120 to 118 Film Adapter Kit
With FAK118 adapters mounted on the 120 spool, your camera will work exactly as it would with original 118 films.
No original 118 spool is needed for this system: you don’t have to respool the film from one spindle to another.
With the 120 film in a 118 film camera you’ll get 6 panoramic-format photographs with a size of about 11x6cm (4¼ x 2½ inches).
KIT COMPONENTS
The KIT comes with four adapters, two for each spool in the camera.
The kit also includes 4 white round extenders that are needed if your camera is BOX Brownie Camera or similar. In these cameras the spool has to be of a specific diameter for a perfect alignment of the film advance mechanism with the spool’s hole. To couple the exagonal adapters with its round extensions, press them hard through the hole until they are perfectly aligned on the flat end (i.e. where there’s the metal part).
The one adapter with a different hole is the “Key Adapter”: it features a 1mm laser-cut stainless steel flange that reproduces the same hole that’s in the original 118 spool. This adapter will engage with the camera’s film advance crank.
MOUNTING
- Load the the empty spool (take-up spool) with two adapters mounted at both ends, making sure that the Key Adaper corresponds to the camera’s film advance knob.
- Mount the other two adapters on the unexposed film and put it in the camera.
- Insert the paper leader into the take-up spool and roll up a little until it’s well inserted.
FILM WINDING & FRAME NUMBERING
With the camera open, start winding the film until you see the big vertical arrow, then close your camera.
Turn the film advance knob 8 times (16 half turns) so that the film reaches the correct placing for the first photo.
After the first photo is taken, advance the film by 2,5 knob’s turns (or 5 half turns), and do this for photo 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6.
Then wind the film until the end: the empty spool becomes the take-up spool. Put the key adapter on it and go shoot again!
NOTES: The No. 3 and No. 1 Kodaks have a little red window in the back of the camera: it was used to read the frame number written on the film’s paper. It’s highly unlikely that you will see some sort of numbers or signs on the 120 film paper because of the totally different film format. But if this is your case, use it as a helper for controlling the film position in the camera. If your red window stays a little off the backing paper, then red light is hitting the film causing light streaks: in this case you should mask the window with black tape. A little trial and error is to be expected.
FILM ADAPTER KIT 118 & COMPATIBLE CAMERAS
Load normal 120 film in ANY Kodak camera made for the 118 film:
— No. 3 Folding Pocket KODAK Camera –
Models A, AB, AB-EX, ABX, B, B-2, B-3, B-4, C, C-2, C-3, C-4, C-5, D, E, E-2, E-3, E-4, F, G, and H (1900 – 1915)
— No. 3 Folding Pocket KODAK Deluxe Camera – Persian Morocco Covering silk bellows (1901 – 1903)
— No. 3 KODAK Series III Camera (1926 – 1934)
— No. 3 Special KODAK Camera (1911 – 1914)
— No. 3 Six-Three KODAK Camera (1913 – 1915)
— No. 3 AUTOGRAPHIC KODAK Camera (1914 – 1926)
— No. 3 AUTOGRAPHIC KODAK Special Camera (1914 – 1926)
— No. 3 Pocket KODAK Special Camera (1926 – 1928)
— No. 1 KODAK Junior Camera (1914 – 1914)
— No. 1 KODAK Series III Camera (1926 – 1932)
— No. 1 Pocket KODAK Camera (1926 – 1932)
— No. 1 Pocket KODAK Camera – In 4 colors: blue, brown, gray, green (1929 – 1931)
— No. 1 Pocket KODAK Junior Camera – Black and 3 colors (1929 – 1932)
— No. 1 Pocket KODAK Series II Camera (1922 – 1932)
— No. 1 Pocket KODAK Special Camera (1926 – 1934)
Other makers’ cameras that accept 118 film will also work.
OPERATING CONDITIONS
If your camera has not been used for a long time, check that there is no rust, or dry grease, or dust, or dirt… The feed mechanism in cameras that were left unused for a long time could be very tight and cause a strong tension on the spools during the film advancement. Make sure that the mechanisms are properly lubricated before putting the camera back to work!
SHIPMENT methods and times
You can select the preferred shipping method at the checkout page: Registered Mail with tracking, or Priority Mail without tracking. Usually the kits are shipped within a few days, but sometimes it takes a little longer: all kits are produced in small batches, assembled and tested one by one. Check the FAQ page for details.