Roll film facts for kids

Roll film is a special type of photographic film that comes rolled up on a spool. Think of it like a roll of paper towels, but for taking pictures! Unlike sheet film, which is flat and comes in single sheets, roll film is designed to be wound up inside a camera.

The most common kinds of roll film are called 120 film and 220 film. These are often used in special cameras known as medium format cameras, which take bigger pictures than regular cameras. Even though the popular 35 mm film also comes on a spool, people usually don't call it "roll film."

What is Roll Film?

Roll film is a long strip of film that has a light-sensitive coating. This coating reacts to light, capturing the image when you press the camera's shutter button. The film is wound around a spool, and it usually has a paper backing to protect it from light before and after you take pictures. This paper also has numbers on it, which help you know how many photos you've taken.

How Does it Work?

When you load roll film into a camera, you thread the start of the film onto an empty spool inside the camera. As you take pictures, the camera winds the exposed film onto this second spool. This keeps the parts of the film that have been used safe from light. Once all the film is exposed, you take the full spool out of the camera.

Different Sizes of Roll Film

While 120 and 220 are the most common, there have been many other types of roll film throughout history. Each type was designed for different cameras and could take different numbers of pictures or different sizes of images.

• 120 film: This is the most popular type of roll film today. It's about 6 centimeters (about 2.4 inches) wide. Depending on the camera, you can get different numbers of photos from one roll. For example, some cameras take 16 pictures, others 12, and some even 8, all from the same roll of 120 film! This is because the camera decides how big each picture frame will be on the film.
• 220 film: This film is the same width as 120 film, but it's twice as long! It doesn't have the paper backing all the way through, which allows for more film on the spool. This means you can take twice as many pictures compared to a 120 roll in the same camera.
• Other types: In the past, there were films like 620, 127, and 828. These were similar to 120 film but had slightly different spool sizes or film widths. Most of these older types are not made anymore, but some photographers still find ways to use them.

History of Roll Film

Roll film was a big invention in photography. Before it, photographers often had to use glass plates or single sheets of film, which were harder to handle.

Early Days

The idea of roll film started in the late 1800s. George Eastman, who founded Kodak, played a huge role in making roll film popular. In 1888, he introduced the first Kodak camera, which used a roll of paper film. Soon after, in 1889, he started selling roll film made of flexible plastic, which was much better. This made photography much easier for everyday people, not just professionals.

Why Roll Film Was Important

Roll film helped make cameras smaller and easier to use. Instead of carrying heavy glass plates, people could load a roll of film and take many pictures without stopping to reload. This helped photography become a hobby for millions of people around the world. It was a major step towards the cameras we know today, even digital ones!

Images for kids

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  A spool of Fujifilm-brand type 120 negative roll film

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  Classic 120 negative roll film, manufactured by Agfa-Gevaert, with backing paper indicating total exposures available for 4.5×6, 6×6 and 6×9 cm camera film-frame sizes