616 film was originally produced 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 1932 for the Kodak Six-16
camera
A camera is an instrument used to capture and store images and videos, either digitally via an electronic image sensor, or chemically via a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. As a pivotal technology in the fields of photograp ...
.
Seventy millimetres wide, the 616 film produced 63.5 mm × 108 mm (2.5" × 4.25") negatives, about the size of postcards and appropriate for making a
contact print
A contact print is a photographic image produced from Photographic film, film; sometimes from a film negative (photography), negative, and sometimes from a film positive or paper negative. In a darkroom an exposed and developed piece of film or ...
without the need for an enlarger. It is the same format as that of 116 film but on a slimmer spool, for use in more compact cameras. The format is used in many other cameras such as the Kodak
Brownie Junior and the Kodak Target Six-16. The first "6" in the name refers to the number of frames that could originally be exposed on a single roll of film. To avoid customer confusion, the name was not changed when this was increased to eight exposures. From the 1930s on, 616 film became less and less popular in favor of
120 and other film formats—as film resolution became better and the use of enlargers common, the need for a large postcard-size negative became moot. The last 616 film cameras were made in 1948.
However, the film remained available for many years after that, and 616 film was finally discontinued in 1984.
See also
*
Film format
A film format is a technical definition of a set of standard characteristics regarding image capture on photographic film for still images or film stock for filmmaking. It can also apply to projected film, either slides or movies. The primary ...
*
List of color film systems
*
List of still film formats
References
External links
History of Kodak roll film numbersFilm RescueUSA and Canada processors of 616 format film
Film formats
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