My film broke off of the reel in my camera! Help!

lorirfrommontana · Apr 17, 2009

I'm not sure if this is the right place to put this but here goes! I had a roll of color film in my 35mm camera. I usually shoot with B&W but wanted to take some shots of my daughter and her hogs for her 4H project book in color. I was out walking at the river and finished up the roll and started to rewind. There was a pop and nothing. The film didn't rewind. I did crack open the back (I know big mistake) to see what was going on. I only develop b&w film so have no chems for color. The rest of the day of shooting was shot too!!! Although I was able to shoot a couple of rolls of 120. Can I just develop these in b&w chems? Will they turn out at all? I'm sort of bummed cause I had some cute hog picks on there I'm sure (they are babies and all babies are cute, right). I also just got a shot of an eagle with a fish (although I didn't have my telephoto lense on so not too big a deal). The only developing places around here are 1 hr places and I'm sure they would not know what to do with film still in a camera!!! Any suggestions are welcome. The film may be shot anyway because I craked open the camera but I'd at least like to try and save some of the hog shots. Thanks, Lori

archphoto · Apr 17, 2009

If you have a darkroom available to you or a changing-bag: unload the film in total darkness and have it deveoped.
It might be that some shots can be saved.

Peter

Jeff Bannow · Apr 17, 2009

Yep - either unload in a changing bag, or wait until night time and unload it in complete darkness (like in a closet at night with the lights out dark). I would put it into a black 35mm plastic canister, tape it closed and put a note on top. Then take it to the store and tell them what happened - they might be able to feed it through anyway.

A "pro" lab should be able to handle it without any issues as well.

Sirius Glass · Apr 17, 2009

What Peter said PLUS if you can find a store in your area that carries film or processes film, see if they have a changing bag and will help you.

A real shot in the dark, if there is a professional photographer in your area who has a darkroom, seek help there.

Best of luck,

Steve

lorirfrommontana · Apr 17, 2009

Do I just load the film onto an old reel? Or do I try and slide it into it's case/reel that it must have come untaped from?? The second would be a better option I suppose as it would be light tight again. I do have a dark room available so would love to be able to save it as color film. Thanks for the ideas.

David William White · Apr 17, 2009

Sounds familiar!

Go to a mom-and-pop photofinisher, not the grocery store, and find pop. Hand him your camera, or hand him a black poly bag with the film in it. Smile pathetically and helplessly. Pop has darkboxes for taking film out of disposable cameras (they don't have cartridges).

With any luck the last few winds of film will have provided enough light masking to salvage the first half of the roll.

Jeff Bannow · Apr 17, 2009

If it came completely off of the reel, then just take the film and put it into something light tight - like a black plastic canister.

Or, take the whole camera in and see if they can assist.

BetterSense · Apr 17, 2009

Pop has darkboxes for taking film out of disposable cameras (they don't have cartridges).

Some of them do. I get my once-used 35mm cartridges for bulk loading from the local Target. Nearly half of them are plain unlabeled white ones, with no DX coding, that the workers there tell me came out of disposable cameras.

lorirfrommontana · Apr 17, 2009

Ok! Thanks guys. Unfortunately the only real photo shop around here must have closed cause they are never open anymore!!! I will get it all into a film canister (I have a black one) and check with all of the places and see if they can help! As it broke out of the canister I'm hoping that the first shots (the ones I really care about) were protected by the later shots!

srs5694 · Apr 17, 2009

I've accidentally opened loaded cameras a couple of times. I've typically completely lost about 3-4 shots in each case, with damage to another 2-3 shots and the rest of the roll being unaffected (except for some fogging around the sprocket holes). The details will vary with how long the camera back was open, how bright it was, and how fast the film was, of course.

I once had film rip in the camera as you describe, at a time before I began doing my own processing. Fortunately, I had a reloadable plastic film cartridge on hand. I was able to go into a darkened bathroom and spool the film from the camera onto the reloadable cartridge. My local CVS was then able to process the film, so even a minilab with a minimum-wage teenager running the equipment can handle this sort of thing. (I don't know if they'd be able to handle it loaded into the sort of plastic container that holds 35mm film, though.)

Worst-case scenario, if you can't find help locally, if you can get the film in the mail in a lightproof container, I'd be willing to process it to negatives for you. (I do my own C-41.) PM me if this becomes necessary.

OldBikerPete · Apr 18, 2009

If you don't have a darkroom or a changing bag, a stopgap I have found handy on occasions is to go into a darkened bedroom and get completely under the covers of a bed - preferably a double and dressed with blankets, not a doona. In the complete darkness under there you will be able to open the camera safely.
When you open the camera you will be able to feel where the film has broken. If the tape holding the film to the cassette's spool has broken then the film will be wrapped around the take-up spool. You will need to open the cassette and use a new piece of tape to attach the film to the cassette's spool then reassemble the cassette and wind the film off the take-up spool back into the cassette. Depending on your camera's mechanism, the easiest way to do that may be to use the camera's rewind system.
You should try to practice pulling apart and reassembling another film cassette in the daylight before diving under the bedclothes.
Good luck.

nicefor88 · May 3, 2009

Like another member said earlier, unload the camera at night or in a closed room in maximum darkness and place it in a film canister (not the translucid model of course), but a black plastic one and bring it to the lab. They'll know what to do. A good lab should be able to save you this by unloading the camera themselves.
Don't worry it happens to the best!

My film broke off of the reel in my camera! Help!

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