Uncommon film gauges
Film gauges that are not 70mm, 35mm, 16mm, or 8mm wide are projected very rarely in modern exhibition settings. These uncommon film gauges include 9.5mm, 22mm, 28mm, and other gauges that are no longer manufactured or that were not common even when they were. Most were created for the amateur market and were not meant to be public exhibition formats.
Today these formats are projected exclusively in specialty or hobbyist settings; for example Home Movie Day events in countries where 9.5mm was common as an amateur format may include 9.5mm projection, or institutions with technology archives may present a screening as a demonstration.
9.5mm
9.5mm is a nontheatrical format released by Pathé in 1922. It is the most common of the uncommon gauges. It was popular as a format for home movies, view-at-home reduction prints, and amateur filmmaking in the United Kingdom and France. There is, as of 2025, an ongoing effort to manufacture it on a small scale.[1][2]
9.5mm is notable for its use of a single perforation located in the center of the frame. This maximized the surface area that could be used for the printed image, but increased the risk of damage to the center of the picture area.
Another unique feature of 9.5mm is ability to pause the film on intertitles in order to save footage. A notch was cut on a title frame, which would trigger a lateral tensioner below the gate. This caused the claw to retract for a short period, leaving the same frame in the gate until it reengaged.
Resources
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Pathé Baby 9.5mm projector with a case of films in their original cartridges. -
9.5mm film with a notch to pause the projector on the intertitle.
22mm
22mm was one of the first film formats available for amateur use, introduced in 1912 for use with the Edison Home Kinetoscope. The format employed a unique system in which the picture was printed in three strips, with the center strip printed in reverse order so that it could be run backwards through the mechanism. The perforations are located between each strip of images. The reel would be cranked forward for the first strip, cranked backward for the second strip, and cranked forward again for the third strip. In order to place the selected strip in the optical path, a knob is turned to shift the lateral position of the gate, drive mechanism, and reel arm assembly, while the lens and lamphouse remain in a fixed position. The Home Kinetoscope was also equipped with a stereopticon lens and slide carriage. To project slides, the lamphouse was pushed away from the operator to align it with the stereopticon lens.
22mm films were printed on a diacetate film base, making the Home Kinetoscope safer to operate than the so-called “toy projectors” that were commonly available for home use, which were designed to run short lengths of highly flammable nitrate film. They were distributed on wooden cores and shipped to the user in film cans with a metal post in the center to hold the core in place.
The Edison Home Kinetoscope was a financial failure, and the line was discontinued in 1914. At least 260 titles were offered in the 22mm format, all of them reductions of 35mm releases.
Resources
External Links
- “Edison’s 22mm Home Kinetoscope”, from USC’s Hugh M. Hefner Moving Image Archive.
- Edison Home Kinetoscope with Accessories, from the Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences
28mm
28mm was a nontheatrical format released by Pathé in 1912. Intended for amateur home use, 28mm was printed on non-flammable diacetate stock.
Screening examples
- Various screenings of 9.5mm films were organized in 2022 and 2023 in honor of the centennial of the format.
- Fernando Martín Peña has presented 9.5mm screenings as part of the BAZOFI festival in Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Home Movie Day London has featured 9.5mm projection as recently as 2023
- Dino Everett presented a screening of 28mm films with the Chicago Film Society in 2014.
External links
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