Between The Sprockets A photography blog

35mm in 126

Kodak's line of Instamatic cameras take film in the 126 cartridge format.  These cartridges are still available, but they aren't cheap, and processing is hard to find as well.  The film isn't being made any more, so there will be a time in the near future that you won't be able to buy a 126 cartridge new.  You can head over to Frugal Photographer now if you want to grab some before it's gone.

126 Film isn't all that special (technically), it's simply film stock in a cartridge.  If you crack open the cartridge you will be left wit a roll of film that is 35mm in height and has one sprocket hole per frame.  The sprocket hole is placed to activate a pin in the camera so it knows when to stop allowing you to wind on, and to cock the shutter ready to take a photo.  Other than the sprocket hole diference, the film is identical to regular 35mm (135) film.

With that in mind, I've put together this page to show you how you can reload a 126 cartridge with 35mm film.

The Cartridge

I was fortunate enough to have found my Instamatic camera with a 126 cartridge inside. After reading up on the film format and it's (lack of) availability, I thought I'd just bought a showpiece. About a week later, I stumbled across an article explaining how to reload the 126 cartridge with 35mm film.

First thing I had to do was sacrifice the film in the cartridge. I didn't want to, but developing someone elses 126 film would have been expensive and a waste of money anyway. I've made a youtube video of how to do this procedure, it will do a better job of explaining how this part works.

Things you will need:

1. A 126 Cartridge
2. Scissors
3. Tape
4. A darkbag, or a dark room (I do this in my wardrobe with a towel stuffed in the openings to block as much light as possible)

That's it. I suggest sacrificing some 35mm film to do this several times in the light, then several times with your eyes closed to get used to working by feel only.

This simple cartridge reload should give you images that look like this.

The Instamatic cameras took square photos, and some of that overlaps onto the sprocket holes of 35mm film.  There area few ways to eliminate this if you don't like the look.

1. Simply crop out the sprocket holes after you have scanned the film.
2. Create a mask inside the camera that cover the sprocket holes so they don't get exposed.
3. Modify the cartridge and camera to expose the lower sprocket holes as well.
4. Use film that doesn't have sprocket holes.

Modifying the Camera and Cartridge.

So you've successfully reloaded your 126 cartridge, and you like the results.  Maybe you'd prefer if both sets of sprocket holes were covered to add some more symmetry to your photos.  Read on to find out how.

Believe it or not, this part is a lot easier than reloading the cartridge. There's only two steps, and a small amount of cutting on the cartridge. The modification to the camera is completely reversible.

First, the camera. Inside the camera is a small metal mask that is clipped in between the shutter and the film cartridge. I simply pulled on this until it came out. It wasn't super easy, and being metal, it bent slightly as it came out, but I could easily flatten it back out and reinstall it. See the pictures below for a better idea of what to pull on.

Second, the cartridge. I don't have any photos of the cartridge just yet, and it's almost impossible to find a photo on the internet of a 126 cartridge where you can see the film side. If you look at the film side of the cartridge, it's pretty obvious which piece has to come off. Below I have some pictures of the finished product, with and without film in. You can easily compare this to what your cartridge looks like.

After both mods have been done and you're reloaded your cartridge, it's time to take the camera out and get some photos happening!  Here's some examples of pictures from the modified camera and cartridge.

Note:  The yellow colouring in between the sprocket holes that look like light leaks on some of these photos is actually caused by the film having too much tension on it while it was in the camera.  The original 126 film cartridges contained only 24 exposures, so a roll of 36 has to be squished up pretty tight to fit in.  I've since started using either 24exp rolls, or winding on a third of the film before putting it in the camera.  I prefer to use 24exp. film, as this takes a bit of guess work out of a process that is already fairly heavy on the guess work.

If you prefer to not have sprocket holes in your pictures, you could create a mask, or try something more adventurous like cutting down 120 film to fit into your 126 cartridge.

Enjoy your new adventures with your old camera!

My Instamatic Photos on Flickr.