# Is my film ruined?



## rom4n301 (Apr 27, 2010)

so i decided to get a 120 back for my bronny. and i loaded the film and snapped one shot. then i let my friend hold my camera and being the idiot that he is he opened the film back. is the roll of film ruined? im just no sure cause its got the paper backing in all so i mite be able to salvage some of the shots.. any opinions?


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## Sbuxo (Apr 27, 2010)

it's done. keep shooting it and see what happens, but if any are salvaged, there's no doubt they're gonna have light leak written all over it.


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## rom4n301 (Apr 27, 2010)

mmmmeeeehhhhh -_______-


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## Sbuxo (Apr 27, 2010)

make your friend buy you another roll.


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## rom4n301 (Apr 27, 2010)

haha.. i definitely will.


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## Goontz (Apr 28, 2010)

The back of my Holga fell off once (well only one side came unclipped and it "hinged" open because the other was still secure, and it was only very briefly before I caught it and closed it again). I think the current exposure and maybe 1 or 2 after it were lost and the rest of the roll was just fine. Keep shooting it and see what happens;  you might only lose a couple shots. 

One of mine actually came out pretty cool because the number 5 from the paper backing got exposed onto the print (which was mostly overexposed and couldn't really tell what it was anyways). It was pretty funny to see after getting them developed.


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## Tiberius47 (Apr 28, 2010)

Stop using that roll (if the whole roll is ruined, you don't want to keep using it.)  Get the film developed and see what you can get.


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## terri (Apr 28, 2010)

I tend to think you should shoot it all the way to the end. More than likely you'll have some usable frames. 

Film can be very unpredictable. I once popped off the back of my little Lomo fisheye before remembering to rewind the film - so used to my auto-rewind.  What a dummy! Worse, I did this while sitting in a bedroom with the overhead light on, right above my head. I was tempted to just take the roll and toss it in the nearest trash can - but decided to get it developed to see what I got. Amazingly, even the very last frame was still usable, though I had light leaks of course. And from the start of the roll to within the last 2-3 frames, all was well. 

I've learned to shoot all the way through and see what you get. Besides, sometimes those funky light leaks add character to an image. 

Let us know what you get from it.


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## Sbuxo (Apr 28, 2010)

Light leaks can be interesting in color film, not so much in B&W.:meh:


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## Goontz (Apr 28, 2010)

Tiberius47 said:


> Stop using that roll (if the whole roll is ruined, you don't want to keep using it.)  Get the film developed and see what you can get.


 I have to say that this depends on how far into the roll you were. Sure, if the whole roll is ruined, you don't want to use it, but how do you know if the whole roll is ruined? If you were only a few exposures in, why trash the entire roll? In my own case, all but 2 exposures were completely normal. What exposure were you on? I'd say shoot through the roll, maybe skip an exposure or two, and hope for the best. No need to waste an entire roll of film just because you _think_ it's all ruined; shoot through it and find out. Worst case is you spend a few dollars getting it developed with no results, right?


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## terri (Apr 30, 2010)

Sbuxo said:


> Light leaks can be interesting in color film, not so much in B&W.:meh:


 Then we're different.      I think they can be crap and ruin an image, be it color or B&W - or be in that one perfect area where the image is somehow enhanced by it - be it film or B&W.    

But then, I often like lens flare, too, and rarely see it as a flaw.    Different strokes for different folks!


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## Vautrin (May 1, 2010)

I have a Mamiya RZ67, and the back fell off, completely exposing the film portion in bright sunlight.

I thought the whole roll would be ruined but Mamiya built the back quite smartly so that you can actually pull the back off with the dark slide holder out, and only that frame will be exposed.

So just get your film developed and see what happened...


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