film that rolls backwards help?

jackie_like_the_chan · Jan 15, 2012

I really don't know how else to explain it. I was loading it into my tank and could feel it changed direction like it was s shaped and then it jammed and i couldn't get it to load properly for the life of me. Has this happened to anyone else? It was in a camera I havent touched in awhile so maybe it got curled up wrong from sitting there too long?

jackie_like_the_chan · Jan 15, 2012

and it gets weirder. I know that I took the full amount of photos I could, but when I developed it I found the last photo I took towards the beginning of the roll and photos I'd taken earlier towards the end but they were eaten pretty badly. I just wish I knew what I did.

Chris Lange · Jan 15, 2012

If you were shooting the camera for the first time, it could be that the camera you have extracts the entire roll, and then as you shoot it retracts back into the canister...

Other than that, I got nothing for ya.

keithwms · Jan 15, 2012

Which camera was it in, and for how long?

Mark Crabtree · Jan 15, 2012

jackie_like_the_chan said:
I really don't know how else to explain it. I was loading it into my tank and could feel it changed direction like it was s shaped and then it jammed and i couldn't get it to load properly for the life of me. Has this happened to anyone else? It was in a camera I havent touched in awhile so maybe it got curled up wrong from sitting there too long?

Sometimes you can salvage a poorly loaded roll by taking it off the reel and starting from the other (hopefully undamaged) end. Also, if the camera wraps the film backwards around the take-up spool, it helps to leave the film rewound into the cassette for a while before trying to put it on the developing reel. Especially if the film was in the camera for a while, the reverse curl can really make a mess of loading.

jackie_like_the_chan · Jan 16, 2012

it was in my vivitar 3800n, which has always been very trusty for me, but the film was in there for about a month so i'm assuming it mustve gotten curled but that doesn't explain the last pic...

keithwms · Jan 16, 2012

Hmm, Mark's right. But I find it hard to believe that a month would cause such problems- I thought you were going to say a year or so! Oh well, better luck next time!

Mark Crabtree · Jan 16, 2012

A month is plenty of time to take a set. Rewinding into the cassette a letting it sit overnight will remove most of the reverse curl. Of course the film and age matter to; it sure seems like film gets curlier as it get older, but probably just longer for the curl to set in.

I don't know the Vivitar you mentioned, but I assumed the answers about it shooting from the end of the film back to the beginning was probably right. I've had at least one point and shoot that did that (maybe my Yashica T4).

MattKing · Jan 16, 2012

This is a Vivitar 3800N: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/232175-REG/Vivitar_59880_V3800N_35mm_SLR_Camera.html

It is a manual wind 35mm SLR, so I don't think it does that trick with the reversed order of photos .

To the OP:

Was this bulk loaded film?

When you loaded it on the darkroom reel, did you first remove it from the 35mm cassette entirely? By chance did you drop and then pick up the film in the dark?

jackie_like_the_chan · Jan 16, 2012

It wasn't bulk loaded and when I loaded it onto the reel it exploded in my hands and so I tried to put it on the reel and it felt wrong and then I felt it bend and twist and that was about the time I dropped the film in the dark :-/ It just frustrates me because I start another photography course at my local art college tomorrow and I feel I made a very very rookie mistake...

MattKing · Jan 16, 2012

Well, at least one mystery is solved.

When you picked up the film after it dropped, you picked up the other end, and therefore loaded it with the last photos going first into the centre of the developing reel.

If it is any consolation, I've been doing this for 40+ years, and I too sometimes have trouble with a film that refuses to load easily. So it may be that you are being unfair to yourself when you describe this as a "very rookie mistake". The big advantage of course of having more experience is that it is easier to stay calm under the pressure .

Humidity (either very low, or very high) is often the culprit. What type of reels and tanks are you using?

Dan Williams · Jan 16, 2012

Are you using plastic Paterson type reels? If so, were they completely dry when you started loading your film? A little moisture will cause the film to stick to the reel and make loading very difficult if not impossible. Also, I have read that some people using the plastic reels who also use Photo-Flo have had the film jam if they didn't thoroughly wash the reel the last time they used it.

Dan

jackie_like_the_chan · Jan 17, 2012

now i feel even sillier because it was a plastic reel (patterson) and I thought it was sufficiently dry but I'd done another roll maybe 15 minutes before... What a combo. *face palm*

MattKing · Jan 17, 2012

Another valuable lesson that you won't soon forget .

film that rolls backwards help?

jackie_like_the_chan

jackie_like_the_chan

Chris Lange

keithwms

Mark Crabtree

jackie_like_the_chan

keithwms

Mark Crabtree

MattKing

Moderator

jackie_like_the_chan

MattKing

Moderator

Dan Williams

jackie_like_the_chan

MattKing

Moderator

film that rolls backwards help?

Moderator

Moderator

Moderator

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency