Exposed bulk roll....

jusxusfanatic · Mar 10, 2017

*Copied form Facebook*

FFFUUUUUUUUUU ilford

should've said your bulk films isn't inside a can... Yes I know I forgot to read the small prints..

I took it out of the light proof bag and saw it doesn't have a case, so I instantly put it under my jacket just in case, then into a changing bag

is everything or the edges ruined?

I tried 12 shots, and the sprockets were exposed, and everything else is black. Should I try one more roll or what? Thanks

noeru · Mar 10, 2017

I dare say this isn't Ilford's fault, why would you take anything out of a lightproof bag in full daylight. >.> I'd expect the sprockets to be fully exposed but maybe the film further inside the roll didn't fog all the way though? I'd throw out a couple rolls' worth of length and try again.

jusxusfanatic · Mar 10, 2017

noeru said:
I dare say this isn't Ilford's fault, why would you take anything out of a lightproof bag in full daylight. >.> I'd expect the sprockets to be fully exposed but maybe the film further inside the roll didn't fog all the way though? I'd throw out a couple rolls' worth of length and try again.

Yea, I'll try 2 more rolls. It's my first time buying bulk film and I though there would be a can containing the film

jusxusfanatic · Mar 10, 2017

How many should I throw away? One roll (around 30 turns?)

AgX · Mar 10, 2017

(there was a url link here which no longer exists), you are not the first to whom such happened with IlfordPhoto bulk rolls...

see here:
(there was a url link here which no longer exists)
(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

jusxusfanatic · Mar 10, 2017

AgX said:
(there was a url link here which no longer exists), you are not the first to whom such happened with IlfordPhoto bulk rolls...

see here:
(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

Thanks for the link I hope mine doesn't go bad. Should I just dump out one roll?

noeru · Mar 10, 2017

I think the length of one roll would still be transparent enough to let light through, I'd go for a few more. Depends on how bright it was when you took it out I guess!

tezzasmall · Mar 10, 2017

I doubt if there's any real way of telling how much of the film has been exposed and made it unusable, is to develop lengths of it, with the hope that at one point the light failed to get to the area where the exposures usually are.

I probably would have thought like you though. A 35mm film comes in a small canister, so one would of thought anything bigger would be too, right?

I used to use bulk film decades ago but it's too long ago to remember how it was packaged back then.

Fingers crossed for you.

Terry S

jusxusfanatic · Mar 10, 2017

Yea true, gonna pull out around 1m of film... But hey, at least it's cheaper than buying individual ones!

jusxusfanatic · Mar 10, 2017

Should I? If I pull out 1m more, that means I've pulled out 2m in total!

bdial · Mar 10, 2017

3 or 4 layers should be enough, if you have already pulled 1m that should be plenty. The best way to tell would be to process the first 10 cm or so of the remaining portion of the roll and see how it looks.

jusxusfanatic · Mar 10, 2017

bdial said:
3 or 4 layers should be enough, if you have already pulled 1m that should be plenty. The best way to tell would be to process the first 10 cm or so of the remaining portion of the roll and see how it looks.

Huh, so I have to pull out like 2 more meters ?

jusxusfanatic · Mar 10, 2017

I already pulled out 2m

twelvetone12 · Mar 10, 2017

Why there should be a can of film *inside* the lightproof bag? If anything it should be the reverse!

jusxusfanatic · Mar 10, 2017

Dunno haha

jvo · Mar 10, 2017

i'm a 120 guy and haven't bulk loaded film for 20+ years. I've seen this same problem described often here lately - doesn't mfg'er put any sort of label on the outside packaging cautioning "should be opened in a darkroom/changing bag, etc.?"

the "bag" used to be the last protection, just as with paper, but a simple label would help.

jusxusfanatic · Mar 10, 2017

I shoot 120 too, yea

So should I pull out 2m more?

tokam · Mar 10, 2017

No. 2 - 3 layers of tight, unprocessed film on a bulk spool should protect the remainder of the bulk film. There may be some light 'piping' from the edge of the film around the sprockets but as Ilford films have an acetate, not polyester, base then this effect should be minimal.

Just load a short roll, 10 frames, into a 35mm cassette and expose and process. Evaluate the results and decide if you need to discard more film from the bulk roll.

Sorry to hear about your accident. I have been bulk loading since 1981 and have had a couple of mishaps including loading the bulk spool upside down in the loader. Didn't catch this one until I went to tape the film onto the 35mm spool and realised that the emulsion side of the film would be wound on the outside of the spool. Didn't lose much film that time.

Good luck with it.

jvo · Mar 10, 2017

no... pull out 10cm, process, and see how it looks. the sprockets will probably been exposed, you checking to see what if any light hit the film. get to a point where there is no exposure to the film, the sprockets are probably exposed through most of it.

good luck

p.s. just saw tokam comments after i posted, two hemisphere's have spoken - great minds think alike!

Wallendo · Mar 10, 2017

The last bulk roll of Ilford film I bought had a warning sticker that had to be torn to open the box. I believe, that this was added in the last year or so, older rolls would not have the sticker.

Luckless · Mar 10, 2017

A classmate did something similar years ago when they got an order in early in the morning and started opening it before they had their coffee.

Their solution to try and recover as much as possible was to start loading spools, but took a short test clip off the bulk spool before each one for a few rolls. Once the test clips developed and were mostly clean, then he just treated the rest of the bulk roll as normal. Think they had some weird edge effect for the whole thing, but he just avoided composing with anything overly important near the edges and enjoyed his film.

Of course care and attention to handling your test strips and spools is important, mixing up which test piece went with which spool is an annoying thing. A small hole punch to leave identifier marks may be your friend.

Rick A · Mar 10, 2017

So... when you opened the package you couldn't FEEL there wasn't a can in the bag? And you didn't bother reading the packaging? And we're supposed to be sympathetic -- because?

Harry Stevens · Mar 10, 2017

I don't care what it comes in it will go in a changing bag and then I will go in my darkroom and do the transfer from the bulk film package to the Watson loader all carried out still in the changing bag.

So like post 22 my sympothy levels are low. I would make up waste dummy rolls to use for testing cameras out and learning how to load tank reels ect.

rpavich · Mar 10, 2017

I did it once. I think that it was for the bag not being sealed, it was just folded under.

Live and learn.

lovely_sausages · Mar 10, 2017

Dude it says right on the box "open in darkroom only."

Exposed bulk roll....

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