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Response to 126 film

from Michael Goldfarb (mgoldfar@mobius-inc.com)
True enough, 126 film was the "Kodapak" cartridge film used by the original 1960s Kodak Instamatics - it was actually unperforated 35mm stock with a paper backing in the plastic cartridge, producing 28x28mm negatives. (As an interesting aside, it evolved out of Kodak's earlier, eventually unsuccessful attempt at using unperforated 35mm stock with a paper backing for the mass market - 828 rollfilm!) This format is absolutely dead and obsolete, and to my knowledge, there's no entrepeneur out there reloading old cartridges.

127 rollfilm, on the other hand, which produced a roughly 4x4cm (or 1- 5/8 inch square) negative in most cameras that used it, is not quite dead yet. B/W film is still being made by Efke in Zagreb, and is available from B&H, Freestyle, etc. And I belive there's color stock or two in 127 available from Film For Classics in upstate New York (check their website if you're curious.)

Of the two formats, 127 is by far the more significant in a user (vs. historical) sense. There are still loads of wonderful Baby Rolleis, Yashica 44s, and other well-made, good-lensed cameras floating around on the used marked that use 127 film. And that 4x4 negative is considerably bigger than a 35mm negative: for their small size (I have a Yashica 44, and it's a beautifully made, almost subminiature TLR that fits the hand much more easily than a 120 TLR) these cameras can produce stunning results with modern films...

Anyway, if it's a 126 camera it's just a collectible, but if it's a 127 camera it may be worth getting some of that Efke film and trying it out!

(posted 9075 days ago)

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