How much of my film is likely to be fogged?

[Avril]

Couldn't think of a better title.

I bought a batch of 120 at a good price, and then students in my class asked me to get some for them. Between us, I think we bought 75 rolls. It had about a month to go on its expiry date, so it should have been fine.

One or two people have used some rolls without any problem, but one woman found the film wasn't winding on in her Mamiya 645. When she opened up to find out what was going on, the film was all bunched up concertina style. Then another woman had the same problem.

Our best guess was that the tape that sticks the film to the backing paper was missing. What to do?

One option was to take the film back and get a refund or exchange. One woman opted for that, but the next price up meant only getting three films back for her original five. When you're a student and everything you do is experimental and some of it a bit hit and miss, the more frames you can get for your money, the better. Still, she was happy with that outcome.

For myself, being a practical sort, I decided I could risk sacrificing one roll. I loaded it into my Bronica ETR. Keeping it taught on the rollers, I wound it on past the stop arrow until I could just see the start of the film where the tape should be. The tape was there, but loose. I shook it out and replaced it with a strip of masking tape. Then closed the back and wound on until the camera located the take-up notch.

I haven't quite finished the film yet, and have been taking only test photos, nothing that matters, but when I told my tutor she reckoned at least a third of the film would be fogged. I just wondered if anyone here has any views, or even any past experience of doing something similar.

Obviously, it would have been far better to do it under safe light, but I don't have one at home and I couldn't have been sure what was happening in pitch dark, so I just did it in a darkish room, shielding the film from and direct light source.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Avril

 

[bdial]

For film, a "darkish" room, safelight or whatever isn't good enough. It can only be handled in complete darkness.
Some people use night vision IR goggles to work in the dark, but it's a lot simpler to just learn how to work by feel. It's a skill you may find useful in other contexts.

Since replacing the film with a more reliable product is an economic issue, it shouldn't be too difficult to unroll it far enough in a darkroom to replace or add another piece of tape. Pre-cut some pieces of masking tape, unroll the film enough to get to the taped end, retape it and roll it backup. Use another piece to hold the end tab down until you're ready to use it in a camera.

 

[verney]

If you kept the film in a tight roll then my guess is you ruined about two frames. Never done that with roll film but with 35mm film you usually lose 2-3 last frames if you open the camera back. Let us know what was the result.

 

[jerry lebens]

Personally, I'd take the film back and be prepared to pay for a more reliable product. I admire you wanting to keep costs down but I'm afraid you may be making false economies.

First : if you're losing 2-3 frames per film, then you may as well use the expensive stuff because, out of five films, you're only going to get the equivalent of three good ones (if you see what I mean).

Second : You may be able to repair the film but it isn't worth the risk. Re-fixing your film will be more difficult than you think and, if you get it wrong, there's a real risk of damaging your valuable camera. If I was using and old Box Brownie I wouldn't fret but your Bronica is a pretty complicated beast and it needs it's films to conform to pretty strict tolerances - it's not like using reloads in 35mm, there's more to go wrong.

I'm not saying that you shouldn't search out and try outdated film. Often it's good stuff - although, if it's past it's sell by date, you may want to check that the ISO remains true. It's just that the batch that you've found suffers from a problem that makes it a bad bet.

Regards
Jerry

 

[CBG]

Send it back. Cheap is great till it doesn't work. Then suddenly it starts getting really expensive.

 

[fotch]

Perfect practice makes perfect. Use first class film and try for first class results.

 

[pentaxuser]

Which make of film was it? Even out of date 120 wouldn't usually show this kind of fault but with in-date film this is worrying.

pentaxuser

 

[brucemuir]

If you have a camera with a focal plane shutter don't risk it.
My mamiya 645 AFD manual warns how fragile the shutter curtain is

 

[Ektagraphic]

Return the film. It is not worth the frustration and potentiaal camera damage.

 

[Ektagraphic]

What film was this?

 

[MattKing]

If the film has been stored in a manner that would cause the tape to come loose, I would think that loose tape would be only one of many problems.

Matt