Nikon FM2 with roll of film stuck in it.

Hi all. I've been a bit of a moron. I've recently got into shooting some film and have shot 2 rolls of 36 exposure HP5 no problem and on my 3rd roll I encountered what I thought was a jam at around frame 24 (like I said, a moron). I had been searching for solutions to the problem and have opened up the bottom plate and tried all the usual suspects to fix the supposed jam and just a moment ago decided to go into my pitch black bathroom and open up the camera to feel around if the film was going on the spool okay. Everything felt fine. Put it all back together and only then did it occur to me that this 3rd roll of HP5 might have been 24 exposures....

So I figured out I'm a moron, but can't wind back in my film to the canister now as the button on the bottom won't depress.

Suggestions? Thought this story might amuse some of you.

FM2 can get "stuck" when a frame is cranked only part way. If you are in the middle of a roll of film, you can finish advancing the frame by turning the screw on the bottom of the camera that is directly underneath the crank. ( the slot is the size of an American nickel ).

Possibly, something similar happened to you when you hit the end of the roll, and maybe the shutter is cocked. If you hold in the rewind button on the bottom of the camera, and then "finish" cranking with the film advance lever, I think the rewind button should pop back out. ( This is also how you can intentionally make a double exposure with an FM2... push in the rewind button and then "crank" one frame... then you can take your double exposure and the button pops back out. )

I'm not 100% sure this will solve your problem but it's worth a try.

I can't currently depress the rewind button. I can't release the shutter and I can't wind on the film (as it's at the end of the roll). Upon opening the back of the camera, it has reset the counter to 's'.

Go back into the darkroom or use a changing bag and simply pull the film and cartridge out of the camera, then rewind the film back into the cartridge.

Yep. turn off the lights, open the back, pull the film, rewind it and worry no more. I've been here before.

Ah okay! Cheers guys.