Amateur Photographer – 16 August 2019

subscribe 0330 333 (^1113) Iwww.amateurphotographer.co.ukI 10 August 2019 45
More about
120 film
Whatis 120 film?
The 120 rollfilmsizewasintroducedin
1901 withthelaunchof theKodakNo. 2
Brownie.Overtheyearsmanyrollfilmsizes
cameandwent,butthe 120 sizeendured.
Unlike35mmfilm,whichis containedin a
cassette, 120 is woundontoa spindle,
attachedtolight-proofbackingpaperwith
a leaderandtrailerat eachendtoprevent
exposuretolightduringloadingand
unloading.Thebackingpapercontains
numbersobservedthrougha redwindow
in thecamerabacktoindicatehowfarthe
filmis woundbetweenexposures.Some
camerasdispensewiththeredwindowand
useanautomechanismthatstopsthefilm
beingwoundwhenit hasbeenadvancedthe
rightamount,thelockfreeingitselfreadyfor
thenextwindasanexposureis made.
Filmsavailable
120 sizerollfilmis availablefromspecialist
dealersandonAmazon(Ilford,Kodak,
Fujifilm,etc.).Lookforthreetypes:
●Black& whitenegativeforproducing
monoprintsin a darkroom,orbyscanning
andreversing.Examples: Ilford Delta 400,
PanF, FP4andHP5.
●Colournegativeforproducingcolour
printsin a darkroomorbyscanningand
reversing.Examples:Fujifilm400H, Kodak
Ektar 100 andPortra400.
●Colour-reversalfilmforE6processingto
makedirectpositivetransparenciesthatcan
alsobescanned.Examples: Fujifi lm Provia
100FandVelvia50.
Resurrectingclassics
A quickbrowsearoundeBaymightturnupa
RadaorRollexfilmback.Theseweremade
forfittingtoplateorcutfilmcamerasin
placeof theplateorfilmholders.Loaded
witha rollof 120filmandwiththeback’s
darkslideremoved,theholderscanbring
newlifetooldcameras.They mostly shoot
eight pictures 6x9cm.
Arollof 120
film,compared
to 35mm
MamiyaM645 1000S
LAUNCHED 1976
FORMAT 15 exp6x4.5cm
GUIDEPRICETODAY£220-280
TheMamiyaRB67’slittlebrotherwasoriginally
launchedin 1975andupgradeda yearlater
witha highertopshutterspeed,self-timer
anddepth-of-fieldpreview.Soof thetwoearly
models,theupgraded1000Sis thebetter
one.It offersinterchangeableviewfinders
andfocusingscreens,butthereis
nointerchangeablefilmback.The
electronicfocalplaneshutteris speeded
8-1/1,000secandthereis a mirror lock-up
facility. The standard lens is a
Mamiya-SekorC 80mmf/2.8,buta full
rangeis availablefrom24mmto500mm.A
secondshutterreleaseontopof thebodyis
convenientforuseat waistlevel.Thisand
theM645camerasthatfollowedmakeideal
introductionstoquality,budget-priced,rollfilm
reflexphotography.Unliketheearlymetal
cameras,however,the later cameras were
made of plastic.
Kiev6C
LAUNCHED 1977
FORMAT 12 exp6x6cm
GUIDE PRICE TODAY £90-120
TheKiev6Creadyforeye-level
shooting,plusitsaccessory
waist-level viewfinder
Here’sanothergigantic35mm
SLRlookalike.There’sno
detachablefilmback,butthere
is a choiceof waist-level,plainor
through-the-lens(TTL)metered
eye-levelviewfinders.It shares
itslensmountandchoiceof
lenses with a Pentacon Six, and
the90mmf/2.8Vegalenswith
whichit is usuallyequipped
is knownforitssharpness.
Themechanicalshutteroffers
1/2-1/1,000secspeeds,but
theleft-handedshutterrelease
makesthecamera awkward to
use handheld.
MamiyaM645
1000Sshoots
fifteen6x4.5cm
exposures