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

[nosmok]

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.

This happened to me, but with a 35mm camera-- and after I got to the vacation spot! Since it was a (slightly more than) half-frame camera, I sacrificed one of the rolls of film I'd brought and used my pocket multitool to cut and shave the donor film cassette's spool into a makeshift take-up. Worked fine (with some leader trimming), and now I have a spare Tenax II spool incase it happens again (the Tenax II, like some Soviet cameras, really doesn't hold onto its spool well).

 

[Sirius Glass]

I mentioned earlier that I keep masking tape or painter's tape on the film backs and plastic film boxes because I have had tape issues or bulging film rolls. I use black plastic boxes for 5 and 10 rolls similar to this:
https://www.freestylephoto.biz/1120...-Film-Hard-Case-Red-Holds-5-Rolls-of-120-Size

Of course ever once in a rare while, a roll of film will become suicidal and make a run for it. Then I run after the offending roll and stomp on it hard and many times to teach it a lesson and as a lesson for any other similar thinking rolls.

 

[Moose22]

I have rubber bands in my pocket right now. I'm wearing a coat I often wear when out with a 120 camera. Most of my bags have a couple in the bottom of the pocket, too.

Second or third roll of 120 I'd shot I had almost an identical @Donald Qualls experience. Unraveled, roll wasted... dammit! It was a beautiful stormy day, too, and it happened at the end of "the" light, so no reload and try again.

Now if I'm swapping in the field and in a hurry, especially if it's cold out and my hands are clumsy, I wrap a rubber band on the exposed roll and drop it in a zippered pocket. Then I seal it up nice later.

@Sirius Glass I use those hard cases, too. Not sure if I needed them or not, but it feels like I'm not beating up on my roll of film when it's being carried around in my bag that way.

 

[Sirius Glass]

@Moose22 the problem with rubber bands is that if they are too tight, the emulsion will get marks that ruin the negative.

 

[Moose22]

@Moose22 the problem with rubber bands is that if they are too tight, the emulsion will get marks that ruin the negative.

I figured that. The ones I use are weak as crap. They're very thin and very stretchy. I've been using them for a year and a half and never had any problem. Probably put a band on a dozen rolls or more.

All they are is a gentle extra layer of protection. You don't need to actually hold against any force, and they're super quick to use for security. It's rare I am in the "Swap it quick" mode, but when you get one of those sunsets that keeps on going and you want to get a couple more frames in... worry about whether the lickum stickup works in a half hour when the sky stops being pretty.

 

[abruzzi]

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.

I think I've found the issue here. My Foma rolls (generally actual Foma, not Arista) have a peel and stick tape. If you lick it, it only gets wet. I make this mistake sometimes and find myself licking wet paper with no adhesive. Then when it doesn't stick, I realize and peel the paper and stick.

 

[benveniste]

I haven't done that, but I did once bulk roll 35mm backwards.

 

[Vaughn]

A couple summers ago an exposed roll I was taking out of the Rolleicord while on a backpack trip slipped partway out my hand, unrolling down into a puddle. Might be the first roll I have lost that way since starting to use Rollei TLRs in 1975.

 

[Oldwino]

Do digital shooters have stories like this?

 

[Dusty Negative]

Do digital shooters have stories like this?

Whelp, I know someone who thought he downloaded all his photos after a shoot, formatted his memory card, then realized he hadn’t, actually, downloaded the photos in the first place.

Man, was I — HE! — really pissed.

 

[Moose22]

Do digital shooters have stories like this?

Went to swap lenses once and a mosquito flew in and stuck to the sensor. Most spectacular sunset in weeks and all my shots of those reflections have a giant smudge in the middle.

Thankfully I got it on film, too, but... crap happens. It's the nature of being outdoors and trying to do something time and location dependent. Once in a while you just do something that makes you say "Aww, crap!"

 

[NB23]

Arista/foma is peel and stick, the best of all the 120 films. How come your film was not the same?

 

[Philippe-Georges]

After a some unpleasant accidents, I took the habit to bring a few sheets of aluminium foil, just large enough to wrap the roll, so it is protected against, moister, light, impact and gummed tape not sticking.
I also bring an empty spare spool as I once droppend one in the mud while loading a new roll...

In this picture, you can see them in the lower right corner:

 

[eli griggs]

Two months back I put one of my last packs of polarpan 100 into my Polaroid 100 and attempted to make a photograph, but they were all to dark or, when I changed to a more brightly lit scene, too light.

I was on Polaroid eight (8) when my brain fart cleared and I realized that the battery was dead and I had a three aaa battery holder and soldering iron a few yards away, ready to make a easy fix.

Sick to the stomach, I really liked the shots that old camera takes, and I've only one fridge pack left.

Yeah... stuff happens... !

 

[Donald Qualls]

My Foma rolls (generally actual Foma, not Arista) have a peel and stick tape.

I haven't used actual Foma branded film, maybe ever. I use the .EDU Ultra, and I've never seen a peel and stick on any such. Perhaps that's a recent change in Foma's confectioning and will trickle down to rebranding and toll packaging?

 

[abruzzi]

I haven't used actual Foma branded film, maybe ever. I use the .EDU Ultra, and I've never seen a peel and stick on any such. Perhaps that's a recent change in Foma's confectioning and will trickle down to rebranding and toll packaging?

I'm not sure I've used any Arista in 120, but I just finished a roll of Foma Retropan 320 on 120 film, and that definitely had a peel and stick. I'll probably load a roll of Foma 100 this weekend, so I'll double check then if it is peel and stick.

 

[Donald Qualls]

I've seen the peel and stick on Fuji films even going back fifteen years or more -- and the .EDU Ultra I've been using recently was purchased in 2020, in date. Maybe it's a distinguishing point between the two; if I can confirm that, I may start using the Foma branded, since there's very little difference in price.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Do digital shooters have stories like this?

Well I have had a bunch of bits and bytes run out all over the floor with a large main frame computer, but that was decades ago and I have not done that since.

 

[lantau]

In 2018 I was on holiday in Usbekistan. We were driving from the capital, Tashkent, East into the mountains. On a stop at a somewhat scenic point I took pictures, in particular a portrait of two friends. They grew up there in Soviet times and married. When I unloaded the roll of HP5 I was just thinking about how conventient Fuji rollfilm with the EasySeal is. And there it happened. The roll slipped from my fingers upon trying to close the band and unrolled partially. I never had that happen before or after.

Turns out I was already a little weakened by then. A few hours later I felt really sick. I must have gotten food poisoning from the meal on the evening before. Very rare for me, I have a pretty solid stomach.

Do digital shooters have stories like this?

It has happened to me several times that I started taking pictures and didn't notice for a while that I took out the memory card at home and forgot about it. The electronic viewfinder has a blinking warning, actually. But it is at the top and I am notorious for not attending to the peripheriy, resulting in cut off feet in images.

I've seen the peel and stick on Fuji films even going back fifteen years or more -- and the .EDU Ultra I've been using recently was purchased in 2020, in date. Maybe it's a distinguishing point between the two; if I can confirm that, I may start using the Foma branded, since there's very little difference in price.

It is nice that Foma is using the self adhesive band. But there is still the need to unpeel it, with the slight risk of screwing up. The Fuji system, on the other hand, is perfect. Hold the roll with one hand and grab the tab with the other. Just pull and seal.

Hard to explain in words to the few poor souls who haven't had the pleasure, yet. Take out a mortage and get some rolls of Acros I or Pro400H from your local scalper. It'll be worth it. And don't forget that Acros II is rolled by Harman and doesn't have EasySeal.

 

[rjbuzzclick]

I've seen the peel and stick on Fuji films even going back fifteen years or more -- and the .EDU Ultra I've been using recently was purchased in 2020, in date. Maybe it's a distinguishing point between the two; if I can confirm that, I may start using the Foma branded, since there's very little difference in price.

I've been using EDU Ultra 100/400 in 120 for years and mine have always had the peel and stick tape.

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

And a sheet of Rollei IR fell out of the holder, into the camera once. That stuff is really thin. I accidently loaded it into the dark side slot I didn't realise until I was packing up the camera.

 

[Sirius Glass]

And a sheet of Rollei IR fell out of the holder, into the camera once. That stuff is really thin. I accidently loaded it into the dark side slot I didn't realise until I was packing up the camera.

I too have had sheets fall out of the holder and into the camera. An annoying problem but I can avoid it by using a Grafmatic 45.

 

[Donald Qualls]

I've been using EDU Ultra 100/400 in 120 for years and mine have always had the peel and stick tape.

Hmmm. Now I'll have to check that last roll. Not that such would have helped in this case, I'd have just dropped the roll while trying to peel the backing...

 

[Helge]

A roll of Ektachrome once jumped out of a folder in dim indoor light after a night shoot.
Some of if it unrolled and slackened the tight roll. I decided to have it developed anyway.
Only a couple of frames was affected.
Film is surprisingly resilient to faint ambient diffuse light.

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

I too have had sheets fall out of the holder and into the camera. An annoying problem but I can avoid it by using a Grafmatic 45.

That's next on my shopping list!