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| Kodak Gold 200 Film. New in 2022 |
120 film consists of photosensitive film protected by opaque backing paper and rolled on a spool. On a modern roll of film the film is roughly 32-1/2 inches (80 cm) long and 2-3/8 inches (6 cm) wide. The backing paper is about 2 feet (60 cm) longer than the film and is slightly wider. A roll of film can be handled in ordinary room light as long as it is tightly rolled on the spool. A strip of adhesive tape keeps the film from accidentally unrolling in the light before you load the camera.
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| Backing Paper |
Depending on the camera, the film can hold eight 2-1/4" x 3-1/4" (6 x 9 cm), twelve 2-1/4" square (6 x 6 cm) or sixteen 2-1/4" x 1-5/8" (6 x 4.5 cm) pictures. Picture numbers printed on the outer surface of the backing paper let the photographer space pictures on the film in cameras using the legendary little red window. Many cameras automatically space and count pictures and do not require the red window, the more well-known probably being the Rolleiflex and Hasselblad. Some cameras like the Pentax 6x7 automatically make 10 6x7 cm pictures on a roll without regard to the numbers on the backing paper.
The image on 120 film can be more than twice the height and width of the image on 35 mm film; therefore, less enlargement is needed to produce the final print. This makes for less visible grain and smoother tones. Kodak No. 2 Brownie cameras using 120 film produced negatives capable of making passable album-size, 2-1/4" x 3-1/4" contact prints. A contact print is made by placing the negative in a printing frame, putting the emulsion side of the paper against the emulsion side of the negative and exposing the paper to light through the negative. The paper is then developed and fixed. The picture on the resulting print is exactly the same size as the negative. The size of the contact print you wanted determined the size of the camera you used. If you wanted a big picture you used a big camera. Improvements in film and lenses now make it possible to get big pictures from small cameras.
120 film did not get the number 120 until 1908. Kodak used to list the cameras that took a film on the film box and you specified the Kodak film you wanted by giving the name of the Kodak camera it fit: "I want a roll of film for a No. 2 Brownie." As Kodak made more and more types of films and cameras, this system became cumbersome. To solve the problem Kodak numbered all of the sizes of roll film it made, starting with size 101. Some sizes were not strictly in numerical order, some numbers were reused and the last new size to be made was 240 (Advantix or Advanced Photographic System film in the 1990s). 120 film was also known as B2 or B II film in Germany. The "B2" likely referenced the No. 2 Brownie. Kodak still makes roll film for still cameras in 120 ("medium format") and 135 ("35 mm film") sizes. There are about a dozen brand names of 120 film, including Fujifilm, Ilford and Kodak, available at present. Because there is an international standard for the dimensions of 120 film all 120 film will fit all 120 cameras.
Prior to about 1930, Kodak 120 film was shorter and had room for only six 2-1/4" x 3-1/4" pictures; however, old cameras made for the original six-picture 120 film will take modern eight-picture 120 film. The first spools for roll films had wooden spindles with metal flanges. Later production spools had metal spindles and flanges. Current 120 spools are injection molded plastic. Kodak called roll film with backing paper on a spool a "cartridge."
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| 100 Years of Film |
The Kodak Non-Curling Film in the box on the left was Kodak's standard snapshot roll film from 1903 to 1933. The spools in the middle are empty 120 spools from different eras. The first spools had wooden cores with metal flanges. Beginning in the 1930s the spools were all metal. In the modern, plastic age the spools are injection molded plastic. The roll film on the right is a modern roll of Kodak Tri-X.
