What started out as a simple story about the Kodak Ektar H35 two years ago, turned into a long story about the camera, as well as half-frame photography in general, with a dash of information about my new “Hallway Gallery.” At some point in the writing, the story was kicked to the curb, forgotten like some…well, I can’t think of it right now. That was March 2023, right after Kodak introduced the new point-and-shoot 35mm half-frame film camera.
Today, thanks to being inspired by a project that Kurt, my oldest son, just did, I’m back in front of the typewriter banging on the keys about half-frame photography.
The inspiration was in the form of a book Kurt printed, showing some shots from his Kodak Ektar H35 I bought him at the same time I got mine. I sat down one evening to look through the book, and the opening words “All photos 35mm half frame as original pairs” said it all. I was really enjoying the photos when I realized he was doing the same thing with his photos I started to write about long ago, which is, for me, and apparently Kurt, one great way to enjoy a half-frame…a little game I like to call the “Half Frame Game.”
Editor’s Note: I think the name Half Frame Game is lame. Please try harder.
For the sake of this article, a half frame camera is a 35mm film camera that only exposes half of the traditional 35mm frame, which is 24mm tall x 36mm wide, so you end up with a shot that is approximately 24mm tall x 17mm wide. Most half frame cameras are manufactured for this purpose, but in the crazy history of camera technology, there have been many full-frame cameras that were retrofitted for half frame use, many for use as police cameras, believe it, or not.
Why, you may be asking? Well, there are many reasons. The most obvious one being the ability to get more shots from a roll of film, which saves money. And then there’s…well…um…okay, there aren’t “many” reasons, after all. People may say there are other reasons, but this is about it.
With one of these cameras, you can get +/- 72 shots from a roll of 36 exposure film. If you have a 24 exposure roll, you get…wait a minute… *doing math* … “carry the nine” … 48! You get 48 shots from a 24 exposure roll of film. And let me tell ya, shooting a 36-exposure roll can feel like a day with the in-laws: you think it will never end.
Photographer friends of mine who have shot half-frame cameras all seem to agree. One said that it took so long to finish the roll that he had already forgotten what he shot with it.
My advice: start with a 24-exposure roll.
Author’s Note: What about calling it something exotic like “Halb Bild Spiele?’
Editor’s Note: That’s just “Half Frame Game” in German. Still don’t like it.
The main reason I enjoy shooting half-frame cameras I discovered by accident, after shooting a roll through my first half-frame camera, a Canon Demi. An old friend of mine who repaired cameras had one setting on his shelf and convinced me I needed it. I couldn’t see why, but I took it, or bought it. I’m not sure if money exchanged hands or if it was a gift. Nonetheless, I walked out of there with it in my pocket, but not until I had loaded it with film and took a few shots of him working on my Nikon F3.
When I got the film back and looked at the scans, they were doubled up, not individually cropped, because the film house wasn’t set up to process film shot by half frames. So the images were paired together and I had to manually crop out the smaller shots. Which I did…then regretted, because I saw in the few remaining pairs something I really liked.
Without any planning, or thought, I noticed that certain pairs of photos worked well together and I wanted to keep them together. Fun.
1: Shoot a roll of film
You can try to pair photos as you shoot, but it’s nearly impossible if you simply load your film and start snapping. If you really want to control it, or hope to, leave your lens cap on until you get a few shots into the roll so you are positive your first shot is really your first exposure.
Orientation matters, too. If you're like me, you may get so focused on the shot and forget about the pairing. So I shoot landscapte, then portrait, then landscape and then I lose track of where I am and from then on, the odds of the pairs being planned and predictable are almost impossible. So far, all of the pairings I've shown in this article are landscape and work well together.
As you'll see below, sometimes a mismatched orientation can make for a more interesting photo, so I suggest not stressing it. Have fun, roll the dice, and see what you get in the end.
BONUS POINTS: If one of the pairs is the first, or last, of the roll.
MINUS POINTS: If you leave the lens cap on and only get a single shot on the pair.
TIP: If there is something that’s really important to pair up, shoot three shots. Take the less important of the two, then the main shot, then another of the first shot. Chances are you’ll get a pairing you like. For example, shoot someone on a bicycle, then get close and get a portrait shot, then go back and get another of them on the bike. Easy. Just note that there are still variables at play that make this an art, or luck, and not science.
2: Process your roll of film
For the most fun, I suggest using a film house and just let the chips fall where they may. Enjoy the surprise of what comes out. Since they are mostly just fed through a machine, there is no intervention to choose which frames to pair up. The machines will just start with the first two and move on.
Author’s Note: What about naming the half frame game “Half Frame Pair Up Boogaloo?”
Editor’s Note: No.
3: Adjust your images, if necessary
If you’re like me, you might want to do some image adjustment to lighten, sharpen, or add contrast, etc.
BONUS POINTS 1: If you do no image adjustment at all. The images you share are straight from the camera and default adjustments the film processor does.
BONUS POINTS 2: If you do any image adjustment post scan, you have to do both halves of the frame as one. No selecting each half and adjusting individually allowed.
TRIPLE BONUS POINTS: Develop the film yourself and pair the images using your own enlarger to make the prints.
And don’t cheat yourself out of the fun by Photoshopping two frames you like together. I’m not saying you can’t do that for whatever artistic reasons you may have, I’m simply saying that doing something like that would go against the point of the game, which still doesn’t have a name.
4: Enjoy
How you enjoy your shots is, of course, totally up to you. Since I’m no longer on social media, with very rare exceptions, I like to enjoy my shots by printing them out and putting them in cheap frames and hanging them on my wall. I also have some loaded into the digital frame on my desk.
If you choose to share your double-shots with the public, one thought I’ll share, as I felt this the first time I framed some of my shots: Don’t even care if people don’t understand these photos, or like them. YOU like them. They are yours and they make you happy, so don’t listen to any critics.
Author’s Note: What about naming this game “Double Double Half Frame Trouble?”
Editor’s Note: Keep trying.
Aside from the aforementioned never-ending rolls of film, the big difference you’ll notice immediately is that the orientation is different from full-frame 35mm cameras.
Because you are taking an exposure area that is landscape, wider than tall, and splitting it in two vertically, you now have a portrait exposure, taller than wide. Looking through the viewfinder now gives you a tall, narrow shot, much like holding your smart phone vertically for a photo.
Yeah, holding the camera is a bit weird, at first, as you have to turn the camera sideways to take a horizontal shot.
Aside from that, the differences in shooting a half frame are more varied by the camera than the concept.
Some cameras, like the Kodak Ektar H35, are as simple to shoot as pointing at the subject, pushing the shutter, and advancing the film with the little wheel. Done. Oh, you can have the difficult decision of whether, or not, to use a flash. Yep. That’s about it.
The Canon Demi, on the other hand, has controls for shutter, aperture, ASA, and a zone focusing setup that allows you to guess the focal range. I remember when I got my Demi from Clarence and questioned him on how to use it, he said “Set the aperture on 16 and the focus on infinite and just go shoot stuff.”
That said, one can also set the Demi for shorter depth of field shots and other photo trickery, but since it’s a viewfinder, not a rangefinder, you are doing a lot of guessing, unless you also travel with a tape measure tucked in your camera bag.
Author’s Note: I’ve got it: “Half the Negative, All the Positively Fun Foto Game Thing.”
Editor’s Note: That’s positively terrible.
I can’t give you a definitive answer, as I don’t know what knowledge and skills you’re bringing to the table. I will share, however, how I wish I had done it.
In short, the Canon Demi was not a good start for me for a few reasons. I was experienced with the shutter, ASA, and aperture settings, so that was simple enough, but it was not only my first half-frame camera, it was my first time using a viewfinder. Seriously, there were times I forgot to take the lens cap off and never noticed.
So for me, the viewfinder thing was a challenge, plus the zone focusing. I had almost only shot SLRs and TLRs, so this was all new. The half frame component of it all wasn’t really an issue.
When I got the Kodak Ektar H35, I really enjoyed shooting because it was literally just point and shoot. Granted, I can get better photos from the Demi, but I also had a lot more mistakes because I would forget to change the settings for a new lighting situation. With the Kodak, as long as you stay within a certain range of light situations, or turn on the flash when needed, you’ll get some fun shots out of the deal.
Now, many years later, I’ve shot enough viewfinders that I’ll be fine with the Demi, or the new Pentax 17 that was delivered today. But I am pretty sure I’ll still have my Ektar H35 around, just for the ease and fun of it.
Author’s Note: What about calling the game something like “My Editor is a stick in the mud and wouldn’t know a fun game name if it smacked him on the nose.”
Editor’s Note: That doesn’t sound fun, at all!
Aside from the functionality, there is also cost and availability.
The Kodak Ektar H35 is available brand new, only costs about 50 bucks, and is easy to find. You can probably find cheaper ones used, by now. AgfaPhoto also has a half frame camera that looks, and feels, almost identical to the Kodak, also available new, and for about the same price. The Pentax 17, which just came out last year, is also available brand new, easy to find, but costs around $500. The cost difference, though, is because the Kodak and Agfa toys are just a notch above a pin-hole camera, while the Pentax is a full-functioning electronic camera. But do you want to spend 500 bucks on your first half frame just to see if you like it?
There are many models in between the Kodak and the Pentax, in terms of features and cost. But for anything else, since they are no longer manufactured, you’re hitting the used camera market and that comes with some risk.
When buying old half frames, just read the details. Don’t assume they all shoot standard 35mm film.
I own a few half frames that use Rapid Film, which is a now outdated format which is basically 35mm film loaded into a canister on one side that feeds into the other side. If you have the canisters, the patience, and the ability to get it processed, anyone can figure out how to do Rapid Film as a do-it-yourself solution. However, having done it several times, I still prefer just buying a roll of 35mm film, loading it in the camera, and going to town.
So what’s the answer? Like I wrote above, I don’t have one. Maybe just start cheap and easy and see what you think. Because the half frames are pretty small negatives, the quality of print you’re going to get is greatly reduced from other formats, so it really is just more for fun than exhibit-quality prints, much in line with the thinking of a Polaroid vs. a film camera. Okay, maybe not as extreme, but along those lines.
In this modern age of high-quality scanning and digital printing, however, I’m pleasantly surprised by the quality I’m getting from the half frames. I have a couple of 36x24 posters of my wife shot with the Kodak on my wall and they look great.
For more information about the many half frames made, check out this link:
7 More Charming Half-Frame Cameras
Half Format CAMERAS 135, from 1914 to today (only 18 x 24)
Author’s Note: I give up on naming that game of pairing half-frame pictures together. We’ll need to bring in a professional.
Before I wrap up, I want Kurt to chime in here and share with us his experiences and thoughts on the half frame world. I also want to share his social media info so you can see the cool stuff he’s doing.
"Originally I was drawn to the half frame world because of the price.
"Twice the photos are twice as nice. At that time I wasn’t all too concerned with the quality of the image as much as creating the images themselves. I very quickly realized the magic of a random pair.
"Whether it’s the subjects and how they line up, or the different lighting between the frames, it’s very fun to look back at the results. The tragedy and triumph that comes with film photography only extends when other variables are introduced. All dependent on expectations, of course.
"I have a friend who knows precisely where he is in the roll. He creates the pairs beforehand and then photographs accordingly. I have never done anything like this, nor would I likely be able to, as I am not all that organized. But it would also take away from what makes it fun for me.
"No expectations and a forgetful mind are my approach but there are many & they all work out one way or another."
Guest Author’s Note: I am not opposed to the name “Half Frame Game.” I think it’s catchy.
Editor’s Note: Fine, “Half Frame Game” it is!
I’ve been to a couple of parties where it’s fun to hand out a few half frames and encourage people to use them. What you see after developing the film might be full of pleasant surprises…or you may be as shocked as when watching the closing credits to The Hangover.
Because they are so simple to use, I plan to let my seven-year-old grandson use the Ektar H35 and see what he comes up with.
And as for me, well I suspect I’ll rarely leave the house without something half frame in my backpack. It really is that fun to see the film after you’ve forgotten what you’ve shot.
Thank you, Kurt, for joining in on this story.
You can follow Kurt Viers on Instagram: @partyteeth
I'm just a guy who finds the world an interesting place and likes to capture certain moments with a camera. They aren't for sale, or anything. I just like them. Well, usually. I've taken a lot of photos I don't like, as well.
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