Useful Photography Tip

Want to Get Into 120 Film? Here’s a Short Primer

Chris Gampat
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03/14/2023
3 Mins read
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With the price hike in film, 35mm film has become more expensive than ever. But 120 film is more affordable still. You’re shooting fewer frames, but you’re also getting more emulsion per photo. The problem is that most people don’t understand 120 film. Some even go as far as calling it 120mm film. If you’re curious to know more about 120 film, there are tons of recommendations out there for the best cameras. We’ve done recommendations for 6×7, 6×9, 645, mirrorless, and SLRs. But here’s a bigger primer for 120 film.

How does Medium Format work?

There are surely some confusing things about 120 film. First off, it’s a single roll of film that accommodates to various different sizes. With 35mm, most cameras just shoot a single frame. But 120 film is a longer sheet. The smallest size is 645. Then up from that is 6×6 (my favorite), 6×7, 6×9 and larger. But from that single roll of film, you can get various sizes.

Most medium format cameras that folks talk about are SLRs that have interchangeable backs that hold the film. This is an easy way for you to switch between black and white, color, slide, and other rolls between shots.

Depending on the size of the format your lens sizes will change too. Here’s a quote from an article we wrote about medium format film that’s still an excellent guide for it:

Want a great portrait lens? Then the equivalent of your tried and true 85mm f1.4 lens for your full frame 35mm DSLR will need a 120mm f2.4 in full frame 645 format. While that sentence may be a bit confusing to you, consider the fact that when medium format camera systems use the term full frame, they are often talking about it in terms of their own 645 system, and not a 35mm system that is the colloquialism.

This works far different from most modern day digital medium format. With those cameras, you get a single sensor with a single mount. The result though is that it’s far more affordable. And Medium Format Film is more affordable than 35mm in various ways.

Who Shoots 120 Film?

There are tons of photographers that shoot 120 film. We’ve interviewed a bunch of them, and if you’re into portraiture you can see a bunch right here. But here are some of our favorites:

Why Shoot 120?

Here’s a quote from an article that we wrote a while back about shooting 120:

Film is one of the most integral parts of the whole process. Medium format digital backs are very expensive but film isn’t that much honestly as long as you’re careful. With a bit of searching, you can get a lot of film for dirt cheap.

Now let me emphasize that again: as long as you’re careful. No machine gun shooting here, no shooting just for the heck of it. It’s all about shooting with a vision and intent. If you don’t see something, don’t take a shot. It’s something that I will preach until the end of days in photography.

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Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind./ HIGHLIGHTS: Chris used to work in Men's lifestyle and tech. He's a veteran technology writer, editor, and reviewer with more than 15 years experience. He's also a Photographer that has had his share of bylines and viral projects like "Secret Order of the Slice." PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. EXPERIENCE: Chris Gampat began working in tech and art journalism both in 2008. He started at PCMag, Magnum Photos, and Geek.com. He founded the Phoblographer in 2009 after working at places like PDN and Photography Bay. He left his day job as the Social Media Content Developer at B&H Photo in the early 2010s. Since then, he's evolved as a publisher using AI ethically, coming up with ethical ways to bring in affiliate income, and preaching the word of diversity in the photo industry. His background and work has spread to non-profits like American Photographic Arts where he's done work to get photographers various benefits. His skills are in SEO, app development, content planning, ethics management, photography, Wordpress, and other things. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. FAVORITE SUBJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Chris enjoys creating conceptual work that makes people stare at his photos. But he doesn't get to do much of this because of the high demand of photography content. / BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TIP: Don't do it in post-production when you can do it in-camera.