Scanning Kodak 126 film with film/slide scanner

Hello,

My fiancee has a 126 cartridge of undeveloped film. Do they still
develop this type of film at places like Walmart/Walgreens,etc? We have
a digital film scanner at work, a Nikon Coolscan LS2000 to be exact. We
have all of the attachments for negative strip scanning. Can this
scanner work with these films? I would have to get the film developed
first right? I am pretty sure you cannot simply take the film right
from there to the slide scanner.

Mike McWhinney

 

Yes you have to get it developed, I'd take it to an independent lab,
preferably with an old crusty guy running it. There are slight
dimmensional differences between instamatic and 35mm and very different
perforations, so you need an operator who has seen this film before.
They probably won't be able to print the film for the same reasons. The
film may not work in your film attachment (different perforations) but
you can mount the film in slide mounts, there were ones made for
instamatic, check B&H etc. as the frame is 26mmx26mm slightly wider
than a 35mm frame. Scanning though should be no problem if you mount
the film.

Tom

 

Mike-

Good luck on finding a place that can handle 126 cartridges! If your
local Walmart/Walgreens won't touch it, try a real photo shop. Even if
they can't handle it, they will probably know where to send it for
processing.

Once you get the negatives, you will find they are 35mm wide, and can be
scanned just as if they were 35mm film. However, the frame is taller than
standard 35mm (which is 24 mm tall), in that there are no sprocket holes
on one side. As I recall, the frame is square rather than rectangular.
Therefore, your scanner may not see the entire frame, and will crop either
the top or bottom (Whichever does not have sprocket holes!).

I have a 126 slide handy that has 1 1/32 inch square image window (26.2
mm), so the frame must be around 28 mm square. Scanned, a negative would
be cropped to about 24 mm X 28 mm, depending on your scanner.

Fred

 

These were scanned from 126 film, the work done by a HP PhotoSmart
S20. The HP software accommodated the 'reversal' and the size changes
without complaint. The 2500ppi FotoSmart S20 scanner is no longer in
production, but is on eBay for cheap, most times.
http://www.fototime.com/inv/ADA0B155062B12B

 

It depends on the exact film you have, but most of them can still
be processed with available chemistry. You'll probably need a
custom lab to do it though.

 

I use http://www.thecamerashop.com/ for my odd stuff, including ECN II
movie film. They do still show 126 film on their supported list, but
a phone call to make sure can't hurt.

http://www.frugalphotographer.com/catPhotoLab.htm#Photolab services
also shows a 126 film to digital service, and still sells 126 film.

A flatbed scanner that handles 35mm should be able to handle 126 as
well.