I've ruined a roll of treasures, has it happened to you?

njburke

How do,

I've been using a manual SLR (a very clean nikon FG) for the past few months.
I took it with me on a trip to Kerry last BH weekend and got what I hoped would be 36 great shots on a roll of provia.
I even had it on a boat out to the Skelligs.

So I go to unload the film yesterday, taking care to keep the film door closed with my thumb and forefinger as learnt from past experience.
A moments lapse and pop! the door opens slightly during the rewind:-(
Initially, I cursed the Japaneese design engineer who springloaded the door (I might fix that particular design flaw).
There was little comfort in that and even less in a smoking a hamlet.

The only solace I can think of is to hear of someone elses similar misfortune, distraught brides, disappointed editors, moments lost forever to springloaded film doors or hamfisted clumsiness....

NJ

magicbastarder

how much of the roll was rewound? how long was the back open for, and how wide?

sineadw

Just be glad you weren't robert capa on D Day..

http://www.homepagedaily.com/Pages/article7623-robert-capa-his-lost-photos-of-d-day.aspx

edit - and yeah - you might not have lost them all.

edit edit: I waited a year to get my hands on some proper IR film. Exposed a roll and promptly forgot to put the developer in - ruined the whole thing. Major facepalm.

sNarah

Ha - same happened to me the day before yesterday. Worse is, mine was self-inflicted. As in "I forgot to rewind and just opened the bloody thing" - then realizing I am a complete gimp. Ah well. Feck it

Scamp-

I picked up one of these in Oxfarm in Rathmines a few months ago for a tenner.


Nearly ate it with the excitement to get it home.

Got home, with no idea how to open it so found something on the web giving instructions. When I opened it I spotted there was still film inside and closed it down really quickly.

In my head I imagined the amazing old photos that I'd find inside, maybe I could track down the original photographer, deliver the photos back to the rightful owner and then they'd be delighted and treat me like the granddaughter they never had. They might even have a dog that I could walk from them....

Then I opened it again and somehow tore the film.
I'd never even seen a roll of film that came with 12 exposures!

Sigh.

Nisio

I've done it; opened the back with only half the film wound back into the roll. Lashed it in for developement anyway and it turned out only a few frames were ruined

njburke

Heres hoping there may be a frame or two still on it, the door just popped slightly, I don't know how much of the roll had made it back into the canister.

There should have been interesting frames on it though apart from the skelligs, I took the landrover from Camp and up over the Dingle peninsula, I remember trying to shoot flowers through a sheeps ribcage at one point, it was a really nice day and I had time to kill with a camera.
I'ld also kinda challenged myself to ration the 36 frames over the weekend, so I was being choosy about what I shot, you know the way with film, you bring the viewfinder up to your eye and ask yourself, is this frame worth 50 cents?

It was fun taking the shots with the bright viewfinder and split prisim, feck it maybe next time I just won't bother loading it with film, just go through the motions.
NJ

Promac

Went to east Germany and east Europe years ago just after the wall came down in the early 90s - used 40 rolls of film - over 1000 images around Dresden and Berlin and Auschwitz and Prague, etc. Some really great shots that I knew were gonna be lovely. Left the whole lot on a train in Poland. Came back with the 1 roll that was in the camera. Still hate myself for it.

njburke

40 rolls, now that is something you'ld feel in the pit of your stomach for days.

Promac

njburke wrote: »

40 rolls, now that is something you'ld feel in the pit of your stomach for days.

It's been over 15 years.

magicbastarder

my dad took photos of my sister (now aged 29) when she was about an hour old, and they put them in the wrong bath when they were in for processing. my mum said she'd never seen my dad so angry.

tullie

My Parents went on Honeymoon to crete, dad had his OM1 with him, snap happy and all that.

That was until he realised he had loaded the film incorrectly and had been taking photos over photos, as in the camera kept winding eventhough the the roll was finished.

Over 30 years on and he still goes pale when it's brought up.

Kazujo

I picked up an OM10 from ebay my first film slr. Ran a roll through as a test and they came out great so decided to try to BW got a roll of Ilford HP5 ran off the roll thought all was well. Dropped it in to be developed and the whole roll was blank. It was only when I tried to load my next roll I realized that film has a tendency to slip off the winder if you don't feed enough film through (not the amount the manual stipulates)

Then was taking some shots at a friends wedding and was chatting to someone as I went to unload the film and opened the back before rewinding. Luckily I only lost the last 6 frames on the roll