127 film in the Frugal Photographer catalog

Bluefire Murano 160 has beautiful image characteristics — fine grain, full tonal range response, good exposure latitude, and a useful rated speed. It is formulated for natural skin tones, and produces exceptionally high quality images when used in a good camera and processed correctly.

Oddly enough, this is exactly the same specification for Kodak's very fine Portra NC 160. Who'd have guessed? OK. Just remember: Bluefire Murano 160 is a Bluefire product, and Kodak cannot be held responsible for technical support.

Superslides fit in a standard 35mm projector yet yield much larger, more brilliant images than 35mm size films. Projecting a superslide in the middle of a 35mm slide show will make your audience gasp with amazement.

The Primo Jr., made around 1958 by Tokyo Kogaku Kikai K.K. (later Tokyo Optical), makers of the famous Topcon cameras, is a superb example of a 4x4 twin-lens reflex. It was sold in the United States as the Sawyer Mark IV. It came with an extraordinarily good Tessar-type coated lens and was very well made. At least three variations were produced, one with a non-coupled selenium cell light meter mounted above the viewing lens. You'll find more information about this camera here.

The compact Gevirette is smaller than most 35mm cameras. In good to excellent condition, they sell for $125 on eBay. McKeown's high book value is $225. They were made in the 1930's by Gebr. Wirgin, Weisbaden, Germany and were sold with a variety of lens and shutter combinations. It sometimes appears named "Reporter," "Miniature Marvel," and "Adoxette." A variation called "Klein-Edinex" has been claimed, but I am aware of no evidence for it.

It does not come with color-corrected lenses, so color images made with this camera will be quite soft.

$39.50 in 1938 had purchasing power equivalent to just over $600 in 2009.

127 film was introduced by Kodak in 1912 for the Vest Pocket Kodak, yielding eight 1-5/8" X 2-1/2" images per roll. Kodak stopped production of the film in 1995, and most other manufacturers discontinued it at about the same time.

In recent years, 127 was used in Baby Rolleiflex, Yashica 44, Primo Jr., Sawyer's Mark IV, Ricoh 44, and similar small, twin-lens reflex cameras which were introduced in the late 1950's, and were widely used during the 1960's and 70's.

It is also the correct size for many high-quality cameras of the pre-WWII period, including eye-level fixed-lens cameras and compact folding cameras with extremely fine lenses that richly deserve to be used today.

Collectors who still use the original Vest Pocket Kodak, especially the "Special" with its very fine lens-shutter combination, report it gives wonderful images.

It should be remembered that most of the lenses made before WWII did not have today's sophisticated antireflection coatings, and were not corrected for use with color films, so a certain charming "softness" is one way you can always tell when an image came from one of these antique beauties.

Because the film size is so large, these cameras with their uncoated lenses often yield images significantly better, and sharper, than even the best modern 35mm. Yet some, particularly the high-quality folding cameras, are smaller and easier to carry than a 35mm SLR.

A 127 transparency (called a Superslide), when projected, gives a much larger, much more brilliant image than a 35mm slide can give.

127 film can be used in antique cameras, including the Vest Pocket Kodak and its imitators, and also in the very old box cameras designed for Kodak 0 film.

Many inexpensive cameras of the 1950's and 1960's used 127 film. A Brownie Starflash or Beacon is not a worthwhile camera for everyday use today, but it is certainly a nostalgic experience loading 127 film into one and shooting a roll or two at a picnic or sporting event.

127 film is designed to give 12 square, 4x4 cm, or 8 rectangular, 4x6.5 cm images per roll, depending on the camera you use. It has frame numbers printed on the backing paper so you can use it in cameras which use a "ruby window" on the back for advancing film to the next frame.

The so-called "dreivier" (three-four) models are 127 half-frame cameras. They have two red windows on the back so you can get 16 3x4 cm images per roll.

When 127 film is reversal processed and mounted in "superslide" mounts, which fit standard 35mm projectors, you can project images substantially larger than 35mm slides, with tremendous visual impact.

Today, 127 film is still manufactured in Croatia by Fotokemika, and in Canada by Bluefire Laboratories, but only in small quantities.

Expose Bluefire Murano 160 at ISO 160, and Bluefire Murano 400 at ISO 400. These films are balanced for daylight or electronic flash exposure. If you're shooting in artificial lighting, such as tungsten or fluorescent light, be sure to use a cooling filter like the 80B.

Frugal Photographer sells a processing tank with adjustable spiral reels that accept 127 film, as well as 35mm, 126 Instamatic, 35mm, 828, Bolta, 120, 620, and 220.

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