Pages: [1]   Go Down

Author Topic: What exactly is 35mm?  (Read 4544 times)

Giedo

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 193
What exactly is 35mm?
« on: February 02, 2006, 05:50:41 pm »

I apologise in advance for what must be a very dumb question, but what exactly is 35 mm? What does this number 35 refer to? As far as I know the film that is used by 35mm camera's measures 24 mm by 36 mm....
Logged
Giedo

DiaAzul

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 777
    • http://photo.tanzo.org/
What exactly is 35mm?
« Reply #1 on: February 02, 2006, 06:13:37 pm »

The frame size was 35mm, however, the french recallibrated the mm in 1984 and so it now measures 36mm.
« Last Edit: February 02, 2006, 06:14:27 pm by DiaAzul »
Logged
David Plummer    http://photo.tanzo.org/

boku

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1493
    • http://www.bobkulonphoto.com
What exactly is 35mm?
« Reply #2 on: February 02, 2006, 08:09:30 pm »

Quote
I apologise in advance for what must be a very dumb question, but what exactly is 35 mm? What does this number 35 refer to? As far as I know the film that is used by 35mm camera's measures 24 mm by 36 mm....
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=57334\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Seriously - 35mm film is 35mm wide. The standard image measures 24mm x 36mm.

35 - 24 = 11mm left for side margins with sprocket holes.
Logged
Bob Kulon

Oh, one more thing...[b

kbolin

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 233
    • http://www.bolinphoto.com
What exactly is 35mm?
« Reply #3 on: February 02, 2006, 10:08:29 pm »

They always say count that day lost when you don't learn something new.  It was a close one for me today... 8pm and I was starting to wonder.  
Logged

BJL

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 6600
What exactly is 35mm?
« Reply #4 on: February 03, 2006, 12:53:56 pm »

Quote
Seriously - 35mm film is 35mm wide. The standard image measures 24mm x 36mm.

35 - 24 = 11mm left for side margins with sprocket holes.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=57341\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]
That's it. Here are some more historical details.

- 35mm film started out as a movie film, with the whole film strip 35mm wide with 11mm used by sprocket holes and space for the sound track, leaving frames 24mm wide, and 18mm high. That gave the 4:3 shape of old movies, adopted successively for TV screens, computer monitors, video camera CCD's and most digital still camera sensors.

- When Leica adapted rolls of 35mm movie film for the higher resolution needs of still photography, they went for a larger frame by the mechanically simple strategy of doubling the length along the film, getting the now familiar 24x36mm. This used to be called "double frame" but is now mostly just called "35mm".

- Movies no longer need the soundtrack space, so now often use a "super 35mm format" with frame width about 25mm. Movie frame height has also shrunk to about 13mm, due to the shift to wider screen formats for movies.

Note: If you read about sensors for digital 35mm format movie cameras, the frame size is still roughly the traditional 24x18mm, so about the same frame width as Nikon, Fuji, Pentax, Konica-Minolta and Sony make and use in their DSLRs. So all these companies could argue that their DSLR's use roughly the original 35mm format!
Logged

bob mccarthy

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 372
    • http://
What exactly is 35mm?
« Reply #5 on: February 03, 2006, 01:35:10 pm »

Quote
That's it. Here are some more historical details.

- 35mm film started out as a movie film, with the whole film strip 35mm wide with 11mm used by sprocket holes and space for the sound track,

 leaving frames 24mm wide, and 18mm high.

[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=57374\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

The original DX format  

Bob
Logged

Box Brownie

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 271
    • Engram Photography
What exactly is 35mm?
« Reply #6 on: February 06, 2006, 03:49:22 pm »

I thought the origins of 35mm film stock were indeed from the movie world but 35mm came about because of a shift in technological need for portability.

The movie film stock used to be 70mm and the cameras were very large as a consequence - so with improving emulsions (& sound track stripe) the slitting of the film stock to 35mm meant smaller cameras that were/are more commonplace now?

Oh, interesting note by bjl about 'double frame' - I have an old 35mm 'half frame' camera somewhere in the cupboard ~ A Bell & Howell badged Canon (or was the other way round) that has a clockwork motor drive.

Logged
A collection of mine here http://500px.c

BJL

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 6600
What exactly is 35mm?
« Reply #7 on: February 06, 2006, 07:51:53 pm »

Quote
The movie film stock used to be 70mm and the cameras were very large as a consequence - so with improving emulsions (& sound track stripe) the slitting of the film stock to 35mm meant smaller cameras that were/are more commonplace now?
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=57573\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]
I am not sure about that, I think 70mm came later as an "upgrade option". The 35mm movie format of 24x18 was apparently designed by Thomas Edison and George Eastman of Kodak, at a time when a variety of formats were in use, and the Edison/Kodak system won the ensuing format wars.


P.S. DX is about 24x16mm, so a slight wide-screen crop of single frame 24x18mm.
Logged
Pages: [1]   Go Up