35 (00) format

Historical Background

The 35 (00) format is not well known even if we can consider it as the predecessor of the135 roll; the format was introduced in 1916 as a culmination of Kodak’s efforts in the progressive size reduction equipment for the benefit of a increasingly crowd of amateur photographers. The camera that accompanied the market introduction of the film still represents one of the smallest cameras ever produced by Kodak (and, certainly, the smallest box camera at all).

These characteristics allowed a wide spread between the new amateurs to the point that, by varying certain characteristics, the film format has accompanied the photographers from then until now.

Technical

The film used in Premo Cartridge 00 is cinematography-derived and the only external difference compared to modern 35mm is the absence of the perforations; also the cardboard box in which it was sold recalls very closely the modern 135. Film was wrapped on the spool and protected by backing paper according to the well-established practice of roll films from Kodak, and was inserted in the camera roll holder in way a very similar to modern medium format cameras. Each roll was capable of six 32x44mm frames, maybe a little few given the size of the frame but, it must be said that the rollr was extremely cheap compared to the rest of the products on the market.

The format was abandoned in 1933, several years after dismission of dedicated cameras and almost simultaneously with the introduction of today’s 135.

Cameras and Films

The only camera produced for the format was the Cartridge Premo No. 00, as said above a small and simple box camera which was offered at the popular price of 75 cents as proof of his vocation for the masses. It was an extremely simple camera with a two speeds shutter (1/60 sec or so and T), very compact in size (about 7.6 x 5 x 6.5 cm!) and built with reinforced cardboard leather finished. The only metal parts were in the film chamber structure, the control and the shutter cocking lever, while on the back there was the classic frame counter red window. The camera production lasted from 1916 to 1922 and sells were quite enough to convince Kodak to maintain production of the film format for another eleven years. To date the camera is quite popular often reaching prices in excess of € 100, the highest value for a simple box camera.

Regarding films the only producer was Kodak, which  as said exclusively used black and white and low sensitivity emulsion. There are no informations about any other manufacturers.

To view pictures of  camera and film, we recommend a visit to this online article .

Using 35 film today

Given the technical characteristics, it is rather simple to use today a 00 Premo by readjusting  for the purpose 135 or 120 film; the absence of any mechanism ensures that the 135 film perforations are not a barrier; it must be remembered, however, that given the height of 32mm the picture will include the sprocket holes. The backing paper shall be modeled on the measure but, the operation does not present any difficulty and as a guide you can read and use what we have proposed to refill 828 roll , remembering that for the 35-44mm is the length of the frame, 4mm in more than 828.

2 thoughts on “35 (00) format

  1. What would be the spool needed for using a 00 Premo camera? I’ve read that the spool of a 135 daylight could be used, or maybe I understand from your text that 828 spool should be used. It looks like 35 format spools are hard to find…

    • Sorry Salvador, completely missed your question 🙁
      135 spool is fine as well as some 828 metal ones.
      With kind regards

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