Originally introduced by Kodak for their Brownie camera in 1901, the 120 film format ("medium format") was widely used by both professional and amature photographers. Even after the transition to 35mm films in much of the photography market, 120 film continues to be a staple of professional photographers. These medium format films are used for fine art, portraits, weddings, and landscape photography. 120 film is typically purchased in rolls (as shown below). The frame size of 120 film is determined by the camera used. It is always approximately 56mm in height, but varies in width as shown in the table below.

Our 120 Film Scanning Service

When you send us your 120 format films for scanning to CD or DVD, we scan them with all the care and experience that we apply in our 35mm scanning, but with key additions that make all the difference when scanning these larger format films.

We can scan both mounted (up to 6x7) and unmounted 120 films (up to 6x9). We start by cleaning the film using only compressed air. For unmounted films, we place the film in a glass covered film adapter. The use of a glass carrier keeps the film flat and motionless during scanning, assuring a sharp focus edge-to-edge across the entire film area. This is critical to achieving good results on these larger films. Mounted films are put into a mounted film carrier. Next, we scan these films using a high-resolution Nikon 9000 ED medium format film scanner (not a flatbed scanner). We employ dust and scratch removal technologies during scanning to make the digital images shine.

When we have finished scanning your 120 format films, we place preview versions of the images online for you to view. After you have had a chance to preview the scanned images online, we return the digital images to you on archival quality DVDs or CDs (along with the original negatives) using a reliable, trackable carrier. Your films are treated with utmost care while they are in our hands.

Medium Format Film Scanning Service Prices

Note that we consider any film that is smaller than 60mm by 84mm to be "medium format". These films will be scanned as described above. Films larger than 60mm x 84mm will be scanned as described on this page describing our 4x5 and large format film scanning process.

Given the large size of the film, digital file sizes can grow very large if this film is scanned at 4000 PPI. We can help you determine appropriate scanning resolutions based on your needs. In most cases, scanning at 2000 PPI is sufficient.