Bigger is better
How the film holder is loaded (in the dark of course). Note the notches in the film that indicate its correct orientation
If you're a film user who craves the very best image quality, go large. Forget medium format on120 rollfilm. Those images might look impressive against 35mm, but they pale compared to the excellence of large format. The easiest way to use that today is with 5x4in sheet film.
Sheet film formats originated in the sizes of glass plates used by cameras before rollfilm became the norm, hence the reason they are measured in inches, rather than millimetres or centimetres. Full plate was 8 ×2x6 ×2in, half plate ×2x4 ×4in, and quarter plate was 4 ×4x3 ×4in. There were also smaller and larger sizes, the most popular of the latter being 10x8in, although plate cameras were made for sizes as large as 15x12in. But in the 1930s through to the 1950s, 5x4in plates, and subsequently sheet film, suddenly became popular – and that's the size that has survived. Ilford, Kodak and Fujifilm between them make black & white negative, colour negative and colour reversal 5x4in sheet film.
