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I just loaded an old Voigtländer Jubilar (early 30's) with a roll of Ilford 120 film. This only has markers for 6x6 frame numbers, so for every other picture you have to more or less guess how long to turn the winder.

Are there other makes of 120 film with 6x9 frame markers on the paper?

Do you have any ingenious ideas how to avoid overlap exposures when using film that only has 6x6 frame numbers?

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  • \$\begingroup\$ cameramanuals.org/voigtlander_pdf/voigtlander_jubilar.pdf doesn't provide any clues, unfortunately \$\endgroup\$
    – db9dreamer
    May 27, 2014 at 9:41
  • \$\begingroup\$ I've never seen numbering for 6x7; every 6x7 back I've seen has auto-spacing. \$\endgroup\$
    – Roger Krueger
    Jun 24, 2015 at 4:13
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    \$\begingroup\$ @dav1dsm1th Buried in the manual you linked is the answer. The last exposure will show 6 (for very early 120, or 8 for later films made to work equally in 6x6 cameras) in the red window. This means the window should be in the bottom left corner of the back with camera in landscape mode, and will correctly display framing for 6x9 frames. \$\endgroup\$
    – Zeiss Ikon
    Mar 16, 2020 at 11:48
  • \$\begingroup\$ @ZeissIkon Six years ago me probably didn't read it cover to cover... 😀 \$\endgroup\$
    – db9dreamer
    Mar 17, 2020 at 12:06
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    \$\begingroup\$ @dav1dsm1th Which leads to the unanswerable question of why the SE bumps long since answered and accepted questions to the top of the question list... \$\endgroup\$
    – Zeiss Ikon
    Mar 17, 2020 at 12:14

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It turns out that I was wrongly informed by the sales person. The paper actually does have markers for 6x9 frame numbers.

Since the question might be helpful to future users also trying out old film cameras, I thought I'd let is stand and share what I was told on another forum.

In summary:

  • Most (all?) 120 films have markers for 6x9, 6x6 and 6x4.5.
  • Depending on the camera format, the readout window was placed to display the relevant frame numbers, which are printed in the following order (left to right) when looking in the "direction of travel": 6x9, 6x6, 6x4.5. There are also markers for 6x7 format cameras.
  • The 120 film was actually originally produced for 6x9 cameras.
  • Although mine appears not to, some old cameras do have their readout windows misplaced, thus displaying the wrong frame numbers.
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  • \$\begingroup\$ as i remember, those marks are on the paper on top of the film. However, 6x6 markings require different window position to see, rather than 6x9 \$\endgroup\$
    – aaaaa says reinstate Monica
    Jun 24, 2015 at 5:49
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    \$\begingroup\$ Originally, 6x9 and 6x6 were different films (120 and 124, as I recall) -- identical spool and film dimensions, but different frame number tracks. 6x4.5 cameras had two windows on the 6x9 track; you'd wind to the first, then the second, then the next number to the first, and so on. They were combined, and the 6x4.5 track added, around 1940, as I recall. I have a (post War, but from a pre-War design) Zeiss 6x6 folder that uses the 6x9 number track to start the film, hence (originally) getting only 11 frames on a roll. I modified the spacing wheel and start the film earlier to get 12. \$\endgroup\$
    – Zeiss Ikon
    Mar 16, 2020 at 11:42

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