Film formats in Themiclesia
Film formats in Themiclesia were standardized between the 1910s and 1950s for professional and amateur uses as a phenomenon of market consolidation by camera, lens, and film manufacturers, which also often operated in the photo development and publishing markets.
History
Photography was introduced to Themiclesia very soon after the release of the first technologically stable photographic process―the Daguerreotype. For much of the 19th century, there had been no standard format as each photographer and studio created custom cameras and photographic plates to satisfy customer needs; the only thing that could not be made in a studio was the camera lens. Everything else from the plate substrate, the photosensitive emulsion, and the development process was achieved with fairly basic materials and could be manipulated in the studio or in the field. As such there was not much need for standardized equipment at this time.
Only towards the late 19th century did photographic film overtake plate as the dominant photosensitive medium, yet because film could not be created or sensitized in a normal photographic studio, large-scale manufacturers rose to fill the void. With manufacture of film en masse came the need for cameras and other equipment that were compatible with standard films. The earliest commercial photographic film was sold in the same nominal size of 9 in × 7 in (229 mm × 178 mm) as photographic plates. Smaller plates were approximated in film simply by manually cutting the film into smaller pieces, though since film was soft minor deviations in alignment could render them difficult to hold in plate holders and thus wasted.
Around this time, two camera manufacturers worked to incorporate more advanced features such as variable focal length, interchangeable lenses, adjustable alignment, and mobile carrying cases into their cameras, enabling photographers to leave their studios for work. In 1903, the two companies merged to form UNIOP, and both companies' cameras remained in production. With widespread distribution, this first generation of mass-manufactured cameras consolidated the earliest photographic standards for Themiclesian photographic implements around two plate sizes, 9 in × 7 in (229 mm × 178 mm) or "whole plate" and 13 in × 10 in (330 mm × 254 mm) or "double plate" size. A third plate size of 5 in × 4 in (127 mm × 102 mm) was introduced in the 1920s from abroad, mainly for press photographers working with smaller cameras.
These three film sizes co-existed but each developed niches over the years: the 9×7 format was normal for studio portraits and, later, technical and recording photographs, and the 13×10 format gained more traction for fine art and nature photography, which ascended in importance throughout the pre-PSW period. The 5×4 press plate remained the dominant format for press, where the plate neatly fitted into two newspaper columns for printing.
Beyond the world of professional photographers, firms like Tower and Luminax also produced "toy cameras" that shot roll or cartridge film in spools. An important advantage of spooled film is that both exposed and unexposed film were stored in the camera body itself, obviating the more cumbersome task of changing and storing film holders. 120 film and 135 film formats were called "small format" film because they are too small to print and view directly and by default meant to be enlarged. Originally, enlarging was not done at photographic studios but by the camera manufacturer, which used specialized equipment to automate cutting and enlarging negatives and then returned the prints to customers.
Professional photographers usually shunned film in rolls and cartridges like the 120 film and 135 film formats. It seems earlier cameras made for these formats had difficulty creating a flat surface for the lens while the film strip was necessarily warped and spooled around a spindle or in a cartridge. Moreover, the prevailing expectation in Themiclesia was the photographer would deliver both the negative and print to the client, and obviously this would not be feasible if delivery time came while the photo was still on a spool with unused film yet. But technical difficulties aside, spooled film was above all associated with amateurs and thus deemed inappropriate for artistic and professional (i.e. paid) work.
The Pan-Septentrion War introduced the camera to many whose initial photographic experience happened in the armed forces, which had a policy of liberally photographing enemy activities to document and analyze them. Though hundres of professional photographers also captured the aftermath of battles and major landscapes for publication or permanent record, the lion's share of photographic records from the war was produced by Luminax "toy cameras" only ever meant for analysis and documentation. The images produced by the Luminax were too small to print natively and so were enlarged by Luminax itself.
After the war, the introduction of the single-lens reflex camera obviated the parallax errors that earlier rangefinder cameras posed for photographers who needed fine control over the resulting image. Combined with better enlarging machines, shooting small format toy cameras became an acceptable alternative for professionals. A transition away from view cameras to SLRs occurred between 1960 and 1975 or so in the press world because photo journalists benefited from the additional exposures that spooled film provided over sheet film. A standard roll of 120 film could yield 10 exposures, while a roll of 135 film contained 36 exposures; to match this with sheet film, a photo journalist would have to carry 18 film holders and then keep track which were already exposed.
View cameras and sheet film remained for longer the standard for professional photography where sheer number of exposures was not the overriding concern. For studio portraits, 135 film became more common in the mid-70s because the quality (or lack thereof) of enlarged prints had become acceptable for many clients. It seems the proliferation of rangefinder cameras since the 1940s and with it the practice of enlarging photos ultimately caused casual studio patrons to think that the quality of enlarged photos was either acceptable or normal. For these clients, therefore, there was no longer a need to use a full 9×7 sheet of film, though for work of best quality (usually for a premium) this size remained standard.
Common formats
The following represents a list of common film sizes in Themiclesia.
The largest film sizes from 4" x 5" and above are available as sheet film rather than spooled film and are most directly aimed at professional photographers whose work need a certain level of resolution to be professionally or artistically acceptable. This is relevant for many, but not all, genres of photography. The names of these formats are directly inherited from the era of rigid photographic plates; conventionally, the sizes of these film stocks are given in inches rather than millimeters.
It should be noted that 9" x 7" film rather than 135 film is generally term "full frame" in Themiclesia because it was the commonest size for the viewable area of portrait frames. Starting in the late 1800s, Themiclesian families who could afford the expense often kept large caches of individual and family photos on or adjacent to window sills. Into the 1900s, it was still customary to sit for celebretory photographs in this large format and to display the picture in a frame. Often, families kept magnifying glasses available so that viewers, particularly visitors, could examine the family's honorable moments with precision.
A similar situation seems to have underlaid the "large frame" size as the first photographs made in this size are all displayed on walls. Not intended to be taken down and viewed up close, the pictures had to be physically larger so that they would remain intelligible from a greater distance away. There is a still larger size at 23" x 20" called a "centrepiece" (中堂) which was used for a particularly large photograph on the wall surrounded by smaller photographs; the term "centrepiece" itself is taken from a Menghean painting genre of the same function.
As in many Casaterran states, the cabinet card became a popular format for mounting photographs in albums around 1870. To keep the album at a manageable size, the picture was smaller than a framed picture and usually displayed two to a page. An album of this size could also hold four visiting card sized photos (leaving some blank space in between). Such photos were often distributed by neighbours or visitors as mementoes and are kept at the house of the receiver. At a future time, these may be shown when the original giver visited to serve as conversation starters.
| Format | Nominal dimensions |
Photosensitve area (mm²) |
Uses | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Large frame | 泰規 kal’ats-pek | 13 in x 11 in | 92,070 | Originally meant for wall-hung portraits but later specialized for landscape photography |
| Full frame | 澈規 r’it-pek | 9 in x 7 in | 40,645 | Portraits, architecture, technical and fine art photographs; also called "frame" for short |
| Cabinet card | 顧碑片 kah-bi-pin | 6.5 in x 4.75 in | 19,965 | Cabinet card-mounted or album photographs; also called "card" or "album" |
| Press size | 報制 puks-dits | 5 in x 4 in | 12,903 | Press photographs (until 1970s) |
| Visiting card | 名片 mring-pin | 4 in x 3 in | 7,752 | Originally printed on reverse of calling cards but later evolved into a pocket format |
| Miniature formats | ||||
| 6×9 | 60 mm x 90mm | 5,400 | ||
| 6×8 | 60 mm x 80 mm | 4,800 | ||
| 6×7 | 60 mm x 70 mm | 4,200 | ||
| 6×6 | 60 mm x 60 mm | 3,600 | ||
| 645 | 60 mm x 45 mm | 2,700 | ||
| 135 | 36 mm x 24 mm | 864 | General usage; 36 or 24 exposures per cartridge | |
| 675 | 18 mm x 24 mm | 432 | Same 135 film but takes 72 exposures per cartridge | |
| 337 | 18 mm x 12 mm | 216 | Same 135 film but takes 144 exposures per cartridge; accomplished by sliding film up and down between exposures | |