Sunday, September 4, 2016

Kodak instant camera revival


  I temporarily revived a Kodak 250 instant camera. They have not made film for this camera for 30 years, so I took an old film pack and removed the dried, unused processor pods from the pictures. In a changing bag i inserted instax mini film inside the original film and reloaded the cartridge. The results were rather unpredictable but interesting. The camera died after the seventh shot. I have been wondering for years if this could be done, and now that Fuji has discontinued my favorite film(FP100c), this kind of swap becomes more relevant!

 This process requires some old unused kodak film, a basic knowledge of instant cameras, an old kodak film pack(carrier), an old kodak instant camera, an exacto knife, clear tape, instax mini film, and a love for the uncontrollable and unpredictable. The film will slip around, miss-align, and generally behave poorly! The big take-away for me with this experiment is that it could be applied to other films and other cameras the same way.
 FYI: Kodak and instax are both around the same speed of film and process in the same way. They are both around 800 speed and both take in light from the front and process the image on the back of the film. this is important to know so you get the orientation of the film right.


 

4 comments:

  1. Hii! I found one of these at a garage sale and would love to do this.
    How hard is it to do?
    Do you have to have unused kodak film? Its easy to find a kodak film case but without any pictures left in it =/
    Also can you reuse your same film case with new Instax film?
    Thanks!
    Maka

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    1. I have tried this on many types of film now, and I can say that this method is the easiest. This method starts with a pack of dried up old kodak film that fits your camera, so you need the film and the pack. Unfortunately the case of new instax is not the same, so those are not interchangeable. There is another method if you cannot find the original film but you have the pack. You can tape the instax film to a piece of cardboard. It is not as easy as it sounds, though. Good luck with your adventure!

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  2. Hi,I'm buying a kodak 160ef and a kodamatic camera for 25 euros.I actually have the original pack film but no film in it...Any advice where to start?I'm totally a noob about instant films.Thanks in advance.

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    Replies
    1. Ideally, you will need to find old, unused Kodak instant film so you can remove the pod and create a pocket for your Instax Mini film. In my experience, the styles like the 160ef could be a bit old and tired(as opposed to the manual crank Handle versions), so start with high quality fresh batteries and cycle it several times with empty film before you use the pocket method I describe above. Good luck!

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