828 replacement spools
FAK828 is a set of replacement spools for your 828 camera. A spool case for your film roll is included!
828 film and cameras history
The 828 film format was introduced by Kodak in 1935 as a simpler, cheaper alternative to standard 35mm. It used film the same width as 35mm but without sprocket holes, which let it deliver a slightly larger image area—28×40 mm. Kodak built the format mainly around its Bantam series, especially the original Kodak Bantam and later the fancy Art Deco–styled Bantam Special. A few other cameras showed up over the years, but 828 was never a major player outside Kodak’s own lineup.
The format slowly faded as 35mm cartridges took over the world, and Kodak finally stopped making 828 film in the mid-1980s.
KIT COMPONENTS
The kit comes with two spools and a case:
- The take up spool and have a particular slot that engages with the film advancce knob,
- The film roll spool, that have the unexposed the film on it.
- The kit also includes a practical case which is light-sealed and is made specifically for carrying the film roll inside, be it exposed or not.
MOUNTING
The two spools are almost identical. The only difference is the notch for the take-up spool key that connects to the knob on top of the camera. The film wraps around the other, simpler spool — it doesn’t matter which way, since the spool is symmetrical.
FILM WINDING & FRAME NUMBERING
You can load two kinds of 35mm film:
- 135 format, which is 35mm
- 35mm film strip spliced form 120 film by a film cutter
Using 135 film (no backing paper)
The first thing people usually think of is using regular 135 film — the standard commercial 35mm stock — because 828 was basically 35mm wide anyway, just without the perforations. The issue is that 135 film doesn’t have backing paper, and that’s a problem: when you load the camera, you’ll have to do it in the dark, otherwise the film will get blasted by light and ruined.
If you use regular 35 mm film from a standard 135 cartridge, you don’t get any backing paper, and that means two things. First, you’ll have to cover the little red window on the back of the camera with electrical tape, or light will leak in while you shoot and ruin the whole roll. And second, you won’t have any markings telling you how far the film is advancing inside the camera, so you’ll have no real reference for how much to wind between shots.
So to figure out how much the film advances inside the camera, you’ll need to run some tests with film that’s already been exposed or with a strip you don’t mind sacrificing. That’s the only way to know how many turns of the knob move the film by the right amount. Keep in mind that as you wind, the take-up roll gets thicker, so every rotation pulls a little more film through the camera than the previous one.
SO, the rule here is “trial and error” :-/
If you’re lucky enough to have an old backing paper from an original 828 roll, you can recycle it by attaching a strip of 135 film. This way, you’ll get the same length as an original roll and perfect numbering on the backing paper to see exactly how far to advance the film for correctly spaced shots.
Using 120 film (with backing paper)
The second option is to use a strip of 35mm film cut down from 120-format film. That way you get the backing paper, which protects the film from light during loading and keeps it from getting scratched while it advances through the camera. To get this 35mm strip, you can use a cutter like the one linked later on the page. The length you get — basically the full length of a 120 roll — is perfect for 828 and for these spools, because as you can see in the photo, the finished roll ends up exactly the right diameter for this kind of reel.
If you use a 35mm strip cut with the cutter from the link, you’ll get film with numbers printed on the backing paper, matching the 6×6 format. This gives you a clear reference for how much film is moving, so you can handle shots more accurately. The numbers are spaced more than 6 cm apart because they account for the gap between frames too. The 828 frame is 40 mm wide, so it’s not super easy to calculate, but the numbers at least give you a solid guide. You can still choose to shoot exactly when you see a number — that way your 40 mm exposure will be centered in the 6 cm 6×6 spacing — and you’ll get 12 clean exposures.
Cutting 35mm film from 120 film
To obtain a clean 35mm film strip like the one in the photos above, you can use the Maxi Cutter kit, with the 35mm + 16mm cutting module. As the name suggests, will also produce a 16mm film strim that you can load in cameras for the 110 format (with limitations) or the Minolta 16 cameras.
Click to read more about the MAXI Cutter
The 828 film CAMERAS
Kodak Bantam Series & Bantam Colorsnap – Production Years
The 828 format never really caught on — it’s considered one of Kodak’s least lucky formats. Only a few, mostly simple cameras were made, and production ended in the 1960s. So we’re talking about a format with very few cameras, even if they were produced in decent numbers over the years, and a film type that hasn’t been made for about fifty years. Here’s a list of the various 828 / bantam cameras produced by Kodak.
-
Kodak Bantam (first model) – 1935–1938
The original compact folder that kicked off the 828 format. -
Kodak Bantam Special – 1936–1948
The Art-Deco luxury model with the fancy aluminum body. -
Kodak Bantam 4.5 – 1938–1948
A simpler folding Bantam aimed at budget buyers. -
Kodak Bantam 6.3 – 1938–1947
Even more basic than the 4.5. -
Kodak Bantam RF – 1948–1953
Post-war redesign with a coupled rangefinder. -
Kodak Pony 828 – 1949–1959
Not a “Bantam” by name, but part of the 828 line. -
Kodak Bantam Colorsnap – 1955–1958
A British-market, fixed-lens 828 camera designed to look modern and simple for casual shooters. -
Kodak Bantam Colorsnap II – 1956–1958
A lightly updated follow-up with small cosmetic and functional tweaks, still firmly in the 828 family. - Kodak Bantam Colorsnap 3 – 1961–1963
Somehow more “modern looking”, but basically the same camera with the same optics.
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.
