A 35 mm roll film conversion requires different microfilm scanner hardware and accessories than 16 mm roll film, such as larger rollers and guiders. However, when it comes to digital microfilm conversion, the final product is not different when comparing 16mm roll film images to 35mm roll film images, but the file size can be and that can affect cost.
Generally, maps, blueprints, and engineering drawings are contained on 35 mm roll film, however, there are many cases where 8.5 x 11 or 8.5 x 14 images are present on 35 mm film. Of course, a roll of 16 mm film can also contains maps or blueprints.
From the technical standpoint, the reduction ratio or aspect ratio is very different. Most 35mm film were reduced 12-16x, while 16mm usually ranges from 20 to 48x. e-size drawing are usually filmed on 35mm roll film due to the size of the original.
