Topic: experimenting with reloading a 126 cartridge

[formica]

lately i've been experimenting with reloading bw 35mm film(arista premium 100) in a 126 cartridge. i've now run test rolls through all the 126 cameras i own. the kodak instamatic x-15 seems to work the best. it was a bit hard to advance in places, but overall went well. instamatic 100 kept getting stuck and i had to open and shut the back(jiggling the cartridge a few times too) to get it to advance better. did all that in my pocket to give it some protection from lightleaks. the instamatic x-35 also had advancing problems(i tried pushing that roll in development but didn't quite push it far enough). the keystone everflash 10 advanced smoothly, but not far enough so i had to cover the lens and fire the shutter to be able to advance it to its proper place. i wasn't sure if i wanted the sprockets in the shots at first so the samples below are a bit all over the place in that respect. i have a set on flickr for these experiments so far: http://www.flickr.com/photos/formica/sets/72157625634811139/with/5375304844/

                    william

ps. images should be(kodak instamatic 100, kodak instamatic x-15, kodak instamatic x-35, keystone everflash 10)

[moominsean]

i've tried this before and had issues with the sprocket holes not lining up. good to see you got it to work!

[Chris A Fraser]

That third shot is great!

Do you tape up the cartridge or do you find they snap back together easily?

[formica]

i've tried this before and had issues with the sprocket holes not lining up. good to see you got it to work!

i guess i was lucky in that respect. i didn't notice any real problems with the sprocket holes as long as i got the film taped straight. i taped both ends to make things a little more manageable.

             william

[formica]

That third shot is great!

Do you tape up the cartridge or do you find they snap back together easily?

thanks. no, i didn't tape the cartridge at all. it's in good shape so it snaps together quite easily and well. i think the backing paper gives it some protection too. basically once it's snapped back together i'll load it directly into a camera.

            william

[astrobeck]

That's impressive.  The second shot is fun!
Are you going to try color?

[formica]

That's impressive.  The second shot is fun!
Are you going to try color?

thanks. i've taken countless shots of those guys. i can't resist going back to take more every few months.

i haven't done colour yet, but i'm thinking about it. the bw is easier since i just use the bulk loader for the size, with colour quite a bit of the roll may go to waste. i still have a bunch of very expired 126 colour film i'm shooting though.

                 william