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

grat · Dec 31, 2021

I discovered a new one:

Use wrong shutter cable connection on a Copal Press shutter, and instead of f/16 @ 1/125th of a second, expose at f/5.6 for around half a second.

.... that was a very dense negative. It matched the very dense photographer.

Most of the rest, I've successfully avoided by having a checklist in my head. The other time I got in trouble was when I skipped a step, realized it, went back to that point in the checklist, and tried to pick back up from the missing step. I very carefully composed the shot, inserted the film, pulled the darkslide, and closed the lens. In that order. *sigh*

abruzzi · Dec 31, 2021

Sirius Glass said:
If one really wants to experience problems, just switch to LF which has no built in safeties or interlock. There are just so many new and exciting ways to mess up:

I think this is why I've fallen in love with the LF process, so much so that I now want to shoot medium format like it was large format (see my thread on 6x9 monorail cameras.) I love that it doesn't do much of anything for you, and you have to plan and figure everything. It feels a little more like engineering than the rest of film photography (I also love the old Sinar brochures where the photographers are all wearing lab coats.)

Vaughn · Dec 31, 2021

Whoops...
I did get a proper vertical image. My 4x5 does not have a rotating back, so I would have turned the whole camera on its side and re-compose/focus for the horizontal image. So somehow I forgot that I exposed two verticals with a holder, then used one side of it again for the horizontal. 1993...TMax100, yellow filter (for both, I assume) in HC-110. Contact print.

moto-uno · Dec 31, 2021

And to top all these "problems" , how about driving to Quebec city in September , lovely weather and a medium format users dream day .
Get to the Ottawa airport a few days later and get the rolls happily hand checked , gather up all my stuff and fly back to Vancouver , Yep,
you guessed it , the film was still in Ottawa and never found . Peter

Donald Qualls · Dec 31, 2021

Philippe-Georges said:
BTW, over here we call a 'sheet holder' a "film cassette" (elder colleagues call it a "film chassis") is that a genuine expression in plain English too?

Yes, I've heard a film holder (aka "double dark slide") called a film cassette, but in English, that phrase is a little ambiguous, because 135 (aka 35 mm) film comes in cassettes (or is hand loaded into them by the economy-minded).

Philippe-Georges · Jan 1, 2022

Don Heisz said:
I tend to remember whether or not the lenscap was in my left hand. So, every now and then I don't remember it being there and I'm almost always not surprised to see a blank frame on the roll once developed. It's very confusing when I put the cap in my back pocket.

Not using a lens cap with a cloth focal plane shutter is asking for sunburnt pinholes, which can happen in 15 seconds focused at infinity with the aperture open all the way. So, I never like not having a lenscap.
I once misplaced a lenscap while taking photos of a permanently parked train. I went back a year and a half later and found it. I have since lost it again.

Burning a hole the shutter never happend to me and I never saw it, yet heard about it, but that's not to happen frequently with a camera's like the Hasselblad as these are carried, by the strap, lens pointed down. And pointing the camera straight into the sun, that's "not my cup of tea" and certainly not with the aperture full open as there would be too much light anyway (the film might 'burn' in).

BTW, I always wondered how that is with digital mirrorless camera's as the shutter always stays open and the sensor is permanently exposed to the environment...

That lens cap must have been made solidly: over a year in the wild!

Don_ih · Jan 1, 2022

Philippe-Georges said:
Burning a hole the shutter never happend to me and I never saw it, yet heard about it, but that's not to happen frequently with a camera's like the Hasselblad as these are carried, by the strap, lens pointed down. And pointing the camera straight into the sun, that's "not my cup of tea" and certainly not with the aperture full open as there would be too much light anyway (the film might 'burn' in).

It's not a danger for a slr, since the mirror gets in the way. It does happen to Leica and Leica-copy rangefinders, though. I have a Leica IIIb that must've spent some time on a shelf watching the sun go across the sky - it had a line burnt into the shutter.

Sirius Glass · Jan 1, 2022

A simple way to avoid the sun burning a hole in the shutter is to put a lens cap on the lens.

Prest_400 · Jan 1, 2022

My rangefinder has a leaf shutter. The Texas Leica Fuji 6x9.
I have thought about 120 rolls unraveling and never lost any. The most I have was exposing film on a lent camera and everything was out of focus.
Last time I had the lens cap issue with this camera was 3 shots from a far landscape. Sighed and rewinded the film in the dark to shoot again. Using a UV filter almost permanently now

In 35mm did my fair share of usual mishaps.

Don_ih · Jan 1, 2022

Sirius Glass said:
A simple way to avoid the sun burning a hole in the shutter is to put a lens cap on the lens.

That was actually why it was mentioned in the first place...

Donald Qualls · Jan 1, 2022

Sirius Glass said:
A simple way to avoid the sun burning a hole in the shutter is to put a lens cap on the lens.

Or, for 35 mm rangefinders, use a Contax derivative (or new enough Leica to have a metal shutter). If you have a Speed Graphic specifically (in part) to be able to use lenses without shutter, just remember to fold up the camera when not immediately in use. Only takes fifteen seconds to open the bed and pull the front standard out to the infinity stops. Not to mention, if you do manage to burn a Speed Graphic shutter, you can either a) avoid using the two shutter slits adjacent to the damage, or b) take off the focusing panel (or unscrew the centers of the springs on a spring back), find the pinhole, and dab some liquid electrical tape or similar over the hole, then wait a bit before dusting the repair with graphite powder (to keep it from sticking when rerolled). Heck, you might be able to do this with an older Leica; I wouldn't know, as I've never handled one of those.

AFAIK, the are no medium format cameras with this problem except the smaller versions of the Speed Graphic and the one or two models of "miniature" (= 6.5x9) plate cameras with focal plane shutters -- which are unlikely to be out in regular use anyway because they're a century old (even if you have a roll film holder for them instead of having to find or cut sheet film to fit).

Sirius Glass · Jan 1, 2022

Donald Qualls said:
Or, for 35 mm rangefinders, use a Contax derivative (or new enough Leica to have a metal shutter). If you have a Speed Graphic specifically (in part) to be able to use lenses without shutter, just remember to fold up the camera when not immediately in use. Only takes fifteen seconds to open the bed and pull the front standard out to the infinity stops. Not to mention, if you do manage to burn a Speed Graphic shutter, you can either a) avoid using the two shutter slits adjacent to the damage, or b) take off the focusing panel (or unscrew the centers of the springs on a spring back), find the pinhole, and dab some liquid electrical tape or similar over the hole, then wait a bit before dusting the repair with graphite powder (to keep it from sticking when rerolled). Heck, you might be able to do this with an older Leica; I wouldn't know, as I've never handled one of those.

AFAIK, the are no medium format cameras with this problem except the smaller versions of the Speed Graphic and the one or two models of "miniature" (= 6.5x9) plate cameras with focal plane shutters -- which are unlikely to be out in regular use anyway because they're a century old (even if you have a roll film holder for them instead of having to find or cut sheet film to fit).

This is a good summary as a reference or for someone getting interested in using focal plane shutters in general.

Don_ih · Jan 2, 2022

Donald Qualls said:
dab some liquid electrical tape or similar over the hole, then wait a bit before dusting the repair with graphite powder (to keep it from sticking when rerolled). Heck, you might be able to do this with an older Leica; I wouldn't know, as I've never handled one of those.

I originally tried it with the two bigger burns in my Leica IIIb. It was too much. Any more than a tiny smudge of liquid electrical tape on that shutter will eventually bunch up and fall off - possibly getting in someplace where it won't come out and making things worse. In my case, it worked for a while then started to peel off. It doesn't actually stick to the shutter curtain material very well. Flat black acrylic paint is a better choice for tiny pinholes.

Philippe-Georges said:
That lens cap must have been made solidly: over a year in the wild!

The cap came on an Industar Elmar clone (which is itself quite a good lens) and is exactly like a Leica lens cap except for the logo. I lost it the second time because it no longer fit snugly on the lens since its time outside had destroyed the ring of velvet that lined the inside edge. I replaced the velvet with something that didn't work as well.

I was shooting that Leica IIIb one day (in a store, actually). I took a picture and heard a clatter on the floor at my feet. I looked down and saw the camera bottom was there. Turns out, when I loaded the film, I didn't lock the bottom onto the camera. The fit is tight enough that it doesn't fall off immediately - it waits until the roll is almost finished...

Sirius Glass · Jan 2, 2022

Don Heisz said:
I originally tried it with the two bigger burns in my Leica IIIb. It was too much. Any more than a tiny smudge of liquid electrical tape on that shutter will eventually bunch up and fall off - possibly getting in someplace where it won't come out and making things worse. In my case, it worked for a while then started to peel off. It doesn't actually stick to the shutter curtain material very well. Flat black acrylic paint is a better choice for tiny pinholes.

The cap came on an Industar Elmar clone (which is itself quite a good lens) and is exactly like a Leica lens cap except for the logo. I lost it the second time because it no longer fit snugly on the lens since its time outside had destroyed the ring of velvet that lined the inside edge. I replaced the velvet with something that didn't work as well.

I was shooting that Leica IIIb one day (in a store, actually). I took a picture and heard a clatter on the floor at my feet. I looked down and saw the camera bottom was there. Turns out, when I loaded the film, I didn't lock the bottom onto the camera. The fit is tight enough that it doesn't fall off immediately - it waits until the roll is almost finished...

Waiting until near the end of the roll ... I wonder is that a design feature? After all if something is going to fail, does it really need to do it in the worst way possible?

Don_ih · Jan 2, 2022

Sirius Glass said:
Waiting until near the end of the roll ... I wonder is that a design feature? After all if something is going to fail, does it really need to do it in the worst way possible?

It at least made it more memorable. I was a little lucky that the camera was mostly under my jacket, so it only heavily fogged a few shots. grey film base also helped.

abruzzi · Jan 3, 2022

Donald Qualls said:
I remembered to check this when I'm home. Neither the roll of Ultra 100 that unrolled on me here, nor the previous roll of backing paper in my darkroom trash bag (from a roll of Ultra 400, since it's one of the three in my Paterson tank waiting for me to get new EcoPro developer mixed) have peel and stick. On both, I can see the ineffectual gum. The 100 I have on the shelf (pretty sure it's the same order, likely from B&H due to their free shipping for $50 orders) has expiration 05 2022, while the 400 on the shelf is 02 2023. It doesn't get much fresher than the latter, and short of opening and unwinding a roll of that, I'm as sure as I can be that what I have does not have a peel-and-stick end band.

So, I just finished a roll of Foma 100 in 120. It came out of the fancy retro box, if you can use that to get a manufacturing date estimate--maybe a year or year and a half old (as a side note, I really like the classic style box--they should make it permanent...). Anyway it very definitely had a peel and stick closing tape. Its not as clever as the Fuji peel-and-stick, which IIRC is folded back on itself, so un-peeling is just grab the end and pull, but it does work. You have to look for the cut in the backing paper to the tape and peel it off.

Donald Qualls · Jan 4, 2022

abruzzi said:
You have to look for the cut in the backing paper to the tape and peel it off.

I'll try to take another look at the Ultra 400 backing paper from my more recent use.

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

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