Does anyone rewind partially exposed rolls in order to switch film?

Carterofmars · Mar 11, 2023

Thanks for the feedback. Appreciated!

wiltw · Mar 11, 2023

I used to switch mid-roll a lot, when I was shooting in high school. I was Photography Editor of my HS newspaper, I was also on the yearbook staff so shot lots of photos for use in the yearbook, so I would switch rolls to keep B&W photos for those two uses segregated from one another. And I had a variety of professional engagements outside of school, entailing color film or B&W film assignments. Most of my remove-and-reload entailed rolls shot for newspaper and yearbook, as the outside engagements simply would be shoot-and-process at end of job. When I removed mid-roll, I would use a permanent marker to write the total number of exposures taken on the roll, so I knew how far to advance the film before taking a new exposure.
Of course, not having a camera body with autorewind is essential; and manual insertion of the leader into the takeup- before winding to a repeatable point is also handy. but you can deal with lack of repeatability by mere advancing one more frame from last shot taken.

CMoore · Mar 11, 2023

Carterofmars said:
Does anyone rewind partially exposed rolls in order to switch film?
View attachment 332078
I'm very interested in experiences, opinions, and thoughts.

I just loaded this new addition with some expired Tri-x.

I have done it several times for various reasons. I just mark the frame number when it comes out and then go 2 frames past that when i reload it.

Nicholas Lindan · Mar 11, 2023

Hmmm, that's a neat feature on that Zeiss/Voigtlander/Vitesse - hold the shutter down and crank away until you get to the right frame.

Features like that pop up and then disappear from the lingua franca of camera design.

I wonder if they didn't design the camera, found it behaved in that fashion, and then decided it "wasn't a bug but a feature" ((c) IBM 1957) and left it.

Terrence Brennan · Mar 14, 2023

MattKing said:
My Dad was Customer Service manager at a Kodak Canada Kodachrome lab between the 1960s and 1980s. He used to say that when customers did this it used to drive the operators of the semi-automatic slide mounting machines absolutely crazy!
They had a pre-printed form explaining why the film returned to the customer had at least one slide cut in pieces.
It was probably the same for a lot of mini-lab operators.

I saw that in a number of labs I worked in in the 1970s and 1980s. Anytime I removed and reloaded a roll of 35mm transparancy film, I would always attach a note to outline what I had done, and I never had a problem.

Huss · Mar 14, 2023

Alan Edward Klein said:
My problem is I shoot a few shots then the film sits for months on end and then passes its expiration date.

Don't worry, it's not like milk.

CMoore · Mar 14, 2023

Huss said:
Don't worry, it's not like milk.

CasioCassette · Apr 11, 2023

The only time I did something lik this was wheen I had a roll of heavily expired (40+ years) Fortepan 100 in my Nikon F100, and the film was somehow very tight in its canister and the F100 after about halfway through decided it couldn't auto-advance the film anymore so it rewound it. Then I loaded the film in my Zenit 11 and finished the roll. I can't really say the effort was worth it, though, the negative ended up being barely usable.

eli griggs · Apr 11, 2023

I recently rewound and retrieved about a half roll of 36 exp. of Tmax 100, from my CL, so I could load it with HP5 Plus at 1600 iso.

I will most likely load this roll into a second camera instead of developing the exposed half alone.

Hassasin · Apr 11, 2023

There are 35 mm cameras with switchable backs (Contaflex, Contarex, I believe Mamiya had one too). Easy, if that is what one needs in 35 mm. I have never gone through the trouble otherwise. Why would I want to lose a few frames?

Philippe-Georges · Apr 12, 2023

Hassasin said:
There are 35 mm cameras with switchable backs (Contaflex, Contarex, I believe Mamiya had one too). Easy, if that is what one needs in 35 mm. I have never gone through the trouble otherwise. Why would I want to lose a few frames?

Rollei had one too, the 3001

eli griggs · Apr 12, 2023

The Rolliflex 2000 was/is also a box type 135 film camera with exchangeable backs, etc.

I regret I never had the chance to try either, but they looked very interesting.

Hassasin · Apr 12, 2023

Philippe-Georges said:
Rollei had one too, the 3001

I did not mention Rollei intentionally, different beast, different price point, then and now. But it sure looked great when introduced and one I was hoping to own one day, back then.

Leemet Samel · Apr 12, 2023

I have done this several times with my Canon EOS 7s. Custom function allows to leave the leader out of the cartridge. Mark the number of exposure on the cartridge that the camera showed. When reloading, advance the film to the exact frame number that was written on the cartridge with the lens cap on and the IR sprocket counter precisely reaches that frame. No wasted frames, only hassle is finding the marker in my photo bag to write the frame number on the cartridge.

Hassasin · Apr 12, 2023

Every time film is loaded, rewound, then again, increases chances of scratching film, including frames that had already been taken way back. I never understood this routine. Rare cases may be, but avoid at all costs. Those custom functions of leaving leader out, that was just a sales pitch, it works but I don't believe it was intended as for going back and forth on same roll of film. Besides the few cameras it actually applies to, meaning in majority of cases there are frames wasted.

koraks · Apr 12, 2023

Hassasin said:
Those custom functions of leaving leader out, that was just a sales pitch

I find it very convenient for a different purpose: I can cut the leader off and round off the corner, which makes loading the film onto a reel really easy. I guess some people also use this function because it removes the need of a film picker or to open the cassette.

Anon Ymous · Apr 12, 2023

koraks said:
I find it very convenient for a different purpose: I can cut the leader off and round off the corner, which makes loading the film onto a reel really easy. I guess some people also use this function because it removes the need of a film picker or to open the cassette.

Yes, for all these reasons. My 300V cameras don't have this option and it's a minor peeve.

Hassasin · Apr 12, 2023

koraks said:
I find it very convenient for a different purpose: I can cut the leader off and round off the corner, which makes loading the film onto a reel really easy. I guess some people also use this function because it removes the need of a film picker or to open the cassette.

I see your point, I never successfully retrieved film with those many different types of "retrievers". Some say it's easy

Anon Ymous · Apr 12, 2023

Hassasin said:
I see your point, I never successfully retrieved film with those many different types of "retrievers". Some say it's easy

Years ago, I saw a YouTube video about how to retrieve the film leader with a piece of wet film. Tried it, succeed with the first try. And then I failed miserably ever after. I just put a bottle opener with the rest of the stuff in the changing bag.

koraks · Apr 12, 2023

Hassasin said:
I see your point, I never successfully retrieved film with those many different types of "retrievers". Some say it's easy

I've tried the "wet a piece of film and stick it to the roll" method several times, but without luck. Never even bothered getting a decent film picker! Admittedly, I generally just pop the can open with a beer opener. That's technology I actually understand!

Leemet Samel · Apr 13, 2023

Hassasin said:
Every time film is loaded, rewound, then again, increases chances of scratching film, including frames that had already been taken way back.

APS was designed to do this, I don't think there was a specific method to prevent scratches. Poorly cleaned and maintained equipment is definitely higher risk than properly maintained cameras with multiple rewound cycles.

All depends on the camera, but so far with my Canon, I have seen no detrimental effect so far. More problematic has been local lab processing C-41, often returning scratched negatives. That why I process film at home.

Leemet Samel · Apr 13, 2023

Hassasin said:
I see your point, I never successfully retrieved film with those many different types of "retrievers". Some say it's easy

Different retrievers, I recently acquired AP model. Worked on 1st attempt while reading instructions and rarely fails.

Overrank · Apr 13, 2023

Carterofmars said:
Does anyone rewind partially exposed rolls in order to switch film?

Very occasionally I’ve done it to move a roll to a different camera if I’m having problems with a camera. I’ve done it with APS but that was to test the MRC functionality (note that most APS cameras don't support mid-roll change but mark the roll as used if you remove it)

wattda · Apr 26, 2023

I used to do it when had 1 camera. My success rate was about %50 ,scratches loss of exposures, etc . Now that a roll of film is more expensive than some of the camera bodies I have, it doesn't make a lot of sense. Unless your camera breaks and you want to save the remainder of the roll.

quilts · May 1, 2023

I’ve done it quite a few times now, but always to switch the film to a different camera as opposed to switching to a new roll in the current camera. I’ve even switched a roll from a half frame camera to a full frame without issue. I just skip an extra frame or two to avoid any overlap. No noticeable issues with scratches yet.

Does anyone rewind partially exposed rolls in order to switch film?

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Does anyone rewind partially exposed rolls in order to switch film?

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