72 exposure rolls: were they ever popular, and would people actually buy them now?

That is a 2000F I got in 1986, still working. Two others have died, however. I also have a SL3003 which I got new old stock in 1998.
I bought a bunch of the 72 exposure film in the late 1980s. Handling this thin film brings back memories of using the film back then.

I don't use the Rolleis as much since converting over to Nikon about ten years ago. I thought getting the 72 exposure film would be a good reason to get the Rolleis out and use them.

Almost done getting exposure and development sorted. Getting ready to load the cassettes!

Winder stuff, I may even have a couple of reels for it but here's the thing. It's on a thin base, prone to light piping and hardly worth the trouble. You will not be able to stuff those cartridges with more than 40-ish shots on any base except the skinny stuff.

darkroommike said:

Winder stuff, I may even have a couple of reels for it but here's the thing. It's on a thin base, prone to light piping and hardly worth the trouble. You will not be able to stuff those cartridges with more than 40-ish shots on any base except the skinny stuff.

Click to expand...

Honestly the thing I like about this film isn’t the fact you can make 72 exposure rolls, it’s that it pushes really well. 1000 ISO totally doable, honestly I plan to try 3200 or even 6400 at some point just to see if it looks decent, although I suspect 3200 is probably gonna be the highest it will go before it gets too crunchy. The 72 exposure cassettes is just a bonus.

Yes, it appears to be good film (SVEMA L42). None of that emulsion crap that is showing up on so many films these days. The emulsion is very even and free from defects. It pushes well, but also can be a full tone film. I just finished processing this roll. Developed 1:9 in Tmax tamed it a lot. It is only EI 100 like this. Developed to a gamma of 1.3 or so, it is a EI 1000 film as MCH18 mentioned.

The thin base requires special care, but nothing more than needed for Minox, 16mm, 220, 8x10, etc. which all require special handling.


This sample has a gamma around 0.75 and EI around 100. Should make nice full tonal scale prints. .

darkroommike said:

Winder stuff, I may even have a couple of reels for it but here's the thing. It's on a thin base, prone to light piping and hardly worth the trouble. You will not be able to stuff those cartridges with more than 40-ish shots on any base except the skinny stuff.

Click to expand...

Actually those are loaded with 80 exposures on the bulk loader, for 72 useable exposures.

What trouble did you have with the light piping? I have not had a frame spoiled in ten rolls so far.

I’m getting more thin base film for 72 exposures soon!