A size comparison of film formats and digital sensors.
Digital Formats:
1/2.5” is your average smart phone camera sensor size
1” type sensors vary a bit in size and are usually used in compact cameras and drones
Micro 4/3 is a compact mirrorless system used by Olympus and Panasonic: 18x13.5mm sensor, similar in size to 110 film
APS-C a popular digital format (sometimes known as a crop sensor); based on the old APS format size of 25.1×16.7mm: sensors vary in size by a few millimetres between manufacturers
Full Frame, which is called so because it is the same size as a 35mm frame: 24mm x 36mm
44X33mm, also known as mini or ‘crop’ medium format, this is the sensor used in Fuji GFX cameras and Hasselblad X1Ds
54x40.5mm, the largest production digital sensor, equivalent to the capture area of 645 medium format, used in the £50k Phase One IQ backs, for example.
not shown:
various other small sensors around the 1/2.5” size (1/1.8” etc)
APS-H digital - older digital sensor size used by Canon, in between APS-C and Full Frame, bigger than APS-H film
Next up are the Small Film Formats, using 35mm as the cross reference:
disc film - now extinct, disc film is a rotating plastic cartridge with tiny 10x8mm frames
110 - the smallest currently available film stock at 17x13mm, this ‘spy camera’ style cartridge film was discontinued completely in 2009 and revived in 2011 by Lomography, who make a handful of emulsions in the format today
APS - originally produced as a high tech 110 film replacement, APS film can usually be shot in three different aspect ratios: C - classic, H - High Definition and P - Panoramic (which is just a cropped in frame of APS-H) APS film is functionally extinct
Horizon P - refers to the extra wide negatives (58mm) produced by Horizon swing lens panoramic cameras on 35mm film.
X-Pan - is the 35mm film panoramic format used by the legendary Hasselblad X-Pan, at 65mm wide.
Medium Format and Large Format:
35mm - 36mm x 24mm image frame - (35mm refers to the diagonal) the most popular format of the 20th century, traditionally used in amateur photography, sports and journalism where speed, efficency and portability are important
645 - the smallest of the medium formats, still 2.6 times bigger than 35mm. 16 shots per roll of 120 film.
6x6 - popular square format used by Holgas and Hasselblads. 12 shots per roll of 120 film.
6x7 - popular medium format due to its agreeable aspect ratio. 10 shots per roll of 120 film.
6x9 - same proportions as 35mm film, just a 5.2x larger negative! 8 shots per roll of 120 film.
612 - large 2x1 panoramic format, almost the same width as 5x4 sheet film. 6 shots per roll of 120 film.
5x4” - large format photography, comes in a box of sheets that you manually load into film holders.
not shown:
6x8 - rare medium format. Some Japan-only Fuji rangefinders.
610 - rare panoramic format. Plaubel Veriwide.
617 - extra wide panoramic format on 120 film, requires lenses with large image circles. 4 shots per roll of 120 film.
624 - insane super panoramic medium format, used by rare, specialised cameras. 3 shots per roll of 120 film.
This final diagram shows you just how big an 8x10” negative is compared to a 35mm neg, which is the small blue rectangle in the lower left corner!
5x4” - the smallest of the large formats
8x10” - the largest standardised film format commercially available, largest colour negative available, needs big lenses and big cameras!
not shown:
5x7” - intermediate large format size, less popular than 5x4” and 8x10”
ULF - Ultra Large Format refers to non-standard, larger than 8x10”, sheet film, which is typically made to custom sizes through a direct order with manufacturers, black and white only (I think). Ilford do some.
all diagrams © milofilo.com, cannot be reproduced without permission