I'm sure this has happened to everyone here, one time or another...

[Donald Qualls]

I walked up to the mailbox on Christmas Eve, just before sunset -- it's almost half a mile, up a steep hill, a little exercise wouldn't hurt me -- and took along my RB67, 90 mm, prism, left hand grip, and 6x7/120 film back with a couple frames of .EDU Ultra 100 left (along with a couple fresh rolls in my pocket, .EDU Ultra 400 and NHG400). The light was lower than I expected, so I did my best hand holding at 1/15 (heavy camera and very smooth mirror action improves confidence). Once the film was wound through, while still walking slowly (and getting barked at by every dog in the neighborhood -- apparently they're not used to people walking by), I opened the back, took out the insert, and started closing up the roll.

I was concerned, because Foma confectioned films have a moisten-to-stick hold-down that often doesn't hold, so I was thinking how to protect the roll for the rest of the walk (still had the steep section ahead) and return as I folded the tail tab under and started to wrap the glue tab -- and the roll jumped out of my hand, leaving only the glue tab firmly held in the fingers of the opposite hand.

Yep, you guessed it, the entire roll unrolled, all the way to the leader paper, all that bright green base side showing in the cloudy late day light.

Sigh...

All I could do was to wad up the roll, stuff it in a pocket, and go ahead and load the next one (NHG400), which went without incident...

 

[BrianShaw]

Sorry for your loss. I’ve never experienced that (yet).

 

[Dusty Negative]

Not yet. But, as Pazuzu said in The Exorcist, “In time.”

 

[gone]

Nope, never had that happen, but the other day I opened my N70 and it turned out that there was a roll of film in there. The lost frames were the only frames that I'd wanted to see. All this stuff is caused by wool gathering for 1 split second, that's all it takes.

 

[craigclu]

You've managed to pull one off that hasn't befallen me (yet). A pro in our community used to allow serious amateurs to drop film off at his studio to include in his batches to the lab. A favorite prank was to have a dummy roll under the counter which he would pretend was the customer's roll, ceremoniously unfurl up to the light and exclaim "Let's see what you've got here" and wait for the customer to faint.....

 

[Deleted member 88956]

Now you can sell that roll on ebay and you can prove with lots of photos film is still in Mint ++++ condition.

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

I got a fat roll once with one of my Holgas. Every shot ruined. I sure appreciate Fuji for putting a sticky tab on their film making it fool proof.

 

[Laurent]

Never happened to me but I offer my sympathy. Since I used Rollei film at one moment, I kept the nice canisters and use them tk secure my HP5 rolls

 

[VinceInMT]

But did you remember to get to the mailbox?

 

[bernard_L]

Not this, but that. Prepare backpack for the day. Camera (folder), film, filters, monopod, etc... I normally do not put the film in the camera before taking the first picture, in case it's a day without a single picture (happens), and next outing I decide color vs b/w.
Arrive at first "promising" scene. Open film box, open camera back. No takeup spool!
Lesson learned.

 

[wiltw]

And now, on the positive side of things, you own a dummy roll of film which can serve a variety of purposes in which a roll of film can come in handy. I have long had 120, 220, and 135 format rolls on hand.

 

[Donald Qualls]

But did you remember to get to the mailbox?

Oh, yes -- it was an important trip, I'd decided to go up there because tracking said my RAM upgrade was there, and I wanted to install that over the weekend.

Not this, but that. Prepare backpack for the day. Camera (folder), film, filters, monopod, etc... I normally do not put the film in the camera before taking the first picture, in case it's a day without a single picture (happens), and next outing I decide color vs b/w.
Arrive at first "promising" scene. Open film box, open camera back. No takeup spool!
Lesson learned.

Sacrifice one roll and you have the spool you need. Much cheaper than wasting a whole trip...

 

[Donald Qualls]

And now, on the positive side of things, you own a dummy roll of film which can serve a variety of purposes in which a roll of film can come in handy. I have long had 120, 220, and 135 format rolls on hand.

Well, kinda -- I actually trashed it; it was pretty badly crumpled by the time I took it out of my coat pocket (didn't think to roll it back up at the time).

 

[pentaxuser]

Bad luck Donald. Hasn't happened to me yet but, Boy, I can certainly see how it is something just waiting to happen.

pentaxuser

 

[MattKing]

Happened to me once at the end of the day with a roll shot at a wedding reception.
A family friend who owned and ran a wedding and portrait studio had a story which described how, after he downsized (!!) to medium format, he finished a wedding, went out to the car, put all the exposed rolls from the reception on the flat part of the bumper, put his camera equipment in the trunk and then got into the car and drove off with the film starting the journey while still on the bumper.
The film did not complete the journey.

 

[abruzzi]

If it was a roll of Pan F+, then just re-roll it, wait a couple of years, then re-shoot it.

 

[Oldwino]

I had a roll of Kodak somehingorother that, when I took it out of the camera, had no adhesive strip on it. Nothing, wasn’t in the camera either-just not there. I stood there, holding it closed. I didn’t have my camera bag with me (I keep some tape and rubber bands in there).
My wife was none too happy when I informed here that I needed her hair band. “It’s an emergency” was met with a disbelieving stare.
In the end, my photos were saved, and my wife’s embarrassment of a “bad hair day” is now a distant memory.

 

[DWThomas]

I haven't actually done that (yet), but mostly because I was lucky on a couple of occasions!

 

[Sirius Glass]

On rare occasion I have had problems with the tape sealing exposed film. As a result, I put strips of masking tape or painter's tape on the sides of my film backs and the plastic boxes that hold the spare rolls. Try it, I hope it works for you.

 

[Donald Qualls]

I put strips of masking tape or painter's tape on the sides of my film backs and the plastic boxes that hold the spare rolls. Try it, I hope it works for you.

Useful suggestion, but only effective if you can hang onto the roll long enough to tape it up.

 

[ic-racer]

Nope, never had that happen, but the other day I opened my N70 and it turned out that there was a roll of film in there. The lost frames were the only frames that I'd wanted to see. All this stuff is caused by wool gathering for 1 split second, that's all it takes.

The solved that in the N75 and N55; exposed film winds into the cassette so the latent images are protected if the back opens.

 

[ic-racer]

Before I tightened the take up clutch on one of my Bolex 8mm cameras, a whole 25ft reel of film expanded to fill the 100ft capacity film chamber. Pretty much all ruined when I opened the camera.

 

[Sirius Glass]

How come all the photographs that were on the rolls of film which somehow just explode and unwind were all prefect photographs?

 

[JPD]

That happened to me and a roll of Fuji Reala a couple of years ago, but I was quick to grab it and lost only half of the exposures. The important pics where on the first half of the roll, a job I did for a relative, and they came out fine.

If it was a roll of Pan F+, then just re-roll it, wait a couple of years, then re-shoot it.

Seriously, I'm now wondering if that would work. Letting the latent exposure fade and then re-shoot.

 

[Down Under]

Good one, Mr Qualls!! Yes, it does happen to everyone, if that's any consolation to anybody...

Every now and then I have a 'senior's moment' (not a Covid one, fortunately!) and load a roll of 120, expensive as it is, the wrong way in my Rolleiflex 3.5E2, with its supposedly foolproof automat system - without thinking about it I put the film over the roller and not under it as any intelligent photographer knows to do. Result, the entire film winds through the camera without linking to the exposure counter and I cant take any images... duh duh duh.

Fortunately I have a home darkroom, so I can take the damn roll into the dark and rewind it, but then of course the 'loose' end of film doesn't quite fit into the place it should and the roll bulges a little. I've not (yet) lost a roll due to this bulge, but the thought bothers and annoys me all the time until I get home and do the deed. Doesn't quite ruin my day, but it makes me feel like a dumbo.

I do this at least one time every year, so at least I'm consistent, if nothing else, ha!!

I deal with the loose film problem by carrying a few small rubber bands in my backpack. When I finish a roll, a band goes around it, if I remember to do this, along with a small piece of paper reminding me whether to process the film as an N-plus or an N-minus.

My two Rolleiflex Ts and Rolleicord Vb don't have automat loading, which is good, but the Ts have erratic shutters that refuse to work every now and then - I've worked out a system to get around this, which is to make sure the focus knob is turned back to infinity after every shot (and of course I only wind on to a few exposure before taking the image), but it still means I don't quite trust them when I take them out to shoot and of course the repairs for this are nowadays too expensive, so a lose-lose - and the Vb has that annoying flip-flop lever, yes yes yes, I know I should spend a little money and buy one of the 'buttons' F&H designed for this camera, but do you think I can find out that won't cost me at least $100, no!!

I console myself by thinking, yes, we are all human, but some days it doesn't pay to get out of bed, let alone walk to the mailbox in our southern hemisphere 40-degree (Celsius of course!!) summer days.