135 square frame.

Ipno Tizer · Dec 29, 2012

I've been doing some clearing out at my mothers house and have found a lot of negatives on both 120 and 135 film. But some of the 35nm negatives are square. Has anyone else ever come across this? And if so, what sort of camera would have been used to take them?

Chris B.

Matthew Rusbarsky · Dec 29, 2012

Robot?

Gerald C Koch · Dec 29, 2012

Matthew Rusbarsky said:
Robot?

Yes, the Robot camera. Can't think of any other that has a square frame.

BradS · Dec 29, 2012

Could it be 126 ? I remember 126 being the same width as 135 but square frame.

Matthew Rusbarsky · Dec 29, 2012

I'm thinking slowly today. Also the Zeiss Tenax and Taxona

railwayman3 · Dec 29, 2012

BradS said:
Could it be 126 ? I remember 126 being the same width as 135 but square frame.

Correct, 126 film is 35mm wide, but can be distinguised by having a single perforation per frame, also preprinted numbers and borders on each frame. The negative size is slightly larger than 35mm, not having the usual 35mm perforations on both edges. (about 28mm square, compared with 24mm square for a Robot-type negative).

darkosaric · Dec 29, 2012

Beside Robot there are also Taxona and Tenax cameras, and newest diana mini that makes 24x24 mm.

Ian Grant · Dec 29, 2012

Agfa made quite a few 35mm cameras that took square frame images and they were common in the UK. The Agfa Karat and later Rapid systems used their own type of cassette and standard 35m film went from one into another in the camera, very quick to load, no rewinding. This probably made Kodak think about revamping 828 as 126 Instamatic to offer similar convenience.

Ian

AgX · Dec 29, 2012

The Agfa Rapid cassettes typically took 24x24mm images as the Karat system had been re-animated and the new cameras had been designed to conquer the Kodak Instamatic system.
Of course those cassettes, as type 135, could be used for any format up to 24mm high.

Other camera manufacturers took over this system.

Peltigera · Dec 29, 2012

Both 1930s/40s Tenax cameras produced 24x24 negatives (1920s Tenaxes were 60x45 plate cameras and the 1960s Tenaxes were 24x36). The 1930s/40s Tenaxes are a delight to use with their two levers to fire the shutter and then wind on the film.

nexus757 · Dec 29, 2012

Many 35mm stereo (3-D) cameras such as the Realist shoot square frames (though they would typically have been mounted into stereo slides). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereo_Realist

Someonenameddavid · Dec 29, 2012

I am a proud owner of a Tenax II which uses one lever to wind and one to focus. Small and well made but would trade for a IIIc

Too old to care · Dec 30, 2012

I once owned a Yashica EZ-matic that also took 126 film and produced square slides. I bought it in the mid 60's, probably around 1966.

fotch · Dec 30, 2012

A fun camera to own, a Zeiss Ikon Tenax I 35mm, 24X24 format / 50 exposures / roll of 36, pictures here if interested.
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Ipno Tizer · Dec 31, 2012

desertratt said:
Any idea of the vintage of the negatives?

I suapect mid 1950's. The negatives are normally perforated and are 24mm square. The black and white set are on Agfa film. So we can rule out 126 and my sister remembers my father having an Agfa camera of some sort. So the smart money seems to be on an Agfa rapid.

Postscript.
My mother has identified the camera from a photograph downloaded from Google. It was indeed an Agfa Rapid. Mystery solved.

Thanks for your help.

AgX · Dec 31, 2012

Agfa Rapid cameras were introduced as a immediate consequence to the introduction of the Kodak Instamatic system in 1963. So those photographs cannot be made in the mid-50's.
And I don't know any earlier Agfa camera that exposed 24x24mm images on 35mm film.

GarageBoy · Jan 7, 2013

Early Nikons and Minoltas are 24x34 (32?)
Not square, but less rectangular

135 square frame.

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