OddCameras.com
122 to 120 Film Adapter for Kodak 3A Cameras
There
are quite some old Kodak 3A cameras available, autographic or
non-autographic, at low prices. They use 122 film format, which is 3¼×5½ inch postcard format (8.25x14cm). The film production has stopped in 1971, so there is no valuable film around.
But there is an easy way to re-use them with 120 film. The big format,
14 cm wide, lets you have panoramic photos, 56x138mm, which is quite a
bit wider than so called 6x12cm, which is usually 56x112mm.
You
will need a 3D printed adapter. The files are available on the web, but
you need a printer and you need some machinery for the metal parts.
There is an easy solution, you can buy them directly from
camerahack.it, as I did. Instructions are on their website.
Some photos:
The set. The rings are only necessary if you have a 3A Box
camera. One of the 4 adapters goes into the wind knob, easily visible.
Supply and wind spool mounted
supply side,
Wind side.
Film inserted. As you can see, it's not as flat as it should be. So I
will mount plastic gates on both sides to support the film later.
The ruby window is outside the backing paper. So you have to count
turns. And you should obstuct the ruby window to avoid fogging the film,
How to proceed (with help from camerahack's website):
Load the take-up spool with two adapters mounted at both ends and make
sure that the wind key adaper goes into the camera’s film advance knob.
Mount the other two adapters on the film supply spool and put it into the camera.
Insert the paper leader into the take-up spool and wind a little until it’s well engageded.
With the camera still open, start winding the film until you just see the big vertical arrow, then close your camera back.
Turn the film advance knob 10 times (or 20 half turns) for the first photo.
After the first photo is taken, advance the film by 4 turns (or 8 half
turns) for photo no. 2. Do the same for photo 3 and 4 which is the last
one.
After the 4th photo wind until the end of the film, do at least 8 full turns. Take out the spool to process. Good luck!