Standard Film Sizes - Antique and Vintage Cameras (2024)

Roll-Film

Kodak Roll-Film Sizes

Sizes in the left column are in inches, the width (across the spool) is given first. The column headed 'No. Position' shows the frame number position as if the film is being wound to the right.

Film numbers were not allocated until 1912.

Alternative Image Sizes

Sizes in the left column are in inches, the width (across the spool) is given first. The column headed 'No. Position' shows the frame number position as if the film is being wound to the right.

The idea for doubling the number of exposures on a roll of film came from W.H. Harvey's patent 13246 of 1914. He describes camera backs having two red windows or film with intermediate marks on the backing paper, masks for the focal plane and view-finder are also described. The Ensign Cupid, 1922, was probably the first camera to use the 'double window' arrangement for doubling the number of exposures on a roll. It employed two red windows where film with standard numbering on the backing paper was advanced so that each number appeared in each window successively. The Cupid used 120 roll-film. In 1930 Zeiss introduced cameras using two red windows for 127 roll-film. Later, film manufacturers printed frame numbers for alternative image sizes on the backing paper.

Common Formats

Daylight Spools

Most daylight spools had a continuous backing paper for the film which was wound on a core with flanges at each end. One end of the the spool had a slot that matched a key in the camera allowing the spool to be turned to advance the film. Most early spools had a thick wooden core and metal flanges, later the whole spool was made of metal and lastly plastic. A narrow metal core was used on some spools, e.g. 127 size. 102 film was an exception in that it had a ratchet on the flange to advance the film.

The film was wound so that it was inside the backing paper, which suited the layout of most cameras.

Roll-holder Film

Film for the cartridge roll-holder, produced by Kodak, was wound so that the film was outside the backing paper. As the spools were behind the film plane this saved the film from making a tight S curve when winding on and off the spools.

220 Roll-film

This was a similar in overall size to 120 but with twice the film length. It had only a paper leader and trailer rather than continuous backing paper.

828

This is roll-film wound on a narrow metal core for 28 x 40 mm exposures. The film is 35 mm wide and, on early examples, had a single registration hole per frame on one side of the film.

35 mm cassettes

The cassettes introduced by Agfa in 1932 and Kodak in 1934 for the Retina became the standard pattern for disposable 35 mm cassettes.¹

The film is 35 mm wide with perforations along each edge at a pitch of 3/16". The standard frame size, for still cameras, was 24 x 36 mm (image plus inter-frame gap equalled 8 perforations), 24 x 18 mm became known as half-frame and 24 x 24 mm was also used.

Stereo cameras using 35 mm film generally used either a 5 or 7 perforation separation. The 5 perforation format gave vertical images around 24 x 23 mm with each stereo pair separated by two frames. The 7 perforations format gave horizontal images around 24 x 30 mm with each stereo pair separated by one frame.

Agfa Karat/Rapid

The Agfa Karat cassette, introduced in 1936, was also used in a few non-Agfa cameras. It used standard 35 mm film, for 12 exposures, held in separate feed and take-up cassettes, the film was advanced by the sprocket holes but was held loose in the cassettes rather than being wound onto a spool. The idea was re-introduced as the Agfa Rapid cassette (1964) with the addition of a key on the side of the cassette indicating the film speed, this could be 'read' by the camera to set the metering system.

126 Cartridge

The 126 cartridge was introduced by Kodak in 1963 along with a compatible range of cameras aimed at the lower end of the market.

The film is 35 mm wide but has only a single registration hole per frame, the image size is 28 x 28 mm. The film is contained in a sealed plastic cartridge, it is wound onto a take-up spool that is rotatable from outside the cartridge, the film in the feed part of the cartridge is not wound on a spool. The film has a continuous paper packing carrying the frame number which is visible through a window in the cartridge. A large, clear, window in the back of the camera shows the frame number and other information printed on the cartridge. The position of a small notch in the cartridge indicated the film speed which could be 'read' by the camera to set the metering system.

110 Cartridge

The 110 cartridge was introduced by Kodak in 1972 along with a compatible range of cameras aimed at the lower end of the market.

The film is 16 mm wide but has only a single registration hole per frame, the image size is 13 x 17 mm. The film is contained in a sealed plastic cartridge, it is wound onto a take-up spool that is rotatable from outside the cartridge. The film has a continuous paper packing carrying the frame number which is visible through a window in the cartridge. The cartridge indicates the film speed which could be 'read' by the camera to set the metering system.

Kodak Disc Film

Disc Film was introduced by Kodak in 1982 along with a compatible range of cameras aimed at the lower end of the market.

Each exposure was 8 x 10 mm with 15 exposures on a disc. The film was held in a light-tight cassette which interfaced to the camera to operate the dark-slide and rotate the film in the cassette.

Advanced Photo System

APS was introduced by Kodak in 1996.²

The film is 24 mm wide with two irregularly spaced perforations per frame. The film also incorporates optical and magnetic recording areas that hold data on the exposure, described as the Information Exchange System, photo-finishers could add information. Each exposure had a size of 30.2 x 16.7 mm, one of three formats (aspect ratios) for the exposure could be chosen by the user:

• High Definition, 30.2 x 16.7 mm.
• Classic, 25.1 x 16.7.
• Panoramic, 30.2 x 9.5.

The different formats were achieved by cropping at the printing stage, each exposure was recorded full-size, the format could therefore be changed at a later date.

The film was contained within a cassette, placing the cassette in the camera moved the film into the exposure position by a 'Thrust mechanism' inside the cassette. It was automatically re-wound into the cassette on removal. The cassette could be removed before the film was completely exposed and later replaced without loss of a frame. On the end of the cassette were indicators showing the status of the film:

• O - unexposed.
• D - part exposed.
• X - fully exposed.
• a square symbol - processed.

Despite its very advanced specification APS did not prove very popular and was, in any case, overtaken by digital technology.

Film Size Equivalents

Sizes are in inches, the width (across the spool) is given first.

There were two numbering systems used on Ensign film, those shown in the left column are the earlier, the second system was used from the early 1920s and following the Houghton-Butcher merger.

Ansco used the suffix A or B to designate different lengths of film of the same type, likewise the suffix C or D, but a film numbered, for example, 18C was a different size to 18A.

Film Pack Sizes

The first column gives the size in inches the second in cm.

Plate Sizes

Common British plate sizes

To these can be added the less common larger sizes 20" x 16" and 24" x 20", the use of these sizes all but ended with the introduction of commercial dry plates.

Post-card - 5 ½" x 3 ½" - was a common print size from the early 1900s but few cameras were made specifically for this format.

Lantern Size - 3 ¼" x 3 ¼" - was in use for printing transparencies, few cameras used this size.

Until around 1890 half-plate and possibly 5" x 4" were considered the smallest for serious use and few stand cameras were offered in the smaller quarter-plate size. Quarter-plate became popular from the mid 1880s with the increasing use of hand cameras and cheaper field models. An enabler for the use of smaller negatives was the increasing commercial availability of bromide developing-out paper that could be used in enlarging with artificial light.

Continental sizes

Common stereoscopic sizes

References & Notes

Clemitson Cat. 1909, p. 130. BJA 1913, p. 1229. BJA 1923, p. 170. Coe and Gates, Snapshot Photograph, p. 138.