Size Does Matter

[thuggins]

This is being posted here as it is more of a sheet film question, even though it is technically not large format.

I have some sheet film holders for the Baby Graphic and was thinking about cutting some lengths from a 120 roll. To my surprise 6x9 sheets are significantly smaller than 6x9 roll. The sheet is about .2" narrower and shorter by a similar amount. The picture below shows a piece of sheet film sitting on top of a (fogged) strip of 120.

Was the sheet film produced to an inch standard? Was the sheet film actually intended for a nominal 2" x 3", as Graflex marked the roll film holders?

 

[Donald Qualls]

Size 120 film was originally produced to an inch standard -- it was originally 2 1/2" wide (=63+mm), to have 1/8" rebates and a 2 1/4" image width. There are actually two sizes of sheet film that are close to that -- 2x3, which is what you appear to have above, made to inch size, and 6.5x9 cm. Both are a couple mm under nominal size due to film sheaths, because they were originally glass plate sizes. So your nominally 2" wide sheet is actually 49mm, or about 14mm narrower than 120 film. A 6.5x9 sheet would be almost the same width as 120.

 

[Ian Grant]

There's a 2"x3" sheet film format and also6.5x9 cm as well as 2.25 x 3.25" these are plate sixes, sheet fil is nominal and slightly smaller as originally hasd to fit film sheaths in plate holders.

Ian