Easy cutting of 120/220 film to 127

keithwms · Mar 23, 2012

Here's a quick vid showing how to cut any 120/220 film down to 127 format. Quite a money saver, if I do say so myself.

http://youtu.be/o-HLR-k_qOE

Enjoy

cscurrier · Mar 23, 2012

Cool technique. I like the chair.

pentaxuser · Mar 23, 2012

Doesn't this method result in the backing paper only being the same width as the film whereas I assume that normal 127 backing paper overlaps 127 film as 120 backing paper does for 120 film so light getting into the edge of the film becomes a problem. The demonstrator does mention this but short of loading and unloading the 127 film into and from the camera in total darkness it risks light damage into the edge of the film

Is there a way round this? I agree that 127 film seems to command a premium price on e-bay, in the U.K at least, simply because it is a niche product with a limited range of films available. So a great idea if film edge light damage can be overcome and re-spooling is relatively simple which I am not sure it is.

pentaxuser

keithwms · Mar 23, 2012

Haha cscurrier, that chair is not of my choosing, it's left over by some old ladies

Pentaxuser, you could keep the backing paper from another 127 roll and use that, or you could make your own backing paper. But this whole operation, including loading a camera, could easily be done in a small changing bag. But respooling is very easy, I just didn't include it in the vid.

cscurrier · Mar 23, 2012

keithwms said:
Haha cscurrier, that chair is not of my choosing, it's left over by some old ladies

Well it's a wonderful chair! It's definitely something I would photograph within a certain scenery or so.

Richard S. (rich815) · Mar 23, 2012

Very cool. Now I can start to use my grey baby Rolleiflex again, and with a bunch of different films! Those expensive Efke rolls were killing me.

keithwms · Mar 23, 2012

cscurrier said:
Well it's a wonderful chair! It's definitely something I would photograph within a certain scenery or so.

Haha, it is actually the most comfortable chair ever... it is a stealth recliner. Very hard to sit in it and not take a nap.

paul ron · Mar 23, 2012

Nice solution, thanks for the tip.

EASmithV · Mar 24, 2012

That's cool...

Molli · Mar 24, 2012

Very nifty little trick. Admittedly, my mind travelled to some harsh places after you used the word "circumcision" to describe the process while you were viciously twisting the poor thing. Everything said after that word choice was heard in that context. Ouch!

mgb74 · Mar 24, 2012

I've been avoiding buying one of those 4x4 Yashicas due to the cost of film. Now I want one. This tip will cost me money.

keithwms · Mar 24, 2012

Molli said:
Admittedly, my mind travelled to some harsh places after you used the word "circumcision" to describe the process

Sorry! At least it's all over in a few seconds.

mgb74 said:
This tip will cost me money.

Sorry! But they are great little cameras...

gandolfi · Mar 24, 2012

very cool!

keithwms · Mar 24, 2012

Next I will demonstrate cutting of aerial film with a bagel cutter

himself · Mar 24, 2012

my yashica 44 thanks you
cracking idea

Worker 11811 · Mar 24, 2012

keithwms said:
Next I will demonstrate cutting of aerial film with a bagel cutter

Please do! Sweetums is hungry!

himself · Mar 24, 2012

Worker 11811 said:
Please do! Sweetums is hungry!

I almost bought one of them once, but had a sudden moment of clarity, closed my computer and walked away

keithwms · Mar 24, 2012

The aerial cameras are awesome! There has been an aerial plaubel on fleabay for months now, it keeps speaking to me in my dreams. Unfortunately my dreams also involve an open cockpit airplane or helicopter, a reckless pilot, and the coast of hawaii...

The problem with the aerials is, of course, the lack of close focus. So I got a K22 (?) or something like that and took it apart and discovered a very clever vacuum back mechanism, which could be cannibalized. It would be a very nice thing to transform into a 4x5 back. Project #387 for a rainy day...

~~~

Richard Pippin just mentioned a pipe cutting implement that he thinks would be even easier than the cigar cutter. Just about anything is better than forking out $10+ / roll. If you do go with a cigar cutter, you might want to avail yourself of a knife sharpener too, you want to keep that one edge very sharp and the other one dull. I dulled the one side with a dremel tool.

We discussed using a nice thin saw to cut down a lot of rolls at once, but the concern is heat. When you go all the way through the plastic, quite a lot of heat would be generated.

himself · Mar 24, 2012

keithwms said:
The aerial cameras are awesome!

aargh, don't tell me that, tell me they are terrible waste of money, useless pieces of junk.

you mean one of these pipe cutter?

Worker 11811 · Mar 24, 2012

I didn't buy the aerial camera. I inherited it.

I have several spools for it and one roll of unexposed Super-XX Aerographic film, still in the sealed can, but it's dated 1949.
There is also a bag mag that's supposed to attach to the camera, somehow, but I haven't figured it out. The bag mag will have to be repaired first. There's a crack in one of the corners. Probably not a hard repair to make. It's just another thing I have to figure out how to do.

There is an observation deck at the top of a tall tower, overlooking Presque Isle Bay, toward the Peninsula. I thought I could take it up there to do my first test shots with it. If I can get it to work, I thought it might be possible to stop by the airport (I live nearby) and pop into the office at the civil aviation hangar and see if there is anybody who would like to trade a ride in an airplane for some free aerial photography. A fair trade, I'd say.

My only real problem, assuming I can get a roll of film to fit it, is how the hell do you develop the film? It's seven inches wide by 25 feet long!

I think the bag mag is probably the best way to go, anyway.

pentaxuser · Mar 24, 2012

Thanks for the answer and suggestion about using 127 backing paper, Keith. I suppose that the key to this is whether the 120 film in its original backing paper allows the light to penetrate further than the neg surrounds. As long as light strike is restricted to the neg surrounds then it doesn't matter.

I take it that your experience is that light penetration doesn't encroach onto the neg itself?

Thanks

pentaxuser

keithwms · Mar 24, 2012

Hard to answer- it depends how good a job you do cutting it so that it fits tightly on the spool. If it's cut much too short then there could be a lot of fogging from the edges. And some films are notorious for light-piping all the way through, e.g. HIE and any IR or extended red film will probably give problems and the loading and unloading should be done in the dark. I vaguely recall that some of the film bases really pipe like crazy. To be on the safe side, it's probably best to load and unload in the dark and use a black container for the film.

The slit film I bought from somewhere came wrapped in foil! I would definitely store it that way and load/unload in a changing bag or under a jacket or something.

keithwms · Mar 24, 2012

himself said:
you mean one of these pipe cutter?

Yep I guess that's what Richard means. I saw something a lot lighter that looked like it might do the job. Anything that has an easily replaceable or sharpenable blade should work.

And it'd be best to have some sort of "stop" to make sure it's cut at the right place... maybe I'll make a sleeve or something out of pvc pipe.

himself · Mar 24, 2012

yes, you can get smaller ones and as far as I can remember they can be set to cut to a certain depth

EASmithV · Mar 25, 2012

It's a pity 127 died. I'm a little surprised, Super Slides are cool.

Easy cutting of 120/220 film to 127

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