Cutting 110 Film and Loading Cartridges the Right Way (Even Without Perforations)

Choose a camera that works with unperforated film. Some cameras will fire even without their “hole-sensing” mechanism. Others lock the shutter release, or can’t find a stopping point for the film advance when there’s no hole.

Here’s how the common models fare, based on the tests we know of.

Which 110 cameras work with unperforated film?

• Pentax Auto 110 (the classic): works. You wind on with two strokes of the lever as usual. Since there’s no hole to stop the advance, the gaps between frames get wider towards the end of the roll. Bob Janes (35mmc) got 21 shots out of a strip of 120 film.
• Pentax Auto 110 Super: works if you break off the lower tab on the cartridge. If the tab stays in place, the shutter release is locked whenever a cartridge is loaded.
• Canon 110ED: works. If the shutter release locks with a cartridge loaded, break off the lower tab.
• Fisher-Price 3815 (a children’s camera): worked in a customer’s test.
• Minox 110S: not confirmed by us, so test your camera first (see below).
• Rollei A110 & E110: these advance the film as you close and open the body, and stop it at the perforation hole. Without a hole there’s nothing to stop it, so for unperforated film we recommend the Pentax Auto 110.
• Voigtländer Vitoret 110 EL: not suitable. Its shutter won’t fire without perforations, even with the tab broken off.
• Agfamatic 2000, 4008 Telepocket, 6000 and 6008: not suitable. In a customer’s test, the shutter release locked without perforations, even with the tab broken off. We haven’t checked other Agfamatic models.
• Minolta Autopak 460 Tx, Minolta Weathermatic A, Fisher-Price “Made by Kodak”: not suitable. In the same test, the shutter release also locked without perforations.
• Kodak Cameo Motor 110: not suitable. It didn’t work without perforations in the same test.
• Lomography Lomomatic 110 (new, zone focus), Caution: untested, and it uses a push-pull film advance (see note below)

Your camera isn’t on the list? Try this quick self-test:

Take out the cartridge, leave the back open (or press the little switch that tells the camera the “door is closed”), work the advance lever and press the shutter release.

Does the shutter fire? A good sign, but not proof yet: some cameras only lock once a cartridge is in the chamber. One example is the Pentax Auto 110 Super, as long as the cartridge’s tab is still intact.
Is the shutter release blocked? Then the camera needs one perforation per frame.

A note on the Lomomatic 110

Push-pull advance, take care when reloading: Like the Agfamatic and the Rollei A110, the Lomomatic 110 advances the film as you slide the body open and closed (push-pull). Bob Janes specifically lists these models among the cameras that are problematic with self-loaded cartridges. On top of that, there’s a known weak spot: several users in the community (r/lomography) report broken winding mechanisms, even with original Lomography film. We haven’t tested the Lomomatic 110 with our cartridges, so we simply don’t know whether it works. If you give it a try, you do so at your own risk.

Why does 110 film have perforations at all?

Standard 110 film normally has one perforation hole per frame. In many cameras, that hole does two important mechanical jobs:

• Frame spacing: The camera “feels” where the hole is and automatically stops the film advance in the right place.
• Cocking the shutter: A small pin engages the hole. Without that resistance, some cameras won’t cock the shutter. The advance just keeps spinning, but the shutter release never unlocks.

Are there perforators? (The Thingiverse solution)

Many of you ask us about ways to perforate the film yourself. There’s a well-known project on Thingiverse (the “110 Film Perforator”) that uses hypodermic needles.

We’ve tested it, and our honest verdict is: it can be done, but it’s very “hacky.” Handling sharp needles inside a changing bag is fiddly, and the results aren’t always clean. Definitely fun for tinkerers, but rather tricky if you want a reliable workflow.

Are you working on a solution? Yes. In our workshop, we (Lars and Vladi) really are tinkering with a mechanical perforator that works cleanly and safely. Mechanically, though, it’s a pretty tough nut to crack. Until we’ve cracked it and can offer you a finished device, we recommend the easier route: the right camera.

Watch out for light leaks

Another thing to keep in mind when reloading is light-tightness. 110 cartridges often rely on the backing paper as an extra light seal. If you cut your own film and load it without paper (“naked”), light can get in through the window on the back of the cartridge.

Expert Bob Janes has written a helpful article on this on the 35mmc blog (“Perfecting the 110 re-load”). Our recommendation:

• To be on the safe side, cover the window on the back of the cartridge with black tape (electrical tape).
• Alternatively, you can reuse old backing paper if you have some.

Our system for DIYers

A scene from our Minox 8x11 workflow video, starting at 2:40 in the video. The video shows the cut using the 9.2mm Minox example; with the 110 cutter, it works exactly the same way, step by step.

We try to make the process as easy as possible for you, so the 110 format stays alive. We’re not a big company, just two enthusiasts building solutions you can’t buy anywhere in this form. This is our current workflow:

• Cutting the film: With our 110 Film Cutter, you can turn any 16mm film into stock that fits.
• Loading: The film goes into our refillable empty cartridges.
• Develop: To keep handling simple, we use our dedicated developing reels (for Jobo or Paterson tanks).
• Scan: Our film holders keep the tiny strip lying flat on the scanner.

If you have any questions or aren’t sure whether your camera will work, just drop us a line.

Keep 110 alive!
Cheers, Vladi

Related guides

• 110 Pocket Film: The Complete Guide to Cutting, Loading, Developing and Scanning, covering the full end-to-end workflow for the 110 format.
• Minox 8x11 Submin Guide: Cutting Film, Loading Cassettes, Developing and Scanning, the sister tutorial for the 9.2mm subminiature format: almost the same workflow and the same family of tools.