Refillable Film Cartridge for Pentax Auto 110 & Auto 110 Super

Mechanically, the cartridge fits any 110 pocket camera. Whether your camera will run film you’ve cut yourself comes down to the missing perforation: many 110 cameras stop the film advance at the perforation hole, or only unlock the shutter release once the hole is in place. With unperforated film, for example from our film cutter:

• Pentax Auto 110: works. You cock the shutter with two strokes of the lever, just as you normally would. Since there’s no perforation hole to stop the film advance, the spacing between frames gets wider towards the end of the roll. Bob Janes (35mmc) got 21 shots out of a strip cut from 120.
• Pentax Auto 110 Super: works once you break out the lower breakaway tab on the cartridge. If you leave it in place, the shutter release stays locked whenever a cartridge is loaded.
• Canon 110ED: works. If the shutter release locks with a cartridge loaded, break out the lower breakaway tab.
• Fisher-Price 3815 (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: the cartridge fits, but these cameras advance the film as you slide the body closed and open, 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.

Not suitable for unperforated film:

• Voigtländer Vitoret 110 EL: the shutter won’t fire without perforations, even with the tab broken off.
• Agfamatic 2000, 4008 Telepocket, 6000 and 6008: in a customer’s test, the shutter release locked without perforations, even with the tab broken off. We haven’t checked other Agfamatic models, so test your camera first (see below).
• Minolta Autopak 460 Tx, Minolta Weathermatic A and the Fisher-Price camera “Made by Kodak”: in the same test, the shutter release locked without perforations.
• Kodak Cameo Motor 110: didn’t run without perforations in the same test.

How to test your camera:
Open the back (with no film inside), work the film advance and press the shutter release. If the release is blocked, your camera definitely needs perforation holes. If it fires, that’s a good sign, but not proof yet: some cameras with a push-pull (ratchet) film advance only lock up once a cartridge is sitting in the film compartment.

Film with backing paper (120)

• 1x film cartridge with viewing window (for film with backing paper)
• 1x cartridge lid
• 1x take-up spool
• 1x receiving spool
• 1x light seal

Film without backing paper (35mm)

• 1x film cartridge without viewing window (for film without backing paper)
• 1x cartridge lid
• 1x take-up spool
• 1x receiving spool
• 1x light seal

Twin pack: 2x film without backing paper (35mm)

• 2x film cartridges without viewing window (for film without backing paper)
• 2x cartridge lids
• 2x take-up spools
• 2x receiving spools
• 2x light seals

• Material: engineering plastic
• Format: 110 pocket film (for native 16mm film, or 35mm or 120 roll film cut down to size)
• ISO coding: notch intact (ISO 64–100), notch removable (ISO 400)
• Compatibility: lower break-off tab removable for sprocket-drive cameras and the Pentax Auto 110 Super
• SKU: 1480

If you’re still hunting for film for your Pentax Auto 110 or Canon 110ED, you’ll know the problem: 110 film is hard to come by and expensive. With this refillable film cartridge, you load any emulsion you like yourself instead. Cut 35mm or 120 roll film down to 16mm, or use 16mm motion picture film as it is, and you’re no longer relying on the little ready-made film still on the market.

The ISO notch and the lower break-off tab let you match the cartridge to your camera and your film speed. The version with a viewing window shows you the frame number and protects against rubbing on the housing, while the version without a window is quicker to load in the dark.

Wind your trimmed film tightly onto the small take-up spool and slide it neatly into the left-hand feed chamber of the cartridge. The spool holds the film in the right position and stops it from unwinding again as you close the cartridge.

110 cameras set the exposure using the standard ISO notch on the cartridge. As supplied, the camera reads it as standard-speed film (typically ISO 64–100, depending on the camera maker). Snap off the flat tab at the break-off point and the camera switches to high-speed film (ISO 400). That way you calibrate the meter to the actual speed of the emulsion you’ve loaded.

Some 110 cameras have a film transport sprocket on the underside that engages a gap in the original cartridge. If this plastic tab is still in place, the sprocket can jam. Snap off the lower break-off tab and the sprocket has plenty of room. Whether the camera will then run unperforated film is a separate question (see Compatibility).

Pentax Auto 110 Super: Here too, the lower break-off tab has to go. If you leave it in place, the shutter release stays locked as soon as a cartridge is loaded. You can lever through the entire roll without the shutter ever firing, even though the camera fires normally with no cartridge inside (the culprit is a switch to the lower right of the light chamber). Snap the tab off, and the cartridge runs perfectly in the Super.

Using the closed cartridge with no window for the frame counter? Fold the very end of the film over twice and tuck a tiny piece of toothpick into the fold. The thicker end can’t get out of the feed chamber, so when the advance locks up, you know the roll is finished.

This product is part of our complete 110 system: cutting film, loading cartridges, developing and scanning, all from one place. You’ll find all the products at a glance in the system overview, and our guide to getting into 110 walks you through the whole process.