A 126 camera modification for 35mm film???

xkaes · Jun 13, 2025

I'm no 126 camera expert, but a very nice Minolta Autopak 600-X just landed in my lap. 38mm f2.8 focusing lens with two shutter speeds, and f-stop controlled by a CdS cell. I know that all 126 cameras are different in their the configurations, and I'm wondering if the 600-X can be modified to use 35mm film. I know that many 110 cameras can be modified to use 16mm film, so why not the Minolta?

The way the 600-X works, is that when the film advance lever is used, the shutter is cocked -- and a small pin is pushed up into the 126 perforation -- so the film stays in place. Then when the shutter release is pressed, the pin drops back down, so the film can advance.

I'm thinking that is I simply cut the top of that pin off, the remainder of the pin will still be there, but it won't engage the film at all -- so 35mm film would work.

Am I nuts? What am I missing?

Don_ih · Jun 13, 2025

I did exactly that with a 126 camera. Since I was using the paper in the cartridge, with 35mm film, I could advance to the next number. Worked fine.

xkaes · Jun 13, 2025

That's surprising it's not better know. I looked around, and the general "answer" seems to be "you can't get 35mm film to work in most 126 cameras". I think I have a 126 cassette around here somewhere..............

EricTheReddish · Jun 13, 2025

You might find this of interest: https://filmphotographyproject.com/126-instamatic-film-history-status/

xkaes · Jun 13, 2025

I just found a Kodacolor VR Instamatic cassette. Any tips on taking it apart without destroying it? I've take 110 cassettes apart and some are much easier than others.

I assume all Instamatic film was ISO 100 -- more or less -- since the cameras or cassettes had no ISO adjustment, like the 110 cassettes. And most Instamatic cameras had no exposure control at all. The 100 ISO is a limiting factor, but the 100 ISO film is great.

Don_ih · Jun 13, 2025

xkaes said:
Any tips on taking it apart without destroying it?

Twist it. if you don't care about the film inside, do it in full daylight. use a thin blade knife in the seams. Chances are, you can get it to separate easily.

As for

xkaes said:
surprising it's not better known

The camera needs to cock the shutter independently of the locking of the film advance. I'm not sure how many do that. I think some (or many) Kodaks cock the shutter when the pin goes in the perf.

xkaes · Jun 13, 2025

Don_ih said:
The camera needs to cock the shutter independently of the locking of the film advance. I'm not sure how many do that. I think some (or many) Kodaks cock the shutter when the pin goes in the perf.

On the 600-X the shutter is cocked when the pin rises up and goes into the perforation. My thought is that simply chopping of the top of the pin, the shutter will cock when the film is advanced -- it just won't reach the perforation. There's noting in the perforation or cassette that activates the shutter.

Kodachromeguy · Jun 13, 2025

xkaes said:
I assume all Instamatic film was ISO 100 -- more or less -- since the cameras or cassettes had no ISO adjustment, like the 110 cassettes. And most Instamatic cameras had no exposure control at all. The 100 ISO is a limiting factor, but the 100 ISO film is great.

My Kodak Instamatic 500 did accept 126 cartridges with different speed films (Ekachrome, Verichrome Pan, and others). But I do not remember how the Gossen light meter received film speed information. It was a selenium meter and I controlled the exposure manually.

xkaes · Jun 13, 2025

Minolta's top-of-the-line Instamatic 126 camera was the Autopak 700. It had manual exposure (f2.8-22, speeds of 1/30-1/125 & B), semi-auto mode, and fully auto-mode with a CdS meter. The manual states that the film speed is automatically set from 25-400, so there has to be some sort of "tabs" on the cassette and in the camera -- much like 110 cameras, which had 100 & 400 -- but most 126 cameras didn't operate that way and were much simpler. The Autopak 700 has no way to set the film speed manually, but it has an EV scale in the viewfinder and on the lens.

The Autopak 600-X that I have has no "tabs" in the film box -- although it has auto-exposure -- but it has "tabs" on the cassette.

Patrick Robert James · Jun 13, 2025

If you have any unperfed 35mm film laying around you could use that and get the full frame. You'd just need a hole cutter/puncher and some type of template. Or you could cut down 120 and do the same. You are a resourceful person, I'm sure you could figure something out. I have a couple 126 cameras around here somewhere but the sprockets in the frame thing bother me so I never bothered with them. It would be cool to have a perfer for 110 film. If I had a mill I'd make one. No reason why one couldn't be made for 35/126 as well. I was looking at railroad ticket punchers for a while trying to find one that would work down and dirty style but I lost interest.

Don_ih · Jun 14, 2025

xkaes said:
There's noting in the perforation or cassette that activates the shutter.

Now I remember. Cutting the pin off only works well on cameras that do not lock the film advance once the pin is engaged (if you cut the pin off, the camera will always behave as though the pin is engaged). So check if the film can be advanced with the shutter cocked.

If you need to fire the camera with the lens covered three or four times to get to the next frame, you may as well leave the pin and let it go in the 35mm perfs. It's not that much of an inconvenience, anyway.

xkaes · Jun 14, 2025

I just chopped the top of the pin off, and it works fine -- film advances, shutter cocks, and fires when the release button is pressed. So I'm all set.

I'm still confused about 126 cameras and different ISO speeds -- since no 126 cameras have a dial to set the ISO. The Minolta Autopak 700 states it can handle ISO 25-400, while the 600-X says it takes 50-125 speed film. But there is no sensor in the camera to set the speed, like Agfa Rapid cassettes or 110 cassettes. I've got to assume that 126 cameras simply over-exposure, and use the film latitude to get "decent shots". I'm assuming if I use 100 speed film all will be well.

Don_ih · Jun 14, 2025

There's a notch in the cartridge for ISO. Most cameras don't have anything to read the notch but the Minolta should.

xkaes · Jun 14, 2025

I see three notches in the bottom of my Kodakcolor VR 126 cassette that I have, but there are no tabs in the same locations inside my Autopak 600-X. There are no tabs or pins inside the camera at all -- except for the film perforation tab that I chopped down.

There is also a notch on the top of the cassette, and there is a hole inside the 600-X which looks like it is designed for a pin at that location, but there is no pin in it. I suspect the hole is for another Minolta Autopak model that had a pin. Minolta might have use the same body frame for all of their 126 cameras.

So the 126 cameras had a range of film speeds that they could accept, such as the Autopak 700 (25-400), and the 600-X (50-125). That's also similar to the 110 cameras -- some took only 100 film, while others took 100 or 400. That probably led to a lot of bad exposures in 126 and 110 cameras.

But since my 600-X has no pins to read the cassette, I have to assume it just exposes everything for ISO 50 -- giving a range of ISO 50-125 for "good exposures".

xkaes · Jun 14, 2025

Here's what I on the WEB. I hope it's not AI, but it does not explain how Minolta claims the Autopak 700 has 25-400 ISO, and the 600-X has 50-125 ISO. But it does confirm that many simple 126 cameras just "blew it off".

The 126 cassette also incorporated one of the first widely-used mechanical film-speed sensing systems; using notches on the cassette, a speed of 64, 80, 125 or 160 ASA was indicated and set the camera's exposure mechanism. However, not all cameras took advantage of this feature.

MattKing · Jun 14, 2025

Kodachrome 64 was available in 126. The notch system meant that more advanced cameras, like the Instamatic Reflex, could accurately meter for it.

Paul Howell · Jun 14, 2025

My wife used a Kodak Retina 126 SLR as she did not like loading 35mm or 120 film and the 126 used the notch system to adjust for the film speed. Is there a 3D printed reusable 126 cassette?

Don_ih · Jun 14, 2025

Paul Howell said:
a 3D printed reusable 126 cassette

Lots on ebay. Probably some files you could download and print off.

Donald Qualls · Monday at 9:22 AM

xkaes said:
I assume all Instamatic film was ISO 100 -- more or less

Most of the film I remember for 126 was within 1/3 stop of that figure -- Kodacolor at ASA 80 and Verichrome Pan at 125 -- but by the mid-1970s, it was possible to buy Tri-X in 126 (presumably aimed at the 126 SLRs from Kodak and Zeiss, or the one adjustable compact model I recall).

darkroommike · Monday at 9:42 AM

Donald Qualls said:
Most of the film I remember for 126 was within 1/3 stop of that figure -- Kodacolor at ASA 80 and Verichrome Pan at 125 -- but by the mid-1970s, it was possible to buy Tri-X in 126 (presumably aimed at the 126 SLRs from Kodak and Zeiss, or the one adjustable compact model I recall).

I suspect that most of the 126 cameras had just two film speeds, "high speed" and "low speed". Low speed optimized for ASA 64 slide films, which would overexpose Kodacolor II 1/3 stop and high speed mode of ASA 200 or 250 which would overexpose Tri-X by 1/3 or 2/3 stop. BTW there was also the black Rollei A126, with a meter and a push-pull film advance that was pretty sexy.

xkaes · Monday at 11:17 AM

Paul Howell said:
Is there a 3D printed reusable 126 cassette?

There might be, but since the 126 cassette -- like the 110 & Agfa RAPID cassettes -- were made with different tabs & notches for different film speeds, you'd have to have different 3-D 126 cassettes for each film speed. What speed would a generic 126 cassette be set for? Would it still need a notch???

Has anyone seen a website that actually describes these 126 notches? I've seen lots of 126 websites, but none go into the nitty-gritty.

A 126 camera modification for 35mm film???

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