MF aspect question

[mrsid99]

Perhaps someone would be so kind as to explain MF formats to me, assuming they can understand the question that is!
Here's the issue that's confusing to me:
I believe that a roll of 120 film is approximately 6cm high by whatever length (120cm?) so if for instance one is using a 645 camera does that mean the pictures are 6cm high by 4.5cm wide or does the camera rotate the image 90deg. to give an image 6cm wide by 4.5cm high?
Thanks folks.

 

[Kodan_Txips]

The picture still fills the full width of the 120 film, ie 6cm - and each shot takes a 4.5 cm slice of the length of the roll. (6 x 12 for square format, or 4.5 x 16 for 645 format = 72 cm plus the extra leader at each end??)

So to get the horizontal, "landscape" format, the film must either be travelling vertically, up or down, or you must put the camera on its side.

 

[mrsid99]

An alternative thought is that the vertical is 4.5cm and 6cm wide but this would waste a considerable piece of the film so what is the answer please?

 

[mrsid99]

Sorry about that, your post appeared after my second post.

So what you're saying is that a 645 camera is normally in "portrait" mode and to get the normal "landscape" the camera has to held sideways?

 

[walter23]

A 645 format camera uses the full 6cm width of the film and snaps a frame 4.5 cm wide. You can fit about 16 frames of 6 x 4.5 on a 120 roll, and only 12 6x6s. That's actually the main advantage of the format I think, otherwise you could just crop 6x6s.

As for portrait vs. landscape mode, I think it depends on the camera. I've seen kiev 60s (an SLR) modified to do 6x4.5 and in that case you'd be shooting in portrait mode by default. Others might default to landscape, just depends on how the film is transported.

 

[ksmattfish]

So what you're saying is that a 645 camera is normally in "portrait" mode and to get the normal "landscape" the camera has to held sideways?

It depends on the design of the camera. If the film travels from side to side then a 6x4.5 shot would be vertical. If the film travels from top to bottom (or bottom to top) then it would be horizontal. With Hasselblad (maybe others) you can get 6x4.5 film backs for either positioning.

As has been mentioned the 6cm dimension is always going across the film (not down the length) when using 120 or 220 film.

 

[mrsid99]

Thanks for the explanations folks, it appears that my first supposition was correct in that a 645 camera is naturally in portrait mode unless it has a vertical film transport.
Much appreciated and thanks again.
Sid