Full Frame Instamatic « Between The Sprockets

Full Frame Instamatic

Re-loading my 126 cartridge with 35mm was working out great. I do like the sprockets holes in my pictures, but sometimes I don't want them. Below is some instructions for creating a film slicer that will cut down 120 film so you can roll it into a 126 cartridge.

120 film is 6cm (60mm) high, and 126 film is 35mm high. This means there's more than enough room to cut it down to fit in the cartridge. In fact, I've designed this slicer to cut a strip of 35mm, and a strip of 16mm so I can reload my 110 cartridge with black and white. This means out of 1 roll of 120, I'll get a roll for my 126 and a roll for my 110.

To do this, you'll need a medium format camera. I used my holga, as it has a removable and replaceable 6x6 mask. The process is simple, but I had issues finding the right glue and getting it to hold solidly enough. You'll also need a craft knife which you'll snap off the blade tip to get the blade for your slicer. The idea is to glue the blade into the film path, sticking up enough to slice through the film and backing paper as it is rolled over top.

I had to glue the blade to a piece of L-shaped plastic, as it wouldn't glue straight to the plastic itself. I also needed to score the mask and plastic L bracket (just lightly slice into it in a hash (#) pattern) to get the glue to hold. After that, all you need to do is superglue it into the mask, making sure it's sticking up enough to cut through the film, but not too much that you can't put the back on the camera.

You can see the blade coming through the backing paper after it's inserted into the Holga. Some care has to be taken in getting the blade straight, as it may cause problems later on if it's at an angle.

After this has all been done, it's just a matter of inserting film, putting the back on, and slowly winding the film on until you've wound it completely on. I taped up the frame counter window so I didn't have to do the in a dark room.

You end up with a strip of film 35mm in height, ready to stuff into a 126 cartridge. From here on, the process is the same as the 35mm film in 126 video I made here.

I had to modify my Kodak Instamatic 133-x camera to allow the shutter release to operate. The pin in the film compartment had to be trimmed. Normally the pin hits the single hole in each 126 frame and allows the shutter to work. I simply trimmed the pin back so the camera thinks it's always in a hole. This means I need to do the same winding on technique as with the 35mm film (take photo, re-press shutter button while winding, wind twice, let go).

And there it is, ready to go. A regular 126 cartridge would have a perfectly square frame with those awesome rounded edges. I only have the one cartridge that I'd already modified.

I don't know if any lab will touch this homemade 126 film. I do this so I can use black and white film and develop it myself (it was pretty tough getting this stuff onto my Jobo plastic reels, but I got there eventually).