4x5 uncut film on a roll?

Why hasn't anyone developed a roll of 4x5 film? like 120 or 220? Seems to me the length of roll would be 60 inches (12 exp.) about the same as a roll of 35mm film 36 exp. So it wouldnt be that thick.

When you think of the graphflex back its heavy and bulky and holds only 6 shots also the darkslide adds bulk.

And with everyone building their own camera these days, and film being made in CZ and croatia, for very inexpensively, why wouldn't a 4x5 roll film camera work? (if you could get the film made)

What am I missing? I am sure many people have tried this before.

fdisk said:

Why hasn't anyone developed a roll of 4x5 film?

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What am I missing? I am sure many people have tried this before.

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5" roll film does exist, you can still buy it from Kodak. I have some (aerial panatomic x). It was used primarily in aerial cameras.

You can still buy wider rolls too.

Check HAS Images in Dayton, Ohio.

Such film is also available from Agfa. Rolls of that kind are 100ft long.
Which means that at the moment two films are available, one by each company, both maskless colour negative.

Cameras for that kind of film were made not long ago, in static as well as in handheld versions.
The handheld versions employ a manual operated crank or a motordrive with suction plate.


Going back into history:
There was wide spooled negative paper for in-camera use before film was even invented.
Later when spooled film was rather narrow there were panoramic cameras for general use that took spooled film from 5" to 16" wide.

fdisk said:

Why hasn't anyone developed a roll of 4x5 film? ...

What am I missing? I am sure many people have tried this before.

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4x5 sheet film is simply easier to handle in a typical darkroom. But there once were many processing labs that specialized in handling long roll aerial films. Now there are only a mere handful left.

A majority of high-resolution photogrammetric surveys were once done with aircraft mounted cameras taking 5" and 9" roll film. Mapping and bomb damage assessment meant a large number of military aircraft carried such cameras. Many surplus military cameras and developing tanks became available after the war and a whole cottage aerial photography industry sprang up with the post-war boom in suburban sprawl and Interstate Highway System, etc being built.

Heck, spy satellite imagery was even done on LF roll film in the early years, under the now-declassified Corona program.

But ultimately it was geostationary satellites transmitting digital imagery 24/7 that lead to such films falling out of favor.

My company does, among other things, consultancy on aerial photography for map-making, so we have lots of developed such film in the office. The canisters are really large. Most aerial photography is made with digital cameras nowadays, though.

Old (c. 1920 -1930) Kodak Autographics took a roll film that produced a close-to 4x5 negative. I used to take pictures with one by slicing a 1/4" off the side of a sheet of 4x5.

Kodak made and marketed roll film cameras for 4x5 as well as 5x7. The one I have, a #5 cartridge camera, took roll film 7 inches wide, since it shot in portrait mode. The #4 was, I believe, a 4x5 roll film camera.

Here's a listing of Kodak films. The 4x5 is 104 and the 5x7 is 115.

Whiteymorange said:

Here's a listing of Kodak films. The 4x5 is 104 and the 5x7 is 115.

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Wow, according to this table, 120 film will be 110 years old next year