OMG _ I'm such a klutz!

[pbromaghin]

Spooled up several rolls off the bulk loader and had the spools in the cartridges the wrong way so they wouldn't load in the camera.

 

[Dean Pascoe Williams]

My Turn

recently went through 4 rolls of 120 on Yashica Mat with Flash..... forgot to put camera to x-synch....DOH !

Thank you for the stories, everyone has them I guess

but tell me why we do we fiddle around in the dark with chemicals and antiquated equipment, when we could go to the dark side ( digital)...pardon the pun

are we just ornery...contrary??

sigh!

 

[kintatsu]

I would move the light switch!


Steve.

Since I rent our house, that's not an option.

 

[chip j]

Killed 2 rolls of 50ft Pan F within 20min w/my bulk film loader.

 

[kintatsu]

Tape the light switch down

the leaky bellows story hurts to hear

Being in Germany, the light switch is different the the kind in America. They're these flat squares and taping them accomplishes nothing. Then there's the fact that my wife would notice and curiosity would demand she enter to find out why it was taped.

The light witches have a red light in them so when it's on, you know someone is in the bathroom. Apparently in this part of Germany, knocking isn't done. Perhaps it disrupts the function of the room, who knows?

 

[NedL]

Spooled up several rolls off the bulk loader and had the spools in the cartridges the wrong way so they wouldn't load in the camera.

I've got a few of these sitting around, was in a hurry spooling up FP4+ for vacation last summer. I keep thinking I'll respool them by hand but haven't done it yet. I was not happy when I discovered it but fortunately all my Tri-X was correctly spooled and I didn't run out.

 

[pbromaghin]

I've got a few of these sitting around, was in a hurry spooling up FP4+ for vacation last summer. I keep thinking I'll respool them by hand but haven't done it yet. I was not happy when I discovered it but fortunately all my Tri-X was correctly spooled and I didn't run out.

Ya, I've got a few of them laying around. I just don't know what to do with them. I should just trash the film and move on.

 

[MattKing]

Ya, I've got a few of them laying around. I just don't know what to do with them. I should just trash the film and move on.

Just take the end of the film and attach it to the core of another cartridge the correct way. Insert the core into the cassette and close the cap. Then, in a completely dark room or dark bag, roll the film out of the first cassette and into the next.

When you get to the end, cut the film.

You will need to take into account the fact that you will have exposed leader at both ends.

And I'm not sure what this will do to the frame numbering.

 

[ME Super]

Being in Germany, the light switch is different the the kind in America. They're these flat squares and taping them accomplishes nothing. Then there's the fact that my wife would notice and curiosity would demand she enter to find out why it was taped.

The light witches have a red light in them so when it's on, you know someone is in the bathroom. Apparently in this part of Germany, knocking isn't done. Perhaps it disrupts the function of the room, who knows?

Aha! Turn the light on, then remove the bulb from the light fixture. Then she can't accidentally turn it on since there's no light in the fixture, but she's less likely to walk in on you because the switch says "occupied" since the red light is on.

 

[Terrence Brennan]

Shot an Australian Rules football match after an extremely looong week and really should have waited before processing.

Got to washing stage and all good except the phone rang and I had to go inside to take it. Didn't want the film to start drying, so I left it soaking in water for the duration of the call.

Well one thing led to another and I completely forgot about the film - woke the next morning to lovely clear acetate and some rather grey looking water. The emulsion had slid right off!!!!

Arghhhhh!!!!! Lesson learned - process the next day if you've been burning the candle at both ends, will save you a lot of grief. (Thankfully I still had 2 rolls, so not a total disaster, but I keep wondering to this day, what gems I might have washed away. . . . . . )

I processed a roll of Agfapan 400, exposed at an approximate EI of 4000 (streetlight illumination only) in D-23 heated to 100°F; I also heated the stop bath and fix (no hardener) to 100°F. When I took the reel out of the fix, there were little bits of emulsion floating in it. The emulsion was so soft that I could rub it off the film base with a fingertip.

A rinse in 100°F water, and then into a bath of 6% potassium alum, and then into a wash bath in which the temperature started at 100°F and was gradually reduced to 70°F over the space of 10 minutes. Interesting grain pattern, though...

 

[sly]

I killed about 90 sheets of Ilford MGIV 8x10 fiber paper when I accidentally opened up the wrong paper safe in daylight. Ooops - about a hundred dollars worth.

Paper safes are great, but for schmucks like me they should have a light sensitive switch on them that makes it impossible to open them when the light is on.

I never put more than 10-12 sheets in my paper safe. I'd rather have that inconvenience than to relive, for the third time ......................... Sorry just can't talk about it.

 

[Bob Marvin]

The light switch for my darkroom is outside the room. I installed a pull=chain switch on the light fixture so I can control it from inside.

 

[Jaf-Photo]

Film photography is all about the mess-ups. They make the successes all that more joyous.

My worst mistake was probably pouring bleach before the developer into the tank. There were some images, albeit faint.

My second worst mistake was openingthe tank right after the developer and before the fix. Some streaking, but usable images.

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

I managed to drop a near-century old view camera with similar vintage lens and modern carbon-fiber tripod off a rock, have them bounce off the top of the waterfall I was photographing (whereupon the lens separated from the camera) and the camera and tripod go over the falls, plunging another 30 feet into the pool below the falls.


After you've contemplated that disaster for a while...

I got it all back, including the lens, and although the camera and lens do need servicing, nothing is beyond repair. The bellows did not tear, shockingly enough. And thanks to the bellows and the carbon-fiber tripod, the whole rig floated, so someone else from the camera club wearing chest-waders was able to head out into the pool and retrieve the floating kit.

 

[Jaf-Photo]

Ow, I would have thrown myself in.

 

[pbromaghin]

The hood from my Minolta 100-300 zoom is still somewhere on the roof of the Santa Barbara courthouse.

 

[MattKing]

Not me, but ....

After a wedding reception, a family friend who was a career wedding and portrait photographer took his kit out to his car, prepared his cameras and lights for transit, organized his most recently shot rolls of 120 film by placing then in a line on his car bumper, put away all his equipment, closed his trunk and drove off.

He was half way back to his studio when he realized he hadn't put his film away - it was now somewhere on the roadside.

He backtracked with no success.

All the shots of the reception were gone.

 

[kintatsu]

Aha! Turn the light on, then remove the bulb from the light fixture. Then she can't accidentally turn it on since there's no light in the fixture, but she's less likely to walk in on you because the switch says "occupied" since the red light is on.

A simple fix. I hadn't even thought of that.

 

[Steve Smith]

After a wedding reception, a family friend who was a career wedding and portrait photographer took his kit out to his car, prepared his cameras and lights for transit, organized his most recently shot rolls of 120 film by placing then in a line on his car bumper, put away all his equipment, closed his trunk and drove off.

I once filled my car with diesel* and put the filler cap on the roof of my car. I then drove to my mother's house six miles away and noticed that the cap was still on the roof. I have no idea how it stayed there!

(* it's o.k. It's a diesel car - I know you were expecting some wrong fuel idiocy at this point!).


Steve.

 

[edp]

How did you start the car with the keys on the roof?

 

[Mr_Flibble]

I have some wonderful images of the inside of my lens caps / dark slides.
I have some double and tripple exposures from camera's without double-exposure protection.

I recently got a roll of 120 b/w film back from the lab that was completely black. No numbers. No brand mark. Just BLACK. Total bust

 

[Steve Smith]

How did you start the car with the keys on the roof?

Who said the keys were on the roof?


Steve.

 

[MattKing]

I'd wager edp has a locking gas cap for his car - one that requires use of the car keys to fill the gas tank.

 

[Steve Smith]

I see. The car I had at the time (Renault Espace) had a locking flap on the outside, unlocked from inside (with a lever I think - although mine was broken and was unlocked all the time) with a non locking cap inside.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/Renault_Espace_rear_20080215.jpg


Steve.

 

[Xmas]

Mine, ok the one Im telling, was similar to the OPs.

At a camera fair inspection a Watson bulk loader, as new in box, so checking it out I opened the magazine to find 100 foot of film...

It was cheap been cheaper with 100 foot of film.