127 Film Camera Revival

Who knows what about 127 film and cameras. Istarted with an old Yasihca 44lm and loved that old camera and still do. I have one now.... a baby Rollei and a Sawyer's Mark Iv.... all of whom hve thewier particular features.... the Sawyer's has a 2.8 Topcor lens.... the Rollei is a Rollei, but they have a time fitting the newer films in the supply chamber right side.... seems the newer reels have a wider spool size. Anyone else notice this? What to do? Get a small taper T reamer and open it up a bit....may try that. Any one who knows, short of re-spooling on reels I don't have, let me know. Also anyone who knows where the Trix tap is let me know.... please, please, please

Thanks... Logan

I've also had some problems with the newer plastic spools. I keep my metal spools separate and use them as the takeup spool whenever possible.

You need to pick up some cheapie 127 cameras from the 1950s and 1960s: Kodak, Imperial, Ansco, stuff like that.

The Kodak Holiday is quite an excellent little package. The simple shutter mechanism cleans up nicely and functions well just by removing the lens from the front. (2 screws).

It's a 4x6.5 negative format, so it's a *BIG* negative. And the Efke film works very well in it.

Most people think it's a joke when they see you with it, but it is truly an awesome little piece of Bakelite.

I too have a Baby Rollei, a Sawyer, and a Yashica 44. All three have good optics (yes, they do beat the little Holiday's simple meniscus lens), and all make for much more manageable package to tote around than a 6x6 TLR.

And I noticed that there is now Rollei Retro 80 film in 127 size. Haven't tried it yet, but there are 3 ricks of Efke 127 in my freezer. And I hate to admit it, but there are 30 rolls of 46mm Agfa 160 C41 long rolls in my freezer, too. (My word, that's enough 127 film to last my whole life! Yeah!)

mb

Hey This is very timely! Monday, December 7th is a 127 day!

I'll have to dig out the Imperial Satellite and burn a roll of 127!


Thanks.

PS: I've never noticed any problems with the 127 spools but, I think I've always had the steel spools. Efke R-100 is the only 127 film I have ever used though.

I've had a few problems using the newer plastic spools on the takeup side.

Dec. 7 -- curious selection of date, although most cameras that will be used will be U.S., German or Chinese, rather than Japanese.

elekm said:

I've had a few problems using the newer plastic spools on the takeup side.

Click to expand...

I have trouble with the new spools on both sides. My 127 (Balda Baldi) fits the spools very tightly. The ends of the plastic spools are thicker than the metal ones, making the outside length about 1mm longer. And the plastic is softer than the metal, so rubbing ends up digging in.

I bought some old spools off eBay and have rerolled the film in a changing bag. That takes care of the mechanical issue.

Still deciding how I feel about Efke R100 (the only B&W 127 that I know of), and wishing that there were metal reels available for developing it. (Don't know whether it is the Efke curl or what, but I have a devil of a time loading it on Paterson reels.)

This camera shoots it in 3x4cm, so I'm still deciding whether the slight frame size gain over 135 is worth the limited film availability.

But I'm loving the camera.

All the Efke I have used is on metal spools.

There are two other 127 days depending on how you write out the dates:
January 27th 1/27 or 27 July 27/7

I have been gathering special photo dates in a calendar. If you are aware of others let me know and I will add them.

bdilgard said:

All the Efke I have used is on metal spools.

There are two other 127 days depending on how you write out the dates:
January 27th 1/27 or 27 July 27/7

I have been gathering special photo dates in a calendar. If you are aware of others let me know and I will add them.

Click to expand...

I think you must have meant 12 July . Darned typos!