If you've found yourself reading this article, then odds are you're at least up to your waist in the rabbit hole of film photography. Maybe you're growing tire of your trusty point and shoot film camera or vintage 35mm SLR, or you want to try something different than a digital camera. You're likely well acquainted with Portra 400 by now—at this point, who isn't?—so let's dive into 120 film, aka medium format.
And don't worry, you can likely still rely on your favorite film development lab for 120 film processing services—the chemical makeup is basically the same. So what is the difference, you ask? Read on and find out.
Field Mag's Guide to 120 Film
-
01
What Is 120 Film? -
02
What's the Difference Between 35mm and 120 Film? -
03
Benefits of Shooting 120 Film -
04
Downsides of Shooting 120 Film -
05
Top 120 Film Stocks to Buy -
06
Kodak Portra 400 -
07
Kodak Ektar 100 -
08
Kodak Gold 200 -
09
CineStill 800T -
10
Fujifilm Velvia 50 -
11
Kodak Tri-X 400 -
12
Ilford Kentmere Pan 100 -
Bonus
Frequently Asked Questions
What Is 120 Film?
Simply put, 120 film is a type of medium format film. Less simply put, medium format refers to cameras and their accompanying film stocks that have a frame size larger than the 35mm format—which has a 24 x 36mm area and used to be referred to as 135—and smaller than 4x5in, which is considered large format. Large format film comes in sheets, while medium format comes on a roll, like 35mm (but a little bit taller).
There used to be more film formats back in the day—120 was first introduced in 1901 for a Kodak camera called the Brownie No. 2—but when it comes to modern medium format, unless you're lucky enough to find a double-length roll of 220, 120 film is most common in 2023. It's readily available from a range of companies and at various (ever increasing) prices in both color and black and white.