Loading a 120 film camera with a pair of 3D printed 35mm film adapters

By Hamish Gill

I’ve just loaded my Lubitel 166b 120 6×6 format film camera with a roll of 35mm film… so thought I’d write a quick post to demonstrate how.

First I ordered a pair of 3D printed 35mm film adapters off Sam Cornwell’s Etsy. (Sam’s website Photgotraphy is also worth checking out). They came in the post a few days later. Once I’d found a previously missing take up spool, I set about loading the camera.

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Step 1. Load it into the camera. It felt a little snug, but actually fit perfectly when I closed the camera.

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Step 2. Feed it into the take-up spool. No problems here.

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Step 3. I need to work out how much to advance the roll after each frame is shot. To do this I put a bit of tape on the winder and made a mark pointing to the top of the camera.

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I then put a tiny mark on the film and with the back of the camera open, wound it to see what sort of rotation would see the mark past the film gate. Luckily, two complete winds gave it just slightly more wind than is needed. I’m not worried about wasting a bit of film with an experiment like this.

Step 4. Close the back of the camera and make sure it’s light tight – that little red window is no good to me here. I cut the a bit out of a film canister lid and taped it over the hole.

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Step 5. Wind on. I gave it 4 complete winds of the knob. I feel like another might be safer… but I’m living dangerously…

Just a bit of fun… Keep an eye out for the results!

You can get a pair of 3D printed 35mm film adapters off Sam Cornwell’s Etsy – £6.46! Bargain!

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About The Author

By Hamish Gill
I started taking photos at the age of 9. Since then I've taken photos for a hobby, sold cameras for a living, and for a little more than decade I've been a professional photographer and, of course, weekly contributor to 35mmc.
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Comments

Sam Cornwell on Loading a 120 film camera with a pair of 3D printed 35mm film adapters

Comment posted: 05/12/2016

Hi Hamish! Thank you so much. Great starter tutorial for anyone wishing to give them a go.
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Hamish Gill replied:

Comment posted: 05/12/2016

No probs! :)

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Reiner replied:

Comment posted: 05/12/2016

Great post. Alternatively if money is no issue a new Lomography Lubitel 166 is capable of shooting with 35mm film out of the box when you mount the so called Lubikin 35mm kit which is included with the camera. It's called shooting in panoramic mode.

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Peter Choy on Loading a 120 film camera with a pair of 3D printed 35mm film adapters

Comment posted: 05/12/2016

Interesting! Would a similar hack for running 35mm film in a 127 camera be possible? Could it fit?
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Hamish Gill replied:

Comment posted: 05/12/2016

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Steve Ford replied:

Comment posted: 05/12/2016

Peter, it would depend on the 127 camera. I've managed to drag a roll of 135 through a Kodak Brownie before now (the oval plastic one, it has enough space inside) but you'd have no chance with anything that has tight film containers fitted just to a 127 reel like a VPK or a VP Twin.

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Dexter on Loading a 120 film camera with a pair of 3D printed 35mm film adapters

Comment posted: 06/12/2016

Interested to see the results Hamish, have had a printed set of these for a year now but just haven't got around to trying this!
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Alexander on Loading a 120 film camera with a pair of 3D printed 35mm film adapters

Comment posted: 06/12/2016

Did you have to modify you Lubitel in any way? I have previous version of this camera, Lubitel 2, and it has little spring and the bottom that provides tension for the film spool and with it 35 mm film cannister does not fit properly.
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Hamish Gill replied:

Comment posted: 06/12/2016

Nope, just pushed it in

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Dominic on Loading a 120 film camera with a pair of 3D printed 35mm film adapters

Comment posted: 09/12/2016

Hey Hamish, happy holidays!

Just a quick note, I'm not expecting you to post this, since it may take biz away from your guy, but there is this guy here in the u.s., that does a whole bunch of 3d printing. Not to sure if you know him...
http://holgamods.com/holgamods/Spools.html

Dominic
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Solography with a Solarcan - Does exactly what it says on the tin! - 35mmc on Loading a 120 film camera with a pair of 3D printed 35mm film adapters

Comment posted: 10/06/2018

[…] through another one of his maker endeavours – I’d bought a couple of 3D printed 35mm to 120 film adapters off him and we’d got chatting via social media. By the time his Kickstarter was a success, I knew […]
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