Make your own Minox film

I have used the procedure described here to assemble numerous Minox films. I haven’t had a single failure with these films, be it light penetration marks on the negatives or problems during film transport. I have also not found any traces of dust or fluff on the negatives. I didn’t lose a single movie during editing and loading, even though I had to teach myself everything in the beginning and had no experience at all.

I can therefore recommend this process with a clear conscience. However, I accept no responsibility for any damage that may occur to the camera or film as a result of using this procedure.

Here’s a list of the film types I have loaded so far:

• Kodak Gold 200
• CineStill 50d
• Kodak Ektar 100
• Kodak Portra 400
• ADOX CMS 20 II

Have fun reading and creating your own Minox films. Some things may seem difficult at first glance, and they are! But otherwise it would be boring.

Slitting the film

The slitter

The bad news is that the film must be manipulated in complete darkness, as it is sensitive to all colors. So no red or green light is allowed as in a darkroom. The good news is that for the most delicate part, namely slitting the film, there is a device that can be used to do this completely in daylight. I use the Film Slitter from Camerhack, with which I have had good experiences.

It cuts the 35 mm film into four strips. The two inner strips have exactly the right width for a Minox film, the two outer strips with the perforation are waste. One 35 mm film yields 4 Minox films of 36 exposures each.

Cost: Slitter 35 $

The cutting procedure

The whole procedure can take place in the light. That is the great advantage of this slitter.

The starting point for the Minox film is a corresponding film in a 35 mm cartridge. This gives you the largest selection of all possible film types. You also need an empty 35 mm cartridge with a short piece of film sticking out of the slot.

Now cut off the tongue on the cartridge with the fresh film so that you have a straight end piece. Then glue this end piece together with the remaining piece of the empty cartridge. Place the crank on the empty cartridge and place the whole thing in the slitter. Now carefully press down the film in the center with a stick or similar tool so that the three blades penetrate the film. Do not use your fingers so that you do not injure yourself on the very sharp blades:

The lid is placed on the slitter before the cutting process. It is then cranked until all the film has been fed into the previously empty cartridge. At the end of the film, the crank locks and the lid can be removed again. The slitted film is now in the other cartridge. Inside this cartridge, the film now consists of 4 strips. The two inner 9 mm wide strips are used as Minox film, the two outer strips with the perforation are not used.

Now we take both cartridges out of the slitter again and cut the film between them at the point where the slit begins. Take the cartridge with the slit film into the darkroom.

The cartridge now contains enough film for 4 Minox films with 36 exposures each.

Loading the cartridge with the film

Preparations

1. We need complete darkness to cut the film to length and insert it into the Minox cartridge. No darkroom light is permitted either, as the film is generally light-sensitive for the entire color spectrum. I use a guest WC that only has one window, which I close off lightproof with a matching plywood board. The door also has to be light-tight, of course. The room can be very small as you work standing up. You only need a small storage area for the Minox cartridges.
2. To cut the film to the correct length, a bar with two clamps at a distance of 580 mm (36 exposures) has proven its worth.

The strip is best hung vertically at eye level on the wall or door frame. The 35 mm cartridge with the slitted film is attached to the upper clamp (left side in the picture above).

Material:

• Scissors (for cutting the film length)
• 1 to 4 Minox cartridges
• Lightproof storage box for the remaining Minox rolls, if you want to assemble less than 4 cartridges

The following picture gives an overview of the four components of the Minox film cartridge:

To release the cover, gently squeeze the cylinder. Be careful, it is very fragile. You can file the small tabs slightly to make the job easier, but not too hard! You can also use a toothpick to press in the plastic nose of the latch. Note: it is sufficient to open the latch on one side of the chamber. The lid can then be pulled off by gently tilting it, see picture.

To make things as easy as possible in the dark, you should only open the feeding chamber of the Minox cartridge. This is the chamber into which the film is inserted. The other chamber remains closed so that the two chambers cannot be mixed in the dark:

Note the felt light trap in the chamber.

Assembling the film cartridge part I (in complete darkness)

First we cut the 4 film strips from the slitted roll.
Caution: Carry out these steps in complete darkness!

1. Pull the end of the slit film downwards out of the cartridge. Grip all 4 strips!
2. Hook onto the stop of the lower clamp
3. Cut off the two middle strips (the Minox films) at the bottom
4. Cut off all 4 strips at the top of the cartridge. Caution: do not cut too short!
5. Place the two middle strips in the storage box
6. Remove the remnants from the lower clamp
7. Repeat steps 1 to 6.
8. Pull the rest of the 4 strips out of the cartridge
9. Cut off the top of the middle strip and place in the storage box

Take a strip from the storage box, hold the roll by the edge and carefully pull it to the smallest possible diameter. Pull off approx. 30 mm end, take the Minox cartridge in your right hand and insert the roll into the right housing.

Pull the free film end from above through the felt light trap to the left and put on the feeding chamber cover:

Now the critical part, which has to be completed in total darkness, is finished.

Assembling the film cartridge part II (in subdue light)

Our task now is to attach the free end of the film for the film transport.

You may carry out these steps in subdue light

Now that the film is completely sealed in the feeding chamber except for the short initial section, we can do the rest of the work in the light. Nevertheless, I would dampen the light as much as possible, i.e. only enough light so that I can just see what I am doing. This is because the gap through which the film is fed to the outside is not perfect, despite the felt seal, so I would avoid too much brightness.
But of course it’s a huge advantage if you don’t have to do this tricky work in the dark.

Prepare a piece of adhesive tape the height of the coil core (9 mm), 45 mm long:

Place the prepared tape around the coil core and tape the end of the film. Make sure that the opening of the take-up spool is pointing upwards:

Thread the end of the film into the take up chamber and insert spool with film through the felt light trap:

Put on the housing cover of the take up chamber

Insert the cartridge into the Minox storage box and close it. You will need to center the spool with a rod so that the cover can be fitted:

The cartridge is now fully loaded and should be placed in the film box immediately to protect it from light:

Conclusion

The work is actually not difficult to carry out. The challenge is the work that has to be done in complete darkness. My advice is to divide the work in the dark into two stages. I would first cut the slitted film into 4 parts and place them in a lightproof box. Then I can turn on the light again and take a break and tidy up (dispose of the perforated film remnants and put away the bar and scissors that are no longer needed). Sometime later I start the second stage in the dark. Now I can concentrate fully on the cartridges.

In any case, it is a good idea to practice this process in the light with a piece of exposed film.

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