What kind of film is this?

I am scanning some old family photos, and came across some quite old b&w strips of films I am not familiar with.

Each picture on the strip is approx. 53mm by 55mm in size. The strips themselves are approximately 60 mm wide. The length varies, as some of them contain only 7 pictures and some as many as 12 (possibly some belonged together and have been cut / separated).

There is no information at all on the filmstrips such as model / make etc. The pictures on the strips are not numbered.

I am attaching a scan of one of the filmstrips.

I am interested to know:

1. What kind of film is this and what type of camera was it used in?

2. What years / decades was this type of film sold and used?

3. How many pictures did each film roll hold (I am asking because I am trying to figure out if there were film rolls with as few as 7 pictures, or if these have been separated and so I would need to try to pair them together)?

PS: I am not a photographer so I know nothing about film, that is why I am asking here.

This is 120 film, first introduced in 1901 and still in production today. It is used in "medium format" cameras - there have been many, many different cameras over the years that use this film, so it is not an easy job to identify the camera used for your roll. The size of the image depends on the camera - image size on a roll of film is never predetermined - the whole roll is photosensitive, and it's up to the camera what frame size it exposes. The images you describe sound like those from a "6x6" camera - so-named because it creates images approximately 6cm x 6cm, but which actually measure 56mm x 56mm.

A 6x6 camera with 120 film results in 12 images per roll. There was also "220 film" - essentially the same as 120 but twice as long. According to Wikipedia, it was introduced in 1965, but not all medium format cameras could use it, so it wasn't as common as 120 film. Obviously, a 6x6 camera with 220 film would result in 24 images per roll.

This is 120 film, first introduced in 1901 and still in production today. It is used in "medium format" cameras - there have been many, many different cameras that use this film, so it is not an easy job to identify the camera. The size of the image depends on the camera - image size on a roll of film is never predetermined - the whole roll is photosensitive, and it's up to the camera what frame size it exposes. The images you describe sound like those exposed by a "6x6" camera - which are generally said to measure 56mm x 56mm.

Thank you for your reply.

I just now noticed some of them look a little different than what I described in the original post. Right now I'm looking at some that measure 56 x 56 (like you mentioned), and this particular roll has some info written on it. It says ADOX R 18 P at the bottom and there are numbers above the pictures, 1A, 1, 2A etc, although the numbers are not positioned right above each picture (for example the one I'm looking at now has 5A right above one picture, then the next picture says both 6 and 6A above it.

Is it possible to say approximately how many pictures one of these film rolls held? That is really the most important thing, as I'm trying to pair these cut up film rolls together. The ones with numbers are of course easier, but the one in the first example has no numbers or info at all, so I really would like to know approx. how many pictures one roll could hold.

I have a good idea which camera was used. I believe it looked something like this https://c.pxhere.com/photos/22/3d/camera_old_camera_adina_box_camera_nostalgia_old_retro_photographica-610991.jpg!d

I think the camera I am thinking of still might be at my parents' home somewhere, so I might be able to find out the exact camera model, if that would be of any help?

Rob, take a look again at my previous post, which I updated with some more info before seeing your last message.

I am 99% sure these are all before 1965 (I think from around 1950), so I suppose they must be 120 film then. So 12 images per roll then. Thank you so much for the info Colin.

It may well also be the closely-related "620" film - it's worth reading the Wikipedia article I linked above and again here...

120 film - Wikipedia

But that won't change the figure for the number of images per roll.

Also worth reading is the Wikipedia article on the Kodak Brownie cameras:

Brownie (camera) - Wikipedia

The Adina box camera is 6x9

The images on the film strip look to be from a waist level finder camera though, and the quality of the images indicates possibly "Instant" shutter. There were plenty around in those days

Here's a 6x6 Kodak Hawkeye Brownie 1949-1961 620 size film (below). I think you're looking at a similar camera that took those shots. Something that had one shutter speed and probably with a two size aperture opening, one for bright sun and one for shade .. but not for indoors without a flash or very bright light.. which may explain why the shot of the family at the table is way underexposed. I transferred the filmstrip to Photoshop and cropped that image out and tried to bring up detail in the shadows but unfortunately all detail was missing

As said, definitely 120/620. BTW, the only difference in these is the spools-folks now are known to take fresh 620 film [EDIT} and re-roll it on to 120 spools to use their own 120 cameras. The Brownie Hawkeye-pictured above-is probably one of the most common cameras ever made, and it's actually possible to put a fresh 120 roll on the "supply" side(top) and then just use a 620 roll for the "take-up"(bottom).

This isn't the only 120 film on the market(in fact, most films that are available now in 35mm are also available in 120) but I use buckets of this stuff

Kodak Professional Tri-X 400 Black and White Negative 1153659

It was first introduced in 1954, but has been changed/improved several times since. At one point, Kodak claimed it as the world's best selling B&W film.

folks now are known to take fresh 120 film and re-roll it on to 120 spools to use their own 120 cameras.

Ben, this doesn't make much sense

Back to the Adox film. In the 50s, Adox films were 25, 50 and 100ASA. The images in Rob's attached filmstrip, at a guess, might be 25ASA, they are pretty flat looking, blurred from camera shake and the indoors exposure is terribly underexposed - all the signs of a film that's too slow for the camera when hand held, and it seems it was hand held

Sorry, I meant respool 120 film onto 620 spool...

NOTE: That post has now been corrected for easier flow of reading.

Adox was German so the film speed would be in DIN; 18 DIN is 50 ASA.

There is a new company using the Adox name now - still German, and still making film!

The edges of the frames are a little wavy - consistent with a fairly simple box camera (some of them have film-flattening measures to avoid this). You could look at some of the cameras listed at Camera-wiki, though it's not complete; Category:6x6 box - Camera-wiki.org - The free camera encyclopedia

The exact camera used is near impossible to guess. However, it can be narrowed down a little.

If the pictures run across the width of the film - I.e. top and bottom of the pictures are at the edges of the film strip - then chances are that a simple box or folding camera was used.

More expensive cameras like TLRs and SLRs have the vertical of the images running along the length of the film.

The example strip runs with the picture vertical along the length of the film, but the image quality doesn't look as if it came from a professional camera. The Hawkeye might be a possibility, or something like an Ensign Fulvue.

Cameras like box brownies or the bakelite equivalent were the most common type of family camera in the 1950s and early 1960s. Folding cameras (with bellows) were more popular and common before WWII, although many were still in use well into the 1960s.

I agree with Dustin that the Adox film mentioned would be 18 DIN/50 ASA. That's quite slow, even by 1950s standards.

There would almost certainly have been 12 pictures on each full strip of film, but remember that failures that 'didn't come out' were quite common, and may have been cut from the roll and discarded.

Film format - Wikipedia

gives the frame sizes for many different films, rarely found now.

It says 60.96mm for 120/620, which is likely what you have.

There are a few rare sizes with similar widths.

The numbering on the backing paper, seen through a red (or green) window in

the back of the camera, allow for 8, 12, or 16 exposures per roll, with 12 being

the square format you show.

The numbering along the size of the film allows for at least 16 exposures, you choose

the closest, or a close, number to the frame you want.

Any sign of the camera yet ?

Here's another example of a 50s 6x6 1947 to 1960 - Kodak Duaflex

If someone in the family had a bit more money to spend, they may have opted for something like the Kodak Reflex II. This too was designed for 620 film and had one of the sharpest lenses available for a TLR camera.

If they are cut with scissors, you might match up the shape of the cut.

But most often, it doesn't make all that much difference.

Hello again,

I originally thought those pictures came from my mother's old family camera, which is still in their home, but it turned out the photos were taken by my dad and that camera is gone decades ago, and he suffers from dementia so there is no way to find out what kind of camera model it was or even the brand.

Yeah I was planning on trying to match up the way they were cut, but since there are so many pictures (about 100 of them I've found so far), it might be really difficult. When the film has some kind of numbers or text on them, it's way easier and I've already matched up 100s of that kind of pictures already, but most of these square-shaped ones have no writings or anything. Since I'm also suspecting there are probably several or many ones missing (could be bad or blurry pictures that were discarded), it's even harder. I noticed some of the unnumbered ones I found a day ago are significantly better looking than the example I uploaded in my original post.

I know it doesn't matter to most people what order the photos were taken in, but I'm kind of nitpicky / OCD-ish when it comes to these things. ;-) Including trying to pinpoint dates or at least years.

But it is what it is, I guess.

Bandh carries 620 film. And so does the film photography project.

620 film | B&H Photo Video

I don't respool 120 onto 620 rolls. Thay wopuld just be a pain and have to do it in the dark. Just cut the edges off of the 120 rolls. Fits perfectly.