127 is a

roll film Roll film or rollfilm is any type of spool-wound photographic film protected from white light exposure by a paper backing. The term originated in contrast to sheet film. Confusingly, roll film was originally often referred to as "cartridge" film ...

format Format may refer to: Printing and visual media * Text formatting, the typesetting of text elements * Paper formats, or paper size standards * Newspaper format, the size of the paper page Computing * File format, particular way that informatio ...

for still

photography Photography is the visual arts, art, application, and practice of creating images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is empl ...

introduced by

Kodak The Eastman Kodak Company, referred to simply as Kodak (), is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in film photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorporated i ...

in 1912. The film itself is 46 mm wide, placing it between 35 mm and 120 "medium format" films in terms of size. The image format normally used is a square 4 cm × 4 cm. However, rectangular 4 cm × 3 cm and 4 cm × 6 cm are also standard. 127 enjoyed mainstream popularity until its usage began to decline from the 1960s onwards in the face of newer, cartridge-based films. However, it survives as a niche format and is still in production.

Technical details

127 is a

, 46 mm wide. Frame number markings for the 4×4 and 4×6 image formats are printed on the backing paper, while 4×3 cameras typically have two frame counter windows, exposing the left and right halves of the 4×6 frame. Using the square format, there are 12 exposures per roll; 4×3 and 4×6 give 16 and 8, respectively. Less commonly, other frame sizes have been used. For its "Alfax" model (circa 1940), Kimura Kōgaku had 4 cm × 4.5 cm frames, spaced by markings on the wind knob. In addition, the manufacturer C. F. Foth & Co. used an image format of 3.6 cm × 2.4 cm (the same size as is standard for

135 135 may refer to: *135 (number) *AD 135 *135 BC *135 film, better known as 35 mm film, is a format of photographic film used for still photography *135 (New Jersey bus), a New Jersey Transit bus route *135 Hertha 135 Hertha is an asteroid from ...

) for initial versions of their 127-based "Derby" camera.

History

The format was introduced by

in 1912, along with the

Vest Pocket Kodak The Vest Pocket Kodak (VPK), also known as the Soldier's Kodak, is a line of compact folding cameras introduced by Eastman Kodak in April 1912 and produced until 1934, when it was succeeded by the Kodak Bantam. Because the VPK uses 127 film, it ...

folding camera A folding camera is a camera type. Folding cameras fold into a compact and rugged package for storage. The lens and shutter are attached to a lens-board which is connected to the body of the camera by a light-tight folding bellows. When the c ...

, as a compact alternative to larger portable cameras using

120 film 120 is a film format for still photography introduced by Kodak for their '' Brownie No. 2'' in 1901. It was originally intended for amateur photography but was later superseded in this role by 135 film. 120 film survives to this day as the onl ...

. The folding "127s" were in fact smaller than most 35 mm cameras today. The 127 format made a comeback during the 1950s as the format of choice for small inexpensive cameras such as the Brownie and Satellite, and continued in wide use until surpassed by the

126 film 126 film is a cartridge-based film format used in still photography. It was introduced by Kodak in 1963, and is associated mainly with low-end point-and-shoot cameras, particularly Kodak's own Instamatic series of cameras. Although 126 was o ...

and

110 film 110 is a cartridge-based film format used in photography, still photography. It was introduced by Kodak in 1972. 110 is essentially a miniaturized version of Kodak's earlier 126 film format. Each frame is , with one Registration pin, registrati ...

"Instamatic" cartridges (introduced in 1963 and 1972 respectively), and especially by 35 mm. 127 cameras from that era were often characterized by simple box-like construction. Slides shot on 127 slide film were often preferred over 35 mm for example for sets of slides sold at tourist gift shops, because of the larger photo area (hence the advertised name "Superslides") and completely square dimensions of a 127 slide. The format was part of the

ISO 732 ISO 732 is an ISO standard for medium format photographic film. The second (1982) edition of the standard specified the dimensions for 127, 120 and 620 roll film, backing paper and film spools. The third (1991) edition dropped specification ...

standard until it was dropped in the third (1991) edition of that standard.

Variations

Not all 127 films were labelled as such. After 1913, many Kodak cameras included the

Autographic The autographic system for roll film was launched by Kodak in 1914, and allowed the photographer to add written information on the film at the time of exposure. The system was patented by Henry Jacques Gaisman, inventor and safety razor manuf ...

feature, and Kodak's 127 films which had Autographic backing were identified as "A127". Other film manufacturers did not produce Autographic films, for which Kodak held a patent. Other camera manufacturers did make Vest Pocket-format cameras, however, and 127 film at the time was often labeled “Vest Pocket Film”.

Uses

The format was mainly used for

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

cameras like the Brownie or the Zeiss Ikon Kolibri, with the

Exakta The Exakta (sometimes Exacta) was a camera produced by the ''Ihagee Kamerawerk'' in Dresden, Germany, founded as the Industrie und Handels-Gesellschaft mbH, in 1912. The inspiration and design of both the VP Exakta and the Kine Exakta are the w ...

SLR, the “Baby”

Rollei Rollei () is a German manufacturer of optical instruments founded in 1920 by and in Braunschweig, Lower Saxony, and maker of the Rolleiflex and Rolleicord series of cameras. Later products included specialty and nostalgic type films for the ...

flex, the

Yashica was a Japanese manufacturer of cameras, lenses, and film editing equipment active from 1949 until 2005 when its then-owner, Kyocera, ceased production. It acquired the lens manufacturer Tomioka (Tomioka Optical Co., Ltd). In 2008, the Yashica ...

44 TLR, the Komaflex-S SLR and the Primo jr as possible exceptions. 127 color transparencies can be mounted in standard 2” square slide mounts, and projected in an ordinary 35 mm projector. Because of their much greater area, the projected image is larger and more brilliant than a 35 mm slide, and they are popularly called " Superslides", a name once reserved for 40 × 40 mm slides cut down from 120 film.

Production

Kodak stopped producing 127 film in July 1995, with all but one manufacturer following suit shortly thereafter. Fotokemika of Samobor,

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

, continued to make 127 film, which it sold under its own ''

Efke Efke is the brand name of photographic films, papers, and chemicals that were manufactured by ''Fotokemika Zagreb d.d.'', a company located in Samobor, Croatia. Products description The Efke films are black-and-white films with high silver con ...

'' brand, as well as custom-packaged for other sellers, until 2012. Macophoto UP100 and Jessops 200 were made and packaged by Fotokemika. ''Chromazone'' 127 film is also sold intermittently on eBay. In September 2006, Bluefire Laboratories of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, began packaging 127 color print film, cutting Kodak or Agfa film to size from bulk rolls, and assembling the rolls of film from their own components. In July 2009,

( Maco Photo Products, Hans O. Mahn GmbH & Co. KG) introduced Rollei Retro 80S film, available in 127 format. In August 2014, Maco announced that they will be selling black-and-white 127 film under the ''Rera Pan'' brand. This film is manufactured in Japan by EZOX Corporation, who are better known for manufacturing agricultural equipment and bicycles.

References

External links

127 format cameras in the 21st centuryA kit that cuts 120 film and rolls it to 127 spool
{{Eastman Kodak Products introduced in 1912 Film formats Kodak photographic films