single perforation per frame. The image size is nominally 26×26mm, though actually it is 29×28mm masked to approximately 26½×26½mm. Therefore 126 frames have around 4/5ths of the resolution of 135 35mm frames. The film has pre-exposed borders and exposure numbers. Cameras accepting this film are also called Instamatic cameras (or simply Instamatics), from the name of the first Kodak models taking it, the Instamatic series.

The decline of the format didn't originate from a lack of cameras in circulation but from the fact that 126 cameras were generally cheap, low end units which were easily superceded long before the arrival of the digital era. Some quality 126 cameras were produced including SLRs but they were rare in absolute numbers. The square nature of 126 exposures discouraged their uptake in professional fields and meant film developers often made prints very small to fit within the 4" high photo album threshold of 6x4" prints and to counter the blur caused by the slow shutter speads and inadequate lenses usually found in these cameras.

126 catridges were last produced in 2007 by Ferrania with only old freezer-preserved stocks still for sale today. Some are available under Ferrania's own Solaris label while others are sold rebadged as Adox Adocolor Instamatic by Fotoimpex. These catridges contain ASA 200 film but there are user reports of them having ASA 64 notches.

Links