I have an old Kodak folding camera (A Kodak 1A Series III). It appears to be in good enough condition to take pictures, so I want to try using it. It is supposed to use 116 film, and it still has a spool with it. I’ve searched on the Internet and learned that it is possible to use 120 film in the camera. The suggestions I’ve seen for doing this involve creating spacers to fit the smaller film, but the explanations are brief and lead to more questions.
I’m looking for more detailed instructions for what would work to use spacers to fit the film.
I also have a more general question about 120 film. I’m accustomed to 35 mm film that is spooled back into the camera for developing. Does 120 film work the same way, or does the exposed film end up on a spool, which is then sent in for processing?
One the 120s that I’ve used, the film goes from one spool to the other. You then use the now-empty spool for the “take-up” spool on the next roll. It has a gluey strip at the end of the roll that you lick sorta like a stamp, that keeps the roll from coming unwound.
Here’s someone that made a couple spacers to just nudge the spools to one side in the camera.
As Earl said, the film travels from one spool to another, rather than being wound back, like 35mm. It’s pretty easy to find labs that do 120, as that’s what all those wedding photographers are shooting in their “2x2” Mamiyas. You just won’t be able to drop it off at the drugstore.
The lab that processes your film will have a basket of the things. I’m sure they’d be happy to give you one. Or ten or ten dozen.
You only need one “spare” as the things sort of leapfrog though your camera. Once you finish one roll, the spool it came on is moved to the take-up position and a new spool is loaded. When that’s finished, the empty spool moves, a new one comes in and so on…
