Found camera on the beach...

wheresmybeaver

Hey gang

I found a fully intact disposable camera washed up on the beach recently with the film still inside it and apparently wound back up.... Curiosity has gotten the better of me and I want to get it developed, but before I spend any money, what are the chances of the film still being ok? 35mm rolls are fairly robust aren't they? It was a bit sandy but otherwise it looks sealed. Will I have to bring the film to a "specialist" or would any old photo lab be able to manage it?

Would love to know whats on the camera.. thats the voyeur in me I suppose ;-)

Cheers

Dave

ps Click here for a photo of the camera after I cracked it open to get at the film

Zombrex

As far as I know salt water/air and film don't mix well. Also if the camera has been there for years the images will have begun to degrade

But sure develop it anyway ... if there are any nudey pictures put them up here :v:

jaqian

Take it to an ordinary lab you don't want to spend a fortune on someone elses photos. Get the lab to put them straight to cd with no prints will cost you only €6 so not losing much if total disaster. Btw I've found cassette tapes that had been immersed in sea-water but still played fine when dried out. It's worth a shot.

Show us what turns out when developed.

Btw gonna check out your tunes see what you're like.

rymus

the labs I used to work in wouldnt charge for spoiled film. So... if the film has been eaten away and nothing turns out, you're not out of pocket.

FinoBlad

I'd advise posting this on www.apug.org and get the opinions those gurus. Good luck.

Merrion

Would love to know whats on the camera..

Robert Maxwell's holiday photos?

BendiBus

Not knowing what's on the film gives the added excitement of knowing the Gardai might be waiting for you when you arrive to collect the pictures :eek: Explain clearly that you found the film when you're handing it in!

wheresmybeaver

Not knowing what's on the film gives the added excitement of knowing the Gardai might be waiting for you when you arrive to collect the pictures Explain clearly that you found the film when you're handing it in!

Yeah thats a little worrying.... "And whose severed leg is this in the last photo?"

But hopefully it'll be photos of pirates having a boat party or something.

Will drop them into boots in the next few days and will post back any results. Fingers crossed.

Cheers for the advice lads

Oriel

Post the results! Post the results!

FinoBlad

You'd have a better chance of success getting a clip test done by a pro lab. They would open the canister in darkness and cut an inch off the film, develop that and inspect it, then adjust the development time.

If theres sand in the film, I'd be amazed if Boots take it as a grain of sand could scratch everyones negatives.

DotOrg

i've developed numerous films that have been dropped in water, sea water is the worst, what happens though is that the emulsion on the film,once dried out sticks together so the film won't actually unwind to even get into the development chemicals. if it's not that bad, you'll get lots of pink spots on the pictures, faded colours, big blotches etc etc

Benster

Yep, happened a roll of film I had away in Vietnam last year. Bought a cheap underwater camera supposed to be waterproof to 10 metres and went diving. Didn't go down that far really, would have been 10m max and back on the boat, found the camera was half-full of seawater. I dismantled the whole thing back at the hotel later and washed it all out, but the film was completely fused together when I left it to get developed back home, just as DotOrg says. That was only after about a couple of hours of seawater exposure too.

wheresmybeaver

Ah yes but the film in this camera was completely rewound when I found it, so there's still hope that the roll is sealed off from the water... It doesn't seem to be full of water! Haven't had a chance to get it developed yet but I suppose we'll find out when I do. Should have an answer by Monday.

DotOrg

the cannisters aren't water or sand proof

note that some labs won't process it because of the risk of the sand contaminating their chemicals

wheresmybeaver

UPDATE:

Brought the film into a few different places in Cork to get developed, had to tell them that I found it on a beach, and all of them were like No. Sand. Bad. Sorry.

Last place I brought it to, the friendly chap demonstrated why the film is most likely ruined anyway; he turned the "cog" on the film and the film turning inside made a noise not unlike a pepper grinder. So, full of sand and crap. Ruined....

Ah well!

Would have loved to know what was on it :rolleyes:

Shrimp

prolly some drunken night on a beach?

Merrion

Suprisingly had you got the film developed you would have broken the law. This is because the copyright to a photograph belongs to the person who took the photograph from the moment the film is exposed and by processing it you would be making unlicensed copies.....one of the photo labs in the states made me sign a form to the effect that I'd taken the photos myself for copyright reasons.

wheresmybeaver

Merrion wrote:

Suprisingly had you got the film developed you would have broken the law. This is because the copyright to a photograph belongs to the person who took the photograph from the moment the film is exposed and by processing it you would be making unlicensed copies.....one of the photo labs in the states made me sign a form to the effect that I'd taken the photos myself for copyright reasons.

You backsterd! u were gonna let me develop the photos and then shop me to the cops eh!

Thats quite interesting tho. I found a disposable camera in a nightclub about 2 years ago, we got it developed (Yup, guilty!) and I was actually in one of the photographs, unknown to myself. How odd. The photos were pretty funny, bunch of drunk girls.

Karoma

Merrion wrote:

Suprisingly had you got the film developed you would have broken the law. This is because the copyright to a photograph belongs to the person who took the photograph from the moment the film is exposed and by processing it you would be making unlicensed copies.....one of the photo labs in the states made me sign a form to the effect that I'd taken the photos myself for copyright reasons.

oO
There wouldn't be 'originals', so they wouldn't really be 'copies'. And the original person taking the photographs may have a difficult time proving ownership (Subject-depending obviously..) - possession is 9/10s etc
Interesting:)

Merrion

As far as photography is concerned (at least, my reading of the copyright rules would indicate that) the image exposed on the negative is considered the original and anything taken from this (print, scan, etc.) would be considered a copy.

However, as with most law this has not been brought up to date for digital cameras - I have no idea what the rules would be if you'd found a memory card on the beach....