120 roll film spool with wooden shaft

nsurit · Sep 15, 2009

I have an Agfa spool for what looks like 120 film and the center shaft is made out of wood. Anybody have an idea about when these were made/used? Thanks, Bill Barber

ic-racer · Sep 15, 2009

Might be 620 or one of the 'older' sizes. I recall having seen something similar but can't date it.

nsurit · Sep 15, 2009

Seems to be the same width as 120 and the spool shaft seems to be about the same diameter. Guess I could post a photo. My guess is it came from one of my older cameras. Bill Barber

PhotoJim · Sep 15, 2009

I have a wooden 120 spool. They typically date from the second world war, when there were shortages of metal.

athanasius80 · Sep 15, 2009

Weren't they also used before the 1930s?

polyglot · Sep 15, 2009

I have a wooden 120 spool with metal ends, also Agfa. It came with an exposed roll of Agfa ISS (Isopan Super Special) on it, not that I got anything decent from developing that roll.

Akki14 · Sep 16, 2009

I have a wooden one. It's definitely 120 not 620.
Mine's featured in the picture I posted for the 120 film article on wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/120_film

I should re-do that picture as I have one or two metal 120 spools now as well. Got the full set!

Squinting at my pictures, my wooden spool is a Kodak one.

2F/2F · Sep 16, 2009

I have a few of these too. I may be wrong, but I would say that it could not be 620. All the 620 spools I have ever seen have a much narrower center shaft.

railwayman3 · Sep 16, 2009

Agfa were definitely using at least some wood-centre 120 spools into the early/mid 1960's, I can accurately date that from the time I was first introduced to serious photography at the school darkroom.
I'm fairly sure that Kodak and Ilford were then using all-metal 120 spools, which were, of course, later replaced by the present one-piece plastic ones.

bsdunek · Sep 16, 2009

My Voigtlander 'Baby Bessa' 66 came with a wood center spool. Dad gave me that camera in 1949; it was used. So, they were around then.

Andy38 · Sep 21, 2009

Hello , it may be 117 format : same diameter center shaft and same center hole as 120 , but smaller edges ; these are a little smaller than 620 .
Only six photographs when used for example with first Original Rolleiflex .

railwayman3 · Sep 21, 2009

Just checked an old unused Agfa 120 B&W film in its original box which I have amongst my collectables, it's a wooden-centre spool, 120 size, expiry 1963. Normal 8, 12, or 16 exposure.

IloveTLRs · Sep 26, 2009

I got a Zeiss Nettar some time last year and it had a wooden spool in it. The camera was b0rked though, so I sent it back, spool and all

mopar_guy · Oct 4, 2009

I like to play around with old Graflex SLRs. There were rollfilm backs for these in sizes to match these cameras. For instance, a 2 1/4 x 3 1/4 camera would have taken Type 50 film. My 3 1/4 x 4 1/4 Graflex takes Type 51 film. It is interesting to note that the inside of the back is labeled:

4 1/4 x 3 1/4
GRAFLEX ROLL HOLDER
1922 MODEL
TAKES
No 51 EASTMAN GRAFLEX FILM

There is a patent date of June 20, 1915. There are two empty film rolls inside with wooden cores and metal ends. I believe that this type of film was discontinued in the 1940's.
Dave

Brac · Nov 8, 2009

I think the point of the 620 film size, and its larger brother 616, was to use slimmer spools so that the cameras could be made a bit slimmer. As part of this, the spools were made of metal from the outset (back in the early 1930's). I have never seen or heard of a 620 spool with a wooden core.

For decades 120 spools had metal ends and wooden cores but from around the 50's onwards most manufacturers were using all metal spools. I accept that Agfa apparently was an exception. I think they must have changed in the early 60's as the Agfa spools I've seen from around then were metal (they had their name engraved in the ends). Later everyone seems to have changed to all plastic spools for 120.

120 roll film spool with wooden shaft

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