Please help! I exposed film to light from iPhone.

Seb · Jul 6, 2017

Hi guys I'm wondering if you can help me. I was loading a roll of 400iso black and white film into the developing tank when I suddenly received a message on my iPhone that lit the screen up and the film was allready out of the canister and unwound. The iPhone was on 1/3 brightness and approximately 2-4 metres away from the film and exposed for 4 seconds. As soon as the screen lit up, I threw the film on the floor and rushed to turn off the phone which was ontop of the bed. I'm wondering if the film will be totall ruined or to what effect this exposure will have on the developed negatives. And finally I'm wondering if there is something I can do during the developing process to compensate for this? Any response will be highly appreciated

MattKing · Jul 6, 2017

Welcome to APUG.
You will probably be okay. And there really isn't anything you can do if you aren't.
As you probably now realize, it is a good idea to deal with any light sources like smartphones, luminous watches, activity trackers, charging indicators, etc, etc before you start loading the film.
By the way, putting your body between the film and the light source may be a better choice than throwing it to the floor.

Seb · Jul 6, 2017

Thank you very much for the reply! So should I develop it with normal timings for developer and fixer? Also I realise now that just turning around to have my back to the light would have been a good idea but I was not expecting what had just happened and panicked! A lot of noise was made in those 4 seconds

Theo Sulphate · Jul 6, 2017

Hello, Seb, welcome to APUG.

It may not be as bad as you think - though the film is likely fogged. If the light from the phone struck the film from the side, as opposed to straight-on, that would be worse.

Best to have flipped the phone over rather than toss the film on the floor, but in an urgent situation like that it's easy to just react.

Might as well develop it and see what you've got.

photog_ed · Jul 6, 2017

I would just develop it normally and hope for the best.

I had a similar incident a couple of weeks ago. I was developing some BW 120 film, probably 400 ISO like you. I usually take my iPad into the darkroom as it's useful for looking things up, or streaming music to the bluetooth speaker I keep in the darkroom. Normally I start some music and then close the cover on the iPad. This time, I didn't put any music on, and forgot to close the cover. I finished winding the film on the stainless reel, and lowered it onto the tank. That sent just enough vibration through the countertop to "wake up" the iPad, and it glowed brightly, or at least it seemed so to my dark-adapted eyes. Some salty language ensued, and I quickly clamped my hand over the top of the open tank, and with the other hand closed the cover on the iPad. I developed the film normally and it came out fine.

Ed

Seb · Jul 6, 2017

Hi Theo! I threw the film to the floor and jumped across the room to flip the phone over! I will develop it in the morning and share the results! I'm thinking some frames will be more affected than others as the light will have hit some frames straight on and others, the sides of the film. Might even get a lomo effect. Who knows !

Seb · Jul 6, 2017

thanks for the reply @photog_ed at least your roll was safely hidden in the tank! Mine had literally just been taken out of the canister! And I then lost the scissors in the dark so had to rip the film off of the spool

Sirius Glass · Jul 6, 2017

Welcome to APUG

GRHazelton · Jul 6, 2017

I feel your pain!
A few thoughts: I like to put the film, tank, etc, in something like a plastic dish pan so that everything is in the same area. Saves frantic searches on the floor which becomes enormous in the dark! Then, my general test for safety is after five or ten minutes can I see anything. If not, you're probably OK. A few pinpricks of light aren't really a problem if you interpose your body between them and the film. These "guidelines" have served me well in some 60 years of film developing. Of course and as always, YMMV.

Nige · Jul 6, 2017

I have a story about printing so not nearly as scary, however I was printing one day and had just put a sheet of paper into the developer and decided a beverage was in order, so I opened the fridge... oops, didn't think about the internal light!

GRHazelton · Jul 6, 2017

We all have our horror stories with film or printing paper! Sad to say experience isn't always a preventative remedy.

MattKing · Jul 7, 2017

There is at least one thread here on APUG where someone couldn't figure out what was fogging his film until he realized that he was loading it on to the reels in a changing bag without first removing his Fitbit (activity tracker with LEDs) from his wrist.

Sirius Glass · Jul 7, 2017

I turn my phone off in the darkroom to avoid what happened to you and I just do not want to be bothered in the darkroom.

fdonadio · Jul 9, 2017

I have an empty film box to keep my phone when I bring it to the darkroom.

georgegrosu · Jul 9, 2017

In connection with films that have taken the light accidentally.
I'll tell you a real story.
About 40 years ago I met a former college school and how I work in cinematography asked me to develop a black and white film.
He told me something happened about the box, but the film is well packed.
When he brought me the film I saw that the film was packed in a newspaper.
I put the film in the darkness and found it was just the film on the spool, a white napkin and newspaper paper.
I have developed the film though, and only three photograms came out of the top and rarely some fog through the perforation.
My colleague's chance was that it was an old Orwo 20 film and was very tight on the spool.
In life you must have a little chance.
In the lab I put the phone in a black bag and put it in a drawer.

George

hacked - sepiareverb · Jul 9, 2017

georgegrosu said:
....
In the lab I put the phone in a black bag and put it in a drawer.

George

I just keep mine face down in a closed drawer. My iPod has a 4x5 film box cover that lives on it.

paul ron · Jul 9, 2017

another lesson learned! im sure that wont happen again?

Harry Stevens · Jul 9, 2017

I put dark red cellophane over my freezer and heating system LCD screens and lights, the fridge bulb went years ago,

klaus3428 · Jul 9, 2017

I use the understairs store room to load and unload films - just this weekend I started to get everything in place to load a couple of 4x5 DDS. Light off, trying to find my bearings, just about to open the film bag, notice something strange behind me. Quickly put everything safe, and there was a red light shining ... no, not a darkroom safelight, a battery torch recharging. No harm done

Gerald C Koch · Jul 14, 2017

Why does the OP have his phone in the darkroom. Certainly not the ideal place to chat. It is a place where distractions can be troublesome.

Ko.Fe. · Jul 14, 2017

Take it as the lesson. Stop texting and develop film already.

removed account4 · Jul 14, 2017

sepiareverb said:
I just keep mine face down in a closed drawer. My iPod has a 4x5 film box cover that lives on it.

i do something similar with my besseler timer, i turn it over and put a paper box over it
once in a while i forget and it fogs my film before i process it .. it can be an interesting effect
but not when .. you just want to process the film ...

Please help! I exposed film to light from iPhone.

Seb

MattKing

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Seb

Theo Sulphate

photog_ed

Seb

Seb

Sirius Glass

GRHazelton

Nige

GRHazelton

MattKing

Moderator

Sirius Glass

fdonadio

georgegrosu

hacked - sepiareverb

paul ron

Harry Stevens

klaus3428

Gerald C Koch

Ko.Fe.

removed account4

Please help! I exposed film to light from iPhone.

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