3 1/4 x 2 1/4 film...

Mark twiglet

Mark twiglet

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Where is a good place to get a roll of this film?
Partner has just inherited her grandfather's Camera and I want to run a film through it with her while she's on holiday next month.... I'd probably need a light meter as well won't I? Oh heck
 
Mark twiglet said:
Hi

Where is a good place to get a roll of this film?
Partner has just inherited her grandfather's Camera and I want to run a film through it with her while she's on holiday next month.... I'd probably need a light meter as well won't I? Oh heck
Click to expand...

This is 120 film, the more common description of that size of negative is 6*9 (cm) these days. You can get a roll of HP5 (black and white, 400 ISO) in 120 at many Boots these days, and you may be able to get some rolls of colour from your local camera shop, otherwise it's probably mail order from 7dayshop, Analogue Wonderland, etc. Watch out for the postage prices though.

You didn't mention what camera, but I'm guessing a folding camera, so probably no light meter. You could always try metering with a digital camera, or just using the Sunny 16 approach to estimate exposure. It's actually a very good thing, helps to internalise understanding about light!
 
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There is a possibility that it could want old 620 film, the film is the same as 120 but has a slightly slimmer spool. The camera should have an empty spool in it (needed to take up film) the rim of a 120 spool is 25mm diameter and the shaft 11.5mm diameter. A 620 spool shaft is much smaller. It is possible in a changing bag or total darkness to re-spool 120 film onto another 620 spool if you have 2. It is a fiddle y job.

You can get free and adequate light meter apps for most phones.

Manuals (always useful) are often available at https://www.butkus.org
I
 
Could also be 620 - same film size, different spool, not so easy to come by.
 
Some places (e.g. Nik & Trick) sell 120 film re-spooled to 620, if that's what the camera takes. If you have the camera make and model, it should be fairly easy to work out if it's 120 or 620 though.

Amazon also stock a decent range of 120 film too, and if you're a Prime member you can get free postage (although places like 7dayshop can often work out cheaper).

There are a bunch of good light-meter apps for phones. I use this one if I don't have my dedicated meter with me: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dq.fotometroNa&hl=en_US (I think it's available on IOS too).
 
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Camerapricebuster does a comparison of 120 film prices, see here. Not sure how accurate it is, though.

Couple of things worth mentioning... if it's an older folder, the top speed might be quite slow (1/500 if you're lucky, sometimes slower than that). So in brighter holiday conditions, a 400 ISO film might be a bit of a trial (although you might get a 1/32 aperture to help). Also, shutter speeds could be dodgy, so any exposure is going to be approximate. So personally, I'd be taking FP4+ (ISO 125) or Delta 100 (or even Kodak TMax 100), all black and white films. You'll more easily get good images from exposures that are a fair bit off optimal, with black and white. Colour negative (C41) film is also quite forgiving (although Ektar 100 a bit less so, AFAIK).

I'd definitely NOT be taking slide (reversal, E6) film like Provia or Velvia until/unless the camera is well proven.

Once you get your film finished, you'll need to get it processed and scanned. There's a nifty price estimator here. A few of those labs will off a download link for the scans (including AG and Filmdev) which means you can see your scans a couple of days after posting it off.
 
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