The launch of the Pentax 17, and the Kodak Ektar 35N, has brought half-frame photography to a new generation of photographers. But half-frame has a long history of getting twice as many exposures out of a roll of 35mm film…
Ever since the birth of photography, the key objective driving camera design has been to make them smaller and lighter with minimal compromises to performance and capabilities. The 35mm format was created in the 1890s by slicing 70mm movie film into half lengthwise and was gradually adopted by a number of camera makers, most notably Leitz for its new line of Leica rangefinder cameras. Kodak popularized the format – designating it ‘135’ – in the 1930s and subsequently produced a wide selection of B&W, color negative, and color transparency films.
