101 ways to ruin a roll of film

Once a long time ago I poured the fixer in before the dev!
More recently I have been shooting some snaps on film on various cameras including some antique ones. On one I didn't notice the shutter selector had moved from I (instantaneous) to T (Time exposure). Just a couple of days ago I went to load a 127 film in a camera with a tight loading gate and I haven't used 127 before. The film was wound very tightly on the spool, like a coil spring you might say, and sure enough while faffing about with it the film uncoiled to a significant extent. I haven't shot that roll yet but hopes are not high! In the Kodak instructions it does warn users not to wind the film roll too tightly and cinch it so maybe I'll get lucky! I have also lost a few frames on a "Science camera" with a focus screen optimised for microscope use when using it with a normal camera lens, even when totally out of focus the viewfinder image does look sharp (it's a 35mm SLR) so blurry images ensue if you don't check the lens distance scale!
 
I was taking a few pictures using Horizon 202 last weekend when we finally met up with our grandchildren. Unfortunatley, trying to hold the camera with my fingers out of frame I must have pressed in the rewind button, so for the next frame I wound and wound, the rest of the film is void. Blamed the camera, of course, because it's Soviet. So, literally, the film isn't wasted completely. Serve me right if it was!
 
I hadn't used my Pentax LX since last year, although it was loaded with Superia 400. I took it with me for a short walking holiday in West Somerset last week. I got quite a few queries of the "why do you choose to shoot film?" type, which I did my best to answer. On walk 2, I remember saying to the Walk Leader how much the cameras meant to me, and in particular how useful the LX was for that kind of usage, setting it in Aperture Priority for when I might only have seconds to see and take a shot. A few minutes later I took a shot of a skeletal tree just off the path, glanced down at the camera and realised it wasn't set in A at all, but instead at 1/2000! I've fallen into this trap a few times, changing away from A while loading a film, so I can fire off the first couple of frames with the lens cap on (the LX would do its best to meter for that if left in A, which means the shutter can take a loooooooong time to close), and forgetting to turn it back!

Sure enough only a few of the first 30 frames were salvageable. :(

Luckily the subsequent roll of Portra 400 seems adequately exposed, at least.
 
ChrisR said:
I hadn't used my Pentax LX since last year, although it was loaded with Superia 400. I took it with me for a short walking holiday in West Somerset last week. I got quite a few queries of the "why do you choose to shoot film?" type, which I did my best to answer. On walk 2, I remember saying to the Walk Leader how much the cameras meant to me, and in particular how useful the LX was for that kind of usage, setting it in Aperture Priority for when I might only have seconds to see and take a shot. A few minutes later I took a shot of a skeletal tree just off the path, glanced down at the camera and realised it wasn't set in A at all, but instead at 1/2000! I've fallen into this trap a few times, changing away from A while loading a film, so I can fire off the first couple of frames with the lens cap on (the LX would do its best to meter for that if left in A, which means the shutter can take a loooooooong time to close), and forgetting to turn it back!

Sure enough only a few of the first 30 frames were salvageable. :(

Luckily the subsequent roll of Portra 400 seems adequately exposed, at least.
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I've done that a couple of times with my Canon A1, leaving it set on 1/1000 to fire off the first couple of wind-on shots, but fortunately this camera clearly shows the shutter speed and aperture in a digital LED display at the bottom of the viewfinder frame (like a modern DSLR) so I've always noticed (so far!). It's no wonder that this sort of info display caught on, and it goes to show just how far ahead of its time the Canon A1 really was.
 
Mr Badger said:
I've done that a couple of times with my Canon A1, leaving it set on 1/1000 to fire off the first couple of wind-on shots, but fortunately this camera clearly shows the shutter speed and aperture in a digital LED display at the bottom of the viewfinder frame (like a modern DSLR) so I've always noticed (so far!). It's no wonder that this sort of info display caught on, and it goes to show just how far ahead of its time the Canon A1 really was.
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My plan for the future is, take the lens hood off, point at sky, fire off the 2 frames!

The trouble is, that requires me remembering that there's a problem...
 
Apparently a great way to ruin a roll of film is to put it in any of the cameras I've used lately.
My oly trip underexposed a roll horrendously, and the roll I put through a chinon... well, the winder kept going after the 24th frame, but obviously didn't wind anything on. I had one frame that was exposed something like 18 times. Other times it didn't catch properly to wind the film on so I have two frames overlapping.
 
Last time I used my Robot Star, which is zone focussing, I forgot that the lenses are calibrated in metres so my distance estimates were wildly out compromised further because I set the distance to give me the best depth of field for the given aperture. Effectively I set the shots up to be optimally out-of-focus.
You can see in the frame below that the top left hand corner, outside the house, is in focus and the rest not.
Untitled-18 copy.jpg
And here is the effect in extreme.
Untitled-38 copy.jpg
The film was Silberra Pan 160, processed in Rodinal 1:50.
 
The best way to ruin film is simply give it to me...

A few years back, on a 6-month deployment to Bosnia-Herzogovina in 2000-2001, my boss had somehow managed to jam his brand-new Canon EOS-1V so that the film would neither wind-on or rewind. Because the 1V doesn't have a manual rewind crank he was effectively stuffed.
I told him the only way to fix it was to write the film off, open the back and take a look, but he insisted that he needed the photos he'd already taken - it was his 'first roll of film' - please note.

Off I went with a few bin-bags and sealed myself into a Corrimec (like an ISO container, but outfitted for troop accommodation) and sat there for 5 minutes to make sure there was no light leaking in. Then, using another double bin-bag as a dark-bag and working by touch with an unfamiliar camera, I opened the back and was eventually able to prise the cassette out and gradually pull the film that was wrapped around the take-up spool free, then wind it back into the cassette.

I switched the camera on and off, it clicked and whirred reassuringly.
On removing the camera from my dark-bag and looking inside, I discovered the remains of another roll of film still wrapped around the take-up spool. Apparently this was not the first roll of film, but the second, the first having either snapped off when the camera tried to rewind it, or had come adrift from the spool inside the cassette after the last frame was fired. As the second roll was wound on it filled the space and jammed.

I took the saved roll - with no idea how many frames had been successfully shot - and the ruined film, which I'd also removed from the camera, back to the boss.
"I told you I needed these shots, this film is ruined!" he cried...
"This film was already ruined - it was ruined when you opened the back to put the other film in" I told him...
"Can I still use this film?" he said holding up the saved one...
"Not without an accurate shutter-count - you'll risk double exposures - just process it and chalk it up to experience - check the camera properly before loading a film..."

Apparently this was still 'all my fault' and he waved me away in disgust. "I though I could trust you to fix it, obviously I was wrong...!"

Walk away, just walk away...
 
Jobo chugging away, we shall see how quickly I screwed the end of the refillable 35mm cassette back on when trying to load a camera this morning !!!

UPDATE

Light strike on frame minus 1 and some in rebates only up to frame 4. Phew - my old reflexes must be better than I thought.
 
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Probably just ruined a roll of fuji 400.
Used my Hasselblad metering knob for reflected light without realising it was set for incident light.
What a pillock I am!
 
soupdragon said:
What a pillock I am!
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Welcome to the club!

If I recall correctly, the cover reduces the light reaching the cell by two stops, so you'll have overexposed by that amount. You can check this by taking a reading of a light bulb both with and without the cover, Then, pulling the development two stops might allow you to retrieve something useful.
 
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Found a new way (for me) to stuff a roll of 120 velvia.
Just processed my fifth roll of E6 with an existing batch of chemistry.
I adjusted the times according to Tetenal but did not realise that there is a loss of first developer each time it is used.
I now have a dark stripe running the full length of the film where there was not enough fluid in the tank to cover the width of the roll.

Mind you, I'm not sure if there is anything that can be done about that. I'm fairly certain topping up with water won't work.
 
soupdragon said:
Found a new way (for me) to stuff a roll of 120 velvia.
Just processed my fifth roll of E6 with an existing batch of chemistry.
I adjusted the times according to Tetenal but did not realise that there is a loss of first developer each time it is used.
I now have a dark stripe running the full length of the film where there was not enough fluid in the tank to cover the width of the roll.

Mind you, I'm not sure if there is anything that can be done about that. I'm fairly certain topping up with water won't work.
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For re-using chemistry I tend to mix up more than is required as 'ready-solution' - usually 1 litre, since 1.0l black plastic chemical bottles are easily available on Amazon - then just measure out the amount needed each time - so 300ml for a 135 film in a Paterson tank. This way the chems are only partially used each time and last slightly longer. I fix a white label to the bottles with the date it was mixed and then mark off each time a film is used.
 
It took me ages to realise why I'd got a very pronounced light leak, some images looked kind of ok
IMG_20220628_203349509.jpg

Whilst others showed definite failure

IMG_20220628_203409520.jpg
I'd realised I'd struggled to open the 35mm canister. I put the light on and I must have partially broken the seal and let light in.

Lesson 1 - get a better film canister opener than thisIMG_20220628_210200661_HDR.jpg
 
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auntiemaryscanary said:
It took me ages to realise why I'd got a very pronounced light leak, some images looked kind of ok
View attachment 358860

Whilst others showed definite failure

View attachment 358861
I'd realised I'd struggled to open the 35mm canister. I put the light on and I must have partially broken the seal and let light in.

Lesson 1 - get a better film canister openerView attachment 358863
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Has it affected all the frames?
Sometimes, depending on how tight the film is spooled, you can get away with just the outer frames being ruined.
 
I slit a 35mm film to 16mm yesterday. Got it into the Minolta 16 cassette with surprising ease. I used 10 shots at lunchtime and the other 10 at the allotment with the family.

Lesson 1 - don't drop the film on the floor.

Lesson 2 - make sure the darkroom is tidy from the day before so when you are pleased for finding a tiny film strip on the floor you are completely perplexed (and in total darkness) as to why the film strip won't go into your newly made 16mm spiral

IMG_20220628_211538659.jpg

A 10mm-ish sprocket off cut. Knickers!! And yes I did turn the light on thus ruining the exposed 16mm strip that was still on the floor.

The only positive is I've got loads of scrap 16mm film to practice loading onto a Minolta 16 cassette and onto the spiral.
 
Asha said:
Has it affected all the frames?
Sometimes, depending on how tight the film is spooled, you can get away with just the outer frames being ruined.
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At least 30 frames unfortunately. I've never been great at loading any film type onto a spiral. It's great having more space in the darkroom to do it without a changing bag but the disadvantage is that the all important elements aren't contained in said changing bag and relatively safely from light and or falling on the floor.
 
dmb said:
I do have an Ilford opener but also use a simple bottle opener like this. Just make sure you use it on the end the spool sticks out of as in the dark that makes sure it is centred.

View attachment 358890
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That's the one, never fails.
 
I recently ruined a 35mm roll of film without touching it.
I'd got myself a bulk loader and had collected a bunch of (the same) cassettes to use to reload with my new bulk film.
It seemed to work well, but I read here that some cut off the leader to denote a roll as exposed.
The seemed like good practice, so I started to do that with my very next film, then popped it in the drawer with the unexposed rolls Thankfully only one left by then.
Of course, if I had any sense, I would have realised that now, both the new roll and the exposed roll had no leader.
I developed both films (not too expensive from a bulk loader), knowing that one was unexposed.
 
I bought a couple of rolls of SHANGHAI GP3 100 in 220 format. I wanted to try the film and 220 gives me 24 exposures per roll. I have a 220 back for the Bronnie and the Mamiya TLR can also handle 220 so I thought it was worth a try. I shot a roll in the Bronnie and then realised that the only developing tank I have that can take the length of a 220 is my Paterson Universal. I put everything in the changing bag and tried to load the film into the spiral. Disaster! It was a hot day and my sweaty hands made the gelatin sticky so it would not load with the Paterson 'twist and slide' method. I had to give up in the end and even two days later out in the light that film would not load into that spiral. I normally use (for 120 and 35mm) stainless steel tanks where the spirals are centre loading so this problem does not arise. I did try washing the Paterson spiral in washing up liquid and drying properly and I could load the scrapped film in the fresh air. I will try again. Anyone used to using 220 have any tips or comments?
 
After non use for a while and checking my cameras and for the Canon A1 was checking the shutter speeds and exposure and things seemed slow to initially operate, (forgot what button to press to check battery :rolleyes:) Anyway put a new battery in and again checking shutter speeds etc, so thought I put a film in to use, and there was already a film in it :headbang: :mad:
 
excalibur2 said:
Anyway put a new battery in and again checking shutter speeds etc, so thought I put a film in to use, and there was already a film in it :headbang: :mad:
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I've certainly shot a full roll of film only to find that it hadn't loaded properly, but this is a new one on me Brian! :facepalm:
 
Peter B said:
I've certainly shot a full roll of film only to find that it hadn't loaded properly, but this is a new one on me Brian! :facepalm:
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Ah ! :mad: Like me didn't spot the rewind knob turning when winding on...:rolleyes:
 
Take a roll of Jessops SHR100 (expiry 11/97) and leave on a shelf in a cupboard in the lounge until mid 2022, then shoot at half box speed and push 3 stops in tired developer - if you like grain, bingo!
 
Or, in a continuing attempt to get 40 exposures out of every 135 film, loading in a changing bag and trying to make sure the leader is just gripped by the take up spool, and then forgetting to check that the rewind knob turns as the film is advanced. I did eventually think to check the rewind knob, but only on the eighth shot. I rewound and reloaded so saved the rest of the film, but the first seven shots (of the best ever composed shots that I will ever take) were all nicely
exposed on top of each other. :headbang:
 
Not something I've caused, but I went out this morning and shot a roll of Pro 400H in the GW690. Got home and opened the back of the camera to remove the film and find it's loosely spooled and now probably has loads of light leaks. :headbang:

I wrapped it in foil straight away and then put it in my changing bag to attempt to respool it more tightly and found that there was an issue where the film was not tightly wound on the inner part of the takeup spool. Not sure how this happened, although I did load the film a week ago so wonder if it might have loosened itself somehow in the interim.

Whatever the reason, all I can say is bo***cks.
 
Expensive!

I'm sure that AW have to buy the film in and it is very expensive, but!

analoguewonderland.co.uk

Fujifilm Pro 400H - 120 Film - SHORTDATED

We've been an offered a final batch of 120 film from one of our distributors. Unfortunately we expect this to be the last available, after Fujifilm discontinued production in 2021. Please note that this is SHORT-DATED film with expiry date of 04/2023 Pro 400H is a high-speed professional 120...
analoguewonderland.co.uk analoguewonderland.co.uk
 
PeterSpencer said:
Expensive!

I'm sure that AW have to buy the film in and it is very expensive, but!

analoguewonderland.co.uk

Fujifilm Pro 400H - 120 Film - SHORTDATED

We've been an offered a final batch of 120 film from one of our distributors. Unfortunately we expect this to be the last available, after Fujifilm discontinued production in 2021. Please note that this is SHORT-DATED film with expiry date of 04/2023 Pro 400H is a high-speed professional 120...
analoguewonderland.co.uk analoguewonderland.co.uk
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Thankfully, I paid considerably less than that!
 
So this is an effing doozy.

I just developed a roll of TMAX P3200 that I hadn't shot yet. Do I win?

Have a small pile of three films. HP5 in 120, a roll of Double-X and a roll of film in a camera I was testing at the charity shop. When I reach for it and open it, it's P3200. Odd, says I, to see that in a charity shop camera...

I trim the leader, thinking how thoughtful I was to extract the leader for my future self to pre-spiral. Into the changing bag it goes. Idiot me though gets it on the spiral only to realise that I have neither scissors or the effing tank in the changing bag. What follows is a Carry On farce as I pick up the scissors with my teeth and head into the understairs cupboard with the dark bag acting as really bad gloves. Inside the cupboard I get hand out, scissors in, and cut the film. Back to the office, pick up tank with both hands and head back to cupboard.

Tonight, I found my eye falling on a 35mm can sat on it's own. Vista 200. That was the roll from the charity shop camera. The P3200 was my last roll, left on the shelf to act as a "shoot this next" reminder.

All that fiasco for a roll that's got nothing on it. The only barely believable upside is that I'll learn whether the understairs cupboard is light tight.
 
This only messed up the final frame, but I believe it's worth a mention.

My Rolleicord doesn't focus very close, so I had the idea of getting a close-up lens to try out. It arrived this morning and I duly set it up in the house then waited for the snow to stop. Snow stopped after lunch, so went out to take shot for this month's FPOTY topic. +2 close-up lens got me far closer to the subject, but really shallow dof. Great care taken to ensure the camera was absolutely vertical and sufficient leeway for any parallax error, carefully metered, aperture and shutter speed chosen, shutter cocked, focus checked one last time, then clicked once sure everything was OK. If only I had remembered to move the close-up lens from the viewing lens to the taking lens ......... :headbang:
 
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We need a wince emote. Not just for this thread, but for F&C.
 
Just realised that my FD 50mm lens isn't stopping down. Now... how many shots did I take with that lens on this roll?
 
Arrrgghhh........ The curse has struck! Just had a completely unexposed roll of film developed. Seems like the shutter on my Canon AE1 would cock and fire, but the curtain wouldn't open. Work that one out. :( Mind you, I can't remember, for the life of me, what I thought was on it. :D
 
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Plain Nev said:
Arrrgghhh........ The curse has struck! Just had a completely unexposed roll of film developed. Seems like the shutter on my Canon AE1 would cock and fire, but the curtain wouldn't open. Work that one out. :( Mind you, I can't remember, for the life of me, what I thought was on it. :D
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So sorry for you!

I had a blank roll returned from a lab. I never got to the bottom of it. The camera was/is fine. I've used the camera (on and off) for 40 years - so I think I would feel the difference if the film was not engaged in the take up. Finally, the lab was very quick to refund the charge.

I can't recall if you dev your own film. For me, that was the thing that pushed me over the edge, and I have done my own dev since then... and, interestingly, no more blank films.
 
Boots said:
So sorry for you!

I had a blank roll returned from a lab. I never got to the bottom of it. The camera was/is fine. I've used the camera (on and off) for 40 years - so I think I would feel the difference if the film was not engaged in the take up. Finally, the lab was very quick to refund the charge.

I can't recall if you dev your own film. For me, that was the thing that pushed me over the edge, and I have done my own dev since then... and, interestingly, no more blank films.
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No, I don't I'm afraid. At least not at the moment. I'm toying with the idea though. It does make you think, and that was one of the things that crossed my mind. However, the shutter curtain is definitely kaput. I should have checked that before I put a roll of film through it, I suppose. But, you live and learn.
 
This thread has reminded me of an incident, probably from about 1973.

I was in the Air Force and the camp had a fully equipped darkroom. A friend of mine, who knew photography, taught me all about film developing, enlarging and printing. The point was, he also showed me how to open a 35mm film canister by slightly squeezing the 'female' end and pushing the 'male' end, making sure that I kept a finger over the end of the can. I did this several times successfully and one day I decided to use the darkroom on my own. This darkroom was big, I mean big. The whole thing was lightproof and was probably 15 x 20 feet. So there I was, everything prepared on the bench; scissors, dev tank etc. I grabbed my film canister, took a last look at everything to make sure I was ready and hit the light switch. It was short work to press on the canister in the way I had been taught, it was not short work to find the film that I had not prevented from leaving the canister at a great rate of knots and flying across the room in the pitch black. I think it took me nearly half an hour of crawling around on the floor feeling with my hands before I reached under a wooden bench to find the film up against the wall at the back of the room.

I don't remember what was on the film, subject-wise, but I do remember that subsequent printing revealed a hell of a lot of dust spots from the negative; I don't know if anyone noticed the strange hand prints in the dust under the benches.
 
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