8mm Forum: Why in mm ?

This is topic Why in mm ? in forum General Yak at 8mm Forum.

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Posted by Dominique De Bast (Member # 3798) on October 19, 2013, 01:01 PM:

I wonder why the metric system was adopted to refer to the width of the film ? Is it because the cinema was invented in France that countries like the US and the UK are also using the mm as reference or is there another reason ?

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on October 19, 2013, 01:18 PM:

What I find funny is how freely the systems are mixed in film. A Super-8 cartidge contains 8mm wide film, but it's 50 feet in length!

Posted by Dominique De Bast (Member # 3798) on October 19, 2013, 03:59 PM:

Yes, Steve, it is mixed in anglo-saxons countries. Otherwise, a super 8 cartridge contains 15 meters of film :-) What is strange is that with the new tv sets, computer and phone screen, you get now in France and Belgium the size in inches (and no longer in centimeters) which are not supposed to tell us anything. Another mystery.

Posted by Fabrizio Mosca (Member # 142) on October 19, 2013, 04:32 PM:

On the contrary, in Italy the size of TVs and monitors has always been in inches and when I was a little child i tried to measure the size of the tv putting one thumb after the other! (in Italy the translation for "thumb" is the same of the one for "inch" )

Posted by Maurice Leakey (Member # 916) on October 20, 2013, 12:42 AM:

In 1892 Edison and his prime assistant, William Dickson, asked George Eastman for film 1.375 inches in width. perhaps 35mm was easier to say and print (and remember!)

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