FILM Ferrania has confirmed its intention to bring out 127-format film in the future, after it finishes work on a conversion line for 120 film.
127 film was a middle format inbetween 35mm and 120, normally used to take square-format images around 4cm by 4cm. Invented by Kodak in 1912, it was a popular format before the postwar rise of 35mm film, and started declining in the 1960s, though a small amount of film is still produced.
FILM Ferrania resurfaced in 2013 after the demise of the original Ferrania in 2009. It has rescued the old factory’s miniature film production line from the old research and development facility in the factory, near Genoa in northern Italy.
Nicola Baldini, one of the company’s founders, told the 127 Shooters Facebook group on Sunday (7 March): “127 is the little brother of 120 and as soon we finished to setup of our internal 120 converting line jumping to 127 will be much easier.”
In 2015, FILM Ferrania’s US spokesman Dave Bias responded to one photographer’s queries: “We have the capability (machines and knowledge) to produce 127 film and it is high on the “wish list” after we introduce our basic formats – however, as with all other formats, we must first increase the production capacity of the factory to support such things.”
FILM Ferrania had initially intended to resume production of Ferrania’s old Chrome 100 slide film, but encountered unforeseen issues in bringing the film into production. Their first film – released in 2017 – was a version of the P30 black-and-white cinema film it had produced in the 1960s. The Italian film producer had also intended to release the film in 120 by the end of 2020, but has not yet done so.
Currently the only commercially available 127 film is Rerapan, made in Japan for German photographic distributor Maco Direct. Most major film producers stopped making film in the format in the 1990s. The last major producer, Efke in Croatia, closed its doors in 2012.
- Many thanks to Alyssa Chiarello of Aly’s Vintage Camera Alley for the tip
I'm a New Zealander who has been living in London since the mid-1990s, shooting film seriously since the year 2000. Kosmo Foto was launched in 2012 and has since become a film brand, with the release of my first films Kosmo Foto Mono 35mm (2017) and Kosmo Foto Mono 120 (2019).
I’m doing everything I can to promote film photography in the 21st Century, and help it survive and thrive. If you want to write something for Kosmo Foto, please drop me a line at foto.dowling@gmail.com.
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Now 220 film would really have a market!
That article is a bit of an extrapolation of Ferrania’s comment. He just said it will be easier to convert 127 once they can convert 120.
Thanks Nico – I think the further context of Dave Bias’s earlier comment, and other things FILM Ferrania have said about releasing in formats other than 25mm, 120 and LF back up the angle.
What about 620 film, very close to 120 one’s? There are a lot of old fantastic cameras waiting for…