Kodak 126 film

NakedDex

Renovating the parents loft earlier today, I found an old Instamatic 28. It seems to be in good condition, with just the viewfinder showing any signs of age thanks to some hazing of the plastic.
I know 126 is officially out of production, but I heard someone talking about using 120 in place of 126 somehow, and also that there are a few specialist places still doing 126 in small quantities?
Are either of these true or shall I leave this to sit on a shelf as something to look at.

melekalikimaka

120 can me fitted i believe , daire or al i'm gonna guess will be on this asap, maybe even heebie

Heebie

There was a thread on this recently.

126 is pretty much the same size strip of film as 35mm.. but 35mm has very different sprockets on it.

I think you can put 35mm into a 126 cartridge and use it.. you'll just be shooting frames that go right out into the sprockets..which could be annoying if you want the full frame size. (It's essentially a square format the same width as a 35mm frame.. but taller.)

It should be possible to figure out how to take 120 film, trim it down, and put the "right" sprocket holes in it. There might even be some specialised equipment out there to do it.. or better for a hobbyist who doesn't have tons of cash.. someone who has the equipment and sells 120 film cut down for loading into 126 cartridges. (or pre-loaded into them.)

Either way.. if you want to check out the camera, I wish you luck.

sineadw

I managed to get a 126 cartridge in ebay a while ago for under a tenner. I was talking to Cathy in Gunns (FINALLY) the other day, and I'm gonna take the film out and put it in a light tight container to get it processed in there, and then refill the cartridge with B&W 35mm to process myself. Haven't tried it yet but it looks straightforward enough. TBH the idea of cutting down and resprocketting 120 is a bit too much for me.

Have a look here...

sineadw

Actually, here's a better one, although I'd do as much of the taping as possible before going into the darkbag, including taping it to the spool of the 126 cartridge...

NakedDex

I was just discussing 110 respooling with a friend when he linked me to this site, where he gets 110 currently. Low and behold this little gem appeared on the side of the screen.

Worth trying for a tenner, I reckon, at least to figure out if the optics are still in good enough order to warrant trying out those methods with 35mm and 120 (which I do want to check out).

sineadw

erm.. have you checked out the shipping costs? That's why i scoured ebay...

Photographer's gallery in London have some 110. I was in touch with them ages ago about a mail order delivery. Was quoted: 5 packets of 110 film sent in a small pack EU airmail will cost£1.28 for the postage plus £4.99 each cartridge (£26.23 in total)

Website is http://www.photonet.org.uk/

NakedDex

Oh I noted them for sure, but I'll get them delivered to a friend in the US and have her send them on.
The guy who linked me to that site is living over there too, and tends to order 110 from them in multiples of ten, so it works for him.

I figured I'd go the cheat way and spend $20 on one cartridge, to see how it works out. If everything runs smoothly, I'll have a cartridge to start trying that 35mm with.