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In addition to making home movies, one could buy or rent films from the library, one of
the key selling aspects of the format.

As it was intended for amateur use, 16 mm film was one of the first formats to use
acetate safety film as a film base, and Kodak never manufactured nitrate film for the
format due to the high flammability of the nitrate base. 35 mm nitrate was discontinued
in early 1950s.

Production Evolution

The silent 16 mm format was initially aimed at the home enthusiast, but by the 1930s it
had begun to make inroads into the educational market. The addition of an optical
sound track and, most notably, Kodachrome in 1935, gave an enormous boost to the
16 mm market.

Used extensively during WW2, for forces instruction and entertainment, there was a
huge expansion of 16 mm professional filmmaking in the post-war years. Films for
government, business, medical and industrial clients created a large network of 16 mm
professional filmmakers and related service industries in the 1950s and 1960s. The
advent of television production also enhanced the use of 16 mm film, initially for its
advantage of cost and portability over 35 mm. At first used as a news-gathering format,
the 16 mm format was also used to create television programming shot outside the
confines of the more rigid television studio production sets. The home movie market
gradually switched to the even less expensive 8 mm film and Super 8 mm format.

16 mm was extensively used for television production with light cameras in many
countries before portable video cameras appeared.

Format Standards

The picture area of standard 16 mm is 10.26 mm by 7.49 mm, an aspect ratio of
1.37:1, the standard pre-widescreen Academy ratio for 35 mm. Double-perf 16 mm
film, the original format, has a perforation at both sides of every frame line. Single-perf
is perforated at one side only, making room for an optical or magnetic soundtrack along
the other side.

In contrast to Pathé’s 9.5mm equipment, Kodak’s 16mm camera and projector were
very well made and were capable of producing very acceptable results.
Later Models

As mentioned earlier, Kodak introduced their Model B Cine Camera in 1925, this was
a spring motor-driven camera, which allowed a more ‘portable’ approach to
ciné filming – the dreaded “no tripod required” era had arrived.

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