Roll film

If I am to be brutally honest I think out of all the formats that are available for film photography, the one that I am drawn to is the roll film, known as 120 film due to a quirk in Kodak numbering schemes in the past.

When I was about 11 I went to camp on the Isle Of Wight with a boys organization. My Dad gave me his old Kodak Duaflex 620 TLR camera. I loaded a roll of 620 Kodak film and was astounded at the resulting pictures.

This might be where my love of medium format film started.  I kept that camera and used it regularly until 620 became unavailable. My next medium format camera was a Holga 120 S. The Holga came with a 6x4.5 mask and the selector on the back was glued to 16 pictures (newer ones come with both 6x6 and 6x4.5 masks with the selector unglued).

The best bit about roll film is that it supports a number of frame formats

• 6x4.5 centimeter, 16 pictures per roll, numbered on backing paper
• 6x6 centimeter, 12 pictures per roll, numbered on backing paper
• 6x7 centimeter, 10 pictures per roll
• 6x8 centimeter, 9 pictures per roll
• 6x9 centimeter, 8 pictures per roll, numbered on backing paper
• 6x12 centimeter, 6 pictures per roll
• 6x17 centimeter, 4 pictures per roll

I myself have a Chroma Camera Snapshot 4x5 camera that I couple with a 6x9 rollfilm back.  The larger frame size is wonderful. 

I find 4x5 sheet film a bit of a pain to process, if I'm honest. I use a mod54 sheet holder for a Paterson Tank. It needs a full litre of chemicals to process even one sheet of film. And while sheet film is capable of capturing great detail I'm not convinced that I'm able to make best use of it.

Whereas roll film, being more economic to use and a single roll has enough exposures to keep photography part of a walk without constantly snapping away. It's great I can talk to my girlfriend and take a few photos with her feeling left out. I can also nip out for an hour and shoot a quick roll of film while the weather holds.

Another advantage of roll film that shouldn't be overlooked is the fact that you can load more film while out if you need to. Sheet film is limited to the number of holders you can carry, whereas roll film is easier to carry.

I also have a Holga 120 GN (Glass Lens) in which I prefer to use the 6x4.5 mask. The 16 pictures per roll is great for walking around and the negative size is large enough for cute contact prints.

I have a Zero 2000 pinhole camera that shoots 6x6 format images.

I also have a Chroma Camera 679 with a Mamiya Pro S 6x7 back. so I'm covered with roll film. 

I can process them all in the same chemicals, even in the same tank. At the moment I'm using D76H, which is a simplification of the Kodak D76 formula.

I have hankered after a 6x12 roll film back for my snapshot, however they are ridiculously expensive and the 6x17 backs are extortionate. So they will have to wait for another day when my boat comes in.