DIY 35mm for Holga and Diana Cameras
Wednesday, March 4, 2009 at 1:11AM
Here is my procedure for shooting 35mm film in a Diana (vintage or Lomography Diana+) or Holga. This should work for any camera that has a roll film compartment big enough for a 35mm cassette. I have a few older box brownies and folding cameras that use defunct film sizes that I will try this with.
Unloading the Camera:
Unloading the camera must be done in absolute darkness. If you don't have a film changing bag (you can get one from BH photo video or Freestyle Photos Supply), you can use a dark room. A windowless bathroom is ideal. Throw a towel across the bottom of the door to block out any stray light.
Open the camera.
Remove the 35mm film cassette and rewind the film back into the cassette.
Take the film to a photo lab and get it processed.
Tell them you do not want the negatives cut. Give them your 35mm plastic film container to put the film in when they are done. The reason for this is that the negative frames will be unevenly spaced and you will want to trim them so that they fit in a standard 35mm negative page. (also at BH photo or Freestyle).
You can ask, but they probably won't be able to deal with printing your negatives either, since they will be quite a bit wider than a standard 35mm negative. Even if you are willing to let them crop your image down to a 35mm frame, you will probably also want to include the image around the sprocket holes. Most 1-hour lab equipment won't print these, since it is not part of the normal image area for a 35mm negative.
If you want the entire negative, including the sprocket holes, your best bet is to get a film scanner. If you are on a budget, and most of us are, look at the Epson V500. The Epson 4490 is also a good choice. It is no longer in production, but if you go to the Epson website, they often have refurbished units for sale.
Edit: June 5, 2010
There seems to be some confusion about getting prints from 35mm film shot this way.
If you are looking for a simple way of getting prints out of your 120 film camera by shooting 35mm film, this isn't it.
While 35mm film is easier to get processed, the negatives created by shooting them in a 120 film camera are non-standard. Most 1-hour labs can't make prints, unless you don't mind getting parts of the image cropped out. Even so, they may not want to deal with your DIY 35mm film in making prints. They will have to manually set-up each print, because their automated equipment won't work.
There are labs (usually smaller mom and pop operations or specialty labs.) that can deal with this, but you will have to do the legwork and call or visit them in person to ask.
The best way of getting easy-to-print 35mm images is to use a 35mm lo-fi camera.
Reader Comments (6)
im a little confused about the development of the 35mm film.
this may be stupid questions but hey..
are the pictures actually printed on the film? or do i need a film scanner to actually see them?
what else should i tell the photo lab?
thanks
Hi, i got a 120 CFN. And now i have a 35 mm inside the camera. Can't i print my photos? i didn't understand what you want to say in the text.
hello i have been trying to use 35mm film with my diana camera, and am having not so great resuts. is it better to have it one the "b" or "n" setting? and why am i getting bad results? i am also wasting alot of film. help?
Sorry to all that posted here. My comment notification wasn't on, so I didn't realize that I had questions here...
Rachel, you should be using the N setting for everyday exposures. Check out the SHooting with Diana video for the correct setup of your camera for outdoor shooting.
hi i want to know what if I just want to scan and save the pictures from these DIY 35mm negatives? what should I tell to the photo shop that I just want it to be scanned and save as soft copy rather than being printed? thanks.