127 film

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127 is a film format for still photography. The image format is usually a square 4×4 cm, but rectangular 4×3 cm and 4×6 cm are also standard. Oddly, Foth used 36×24 mm (the same size as is standard for 135) for its first "Derby" model.

127 is a roll film. Frame number markings for the 4×4 and 4×6 image formats are printed on the backing paper, while 4×3 cameras typically have two frame counter windows, exposing the left and right halves of the 4×6 frame.

Using the square format, there are 12 exposures; 4×3 and 4×6 give 16 and 8, respectively.

There are alternative uses. For its "Alfax" model (circa 1940), Kimura had 4×4.5 cm frames, spaced by markings on the wind knob.

The format was introduced by Kodak in 1912, along with the "Vest Pocket Kodak" folding camera, as a compact alternative to the 120. The folding "127s" were in fact smaller than most 135 cameras today.

The format was mainly used for amateur cameras, with the Exakta SLR, the "Baby" Rolleiflex and the Yashica 44 TLR as possible exceptions.

Kodak stopped producing 127 film in 1995. Fotokemika dd of Croatia was the only remaining manufacturer of 127 film, which it sold under its own "Efke" brand as well as custom-packaging for other sellers. Fotokemika DD went out of business in 2004. The 127 films they were making are now made by the Hans O. Mahn Company of Hamburg, Germany.

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