Fixing a 126 Film Cartridge to Take 35mm Film for an Instamatic X15F Camera

Don't throw away your old Instamatic X15 film Camera just because they have stopped making the film. Instead convert a 126-film cartridge to take 35mm film and keep snapping away!

You will need an old 126-Film cartridge for this project, I found one at a photo shop with expired film. Cartridges are also sold on Ebay from time to time. Once you have a cartridge, you need to 'crack it open' and then load it with new 35-film in complete darkness. Seal the cartridge up with tape and place it back into your instamatic X15 camera. To advance the film along to take another photo you need to hold the camera against your leg and take a 'dummy shot' between photos as the sprocket holes on a 35-film will active the feeler arm in the camera. Taking a dummy shot in darkness aligns the frame correctly to take the next photo.

Instamatic X15 126 film camera.

Old 126-film cartridge.

New 35-mm film.

Darkroom change bag.

Tape.

Straw.

In order to load 35mm film into a 126-cartridge you will need to open it. This can be done twisting the cartridge in both hands, I found once I had heard a crack, a screwdriver helped to fully open the cartridge. Some cartridges are easier to open without breaking then others. Kodak one's have a reputation of being difficult.

I broke the one I had (Hanimex) and had so glued it up with a plastic glue. I then sanded the join where the film would be sliding over.

Once you have the 126-cartridge open, you can then load new 35mm film inside. This needs to be done in complete darkness, hence I don't have any photos of this process. I loaded the film inside a photographic change bag.

• The feeder tail of the 35mm film was cut off.
• With a very thin piece of tape, I attached the end of the new film to a small length of plastic straw and rolled it up.
• The opposite free end was taped to the take-up spool.
• Both rolled up film and take up spool were placed into the cartridge, the back cover place on top, which was then secured close with some tape.
• The small rear window was taped over with 2 layers off black tape.
• The cartridge was then taken out of the change bag and dropped into the camera.

The reason I used a thin piece of tape to attach it to a piece of plastic straw was so when the end was reached, I would feel a tug while winding and know the end had been reached, I would continue winding, breaking the tape and ensuring the shot film was completely enclosed into the cartridge.

Some people like to attach the 126-film backing paper to the film so they can keep track of how many shots are left. I choose not to, and this way was able to load a 36 roll of 35mm film into a 24-shot cartridge.

I ensured the tape used to attach the film to the take up spool slide under the frame and then loaded the cartridge into the Instamatic X15F camera.

Most 126 Instamatic film cameras they have fixed lens (i.e. no focusing) with a high f stop (small aperture), so for good shots, take outdoors photos on a sunny day. Once the film is completed, remove the cartridge and take it to a photo developer to be developed, you will want to ask for the cartridge back so in can be used again. I enjoyed using the camera and was happy with the photos / scans which came back after developing.

I loaded and shot another roll. This time I added the backing paper so I could see which shot I was on. I told the photo shop it had been shot in a 126-camera using 35mm film and so they scanned for 126 images - hence the sprocket holes at the top of the images. I will probably just have them scanned in 35mm format in future as I find the sprocket holes a little distracting. I noticed some light leaks on a couple of the images and while this could be 'an effect', I will run some black tape around the joined edges of the 126-cartridge next time to prevent this from happening.