Film gauge is a physical property of photographic or motion picture film stock which defines its width. Traditionally, the major movie film gauges are 8 mm, 16 mm, 35 mm, and 65/70 mm (in this case 65 mm for the negative and 70 mm for the release print; the extra five millimeters are reserved for the magnetic soundtrack). There have been other historic gauges in the past, especially in the silent era, most notably 9.5 mm film, as well as a panoply of others ranging from 3 mm to 75 mm.
Larger film gauge is generally associated with higher image quality, higher image detail, greater materials expense, heavier camera equipment, larger and most costly projection equipment, as well as greater bulk and weight for distribution and storage (both interim and archival).
Size comparison between different film gauges
FormatGaugeOrientationPerfsAspect ratio (approx.)Notable forSuper 88 mmVertical11.33:1Home movies, nostalgiaStandard 88 mmVertical11.33:1Early amateur useStandard 1616 mmVertical11.33:1Docs, newsreelsSuper 1616 mmVertical11.66:1 – 1.85:1Indie film, TV4-Perf 35 mm35 mmVertical41.37:1 (flat) / 2.39:1 (anamorphic)Industry standard3-Perf 35 mm35 mmVertical31.85:1Efficient widescreen2-Perf 35 mm35 mmVertical22.39:1Techniscope, budgetVistaVision35 mmHorizontal81.50:1 (cropped to 1.85:1)High-res, VFXDynavision70 mmVertical81.39:1Rare large-frame format5-Perf 70 mm70 mmVertical52.20:1Epic cinemaIMAX70 mmHorizontal151.43:1Ultra-large format
See also Film format, includes the standards for image capture and projection, as well as film gauge. List of early wide-gauge films
References
External links One hundred years of film sizes Running time calculator according to gauge, length and frame rate of the film