Film can break your heart

[defconfunk]

Film can break your heart. Don't believe me? Just reach shot number 29 of a 24 exposure roll.

If you want to take great pictures, use digital. If you want to grow as a person, use film. Of course, they forgot to mention just how much of personal growth comes from pain.

On the bright side, I still have 24 useable exposures. :bang:

Mental note: always watch the rewind lever when doing those first two film advances...

[dbm]

Been there, done that. Loaded the IVSB, first advance looked good. Put on the bottom cover, and it must have come undone. And I forgot to reset the counter, so didn't know for sure how many pictures I had taken. It finally became clear when I knew the dial had wrapped around. :(

[Contarama]

And don't forget to rewind the roll before popping the camera open!

[funkydog]

It's a rite of passage. Like crossing the Equator.

[Contarama]

100% digital will stunt your growth and you'll grow hair on your palms too...

[BlackXList]

Did exactly that last month, after 24 I thought "oh it must have been a 36 roll" after 38 I thought "must have been me being a moron" sadly the latter was true.

To further illustrate #2 I then wound the leader back into the canister out of habit

[Araakii]

There should also be a tiny bit of resistance when you advance film if it's properly loaded. But everyone has done that and you don't learn anything if you don't make mistakes.

[jwicaksana]

I was very excited to do a session with my sister who lives in another state and our two dogs. All went well, everyone was happy until I rewound the film, expecting to do some winding and winding and winding, while instead of doing a jolly good wind for 36 exposures, it only went for a few turns and I realized it's only the film leader! LOL.

Looks like I owe her another session :D

[grantb]

M2 newb here... I did the same thing today including not setting the counter. Worst part: the final frames I failed to expose were action shots of a burlesque troupe holding a bikini car wash fundraiser. :bang:

I'd like to say "lesson learned", but the record shows otherwise. I've made every rookie mistake possible at least 10 times so far (forget lens cap, focus, exposure). It's a miracle I've created any passable images at all with the M2.

I'm only now fully realizing the genius in the design of the Canonet QL17 GIII. Apparently, even that camera was too much of a crutch to reveal my nearly complete lack of concentration.

[kanzlr]

It happens.
That's something I appreciate about my Hexar RF: Open the hinged door, pop in film, pull leader to the red mark, close door, power on, *fssiipfsssiip*, ready. Works every time, the first time.

[Paul Jenkin]

It's not film that breaks your heart, just random acts of (negligence / stupidity / accident / forgetfulness ......) delete as appropriate.

I've done this several times since 1973 and it's usually a series of shots that you really want to see the output.

My latest was shooting a roll of 120 via my Mamiya 7 with the lens cap on. I metered manually and it never occurred to me to look for shutter speed or any indication that anything might be wrong.

It happens and what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.....

[Spanik]

At least you didn't go to 36 like I did the first time I used the Zorki 4.

My latest was shooting a roll of 120 via my Mamiya 7 with the lens cap on.

The joy of rangefinders...

[trog]

Ya, and don't forget the lens cap on your RF.

[jparriott]

The rewind knob on my IIIF unwinds, as I wind to the next frame. So, in addition to feeling the tension of the film, I can visually confirm the advance. Isn't that the same on M2 & M3s?

[jwc57]

The rewind knob on my IIIF unwinds, as I wind to the next frame. So, in addition to feeling the tension of the film, I can visually confirm the advance. Isn't that the same on M2 & M3s?

I don't have a Leica, but on my 35mm cameras, I have a habit of turning the rewind knob back slightly to feel that there is tension on it. I almost do it without thinking. It is something someone mentioned years ago after an incident like the OP's and it is second nature now. When I load a fresh roll of film, I will turn the rewind knob to take up the slack, then periodically check if afterward. (I wonder if that has any other benefit, like film flatness?)

[Pirate]

Ya, and don't forget the lens cap on your RF.

Yep, this got me a few times. I no longer use lens caps.

[Teuthida]

I especially like dropping a rewound exposed bulk loaded roll of film from the bottom loading Leica and watching it pop the end cap off when it hits the ground.

[NicoM]

That happened to my today with my new Leica M3. We live and we learn, I guess...

[leicapixie]

i don't chimp. Cannot really see my screen in Bright Daylight! So if no Memory Card inside or no more memory left, shooting blanks..See some folks can do it with anything! OH! A friend loaned me his new Leica M7. i got 45 shots on a 36.. The 2nd time around in my M6 only 38, but there to see!

[Mystyler]

I had that sinking feeling last week when my OM-1 went to "E" and I could still advance the film...thankfully it ended up stopping and I got 37 actual exposures back! I think I was about a millimetre of film away from a 38th...gotta love it.

[rphenning]

It's not film that breaks your heart, just random acts of (negligence / stupidity / accident / forgetfulness ......) delete as appropriate.

I've done this several times since 1973 and it's usually a series of shots that you really want to see the output.

My latest was shooting a roll of 120 via my Mamiya 7 with the lens cap on. I metered manually and it never occurred to me to look for shutter speed or any indication that anything might be wrong.

It happens and what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.....

if it makes you feel better I don't think the camera would have told you any different as the meter isn't TTL (may be different for the 7 than the 7II, as I have the former.) Either way it's stories like these that make me use lens hoods as the caps.

[jschrader]

I remember I exposed one of my very first films twice, and the other film not at all; I had exchanged them when loading the second film.
Since then, I rip off the last few centimeters from any film I take out of any camera (use teeth if needed; the Ilford HP5 72-shot film in the 1980s was awful).
The only way to avoid the problems discussed here is developing a "military drill" - always do that exactly the same way, so You never forget, even in the most untypical situation, with the brain OFF.

[Dayrell bishop]

Ive already stoped using the lense cap on my new to me fujigw690 good thing the glass is well recessed.

[Godfrey]

After many years of shooting both film and digital, I've learned that the shots lost through making a mistake with either don't matter at all, there are always more photo opportunities to come. A photo not taken is never a big deal, even if it's a once in a lifetime event: you just remember the moment and enjoy it in memory and story anyway, like a "fish that got away" story.

The mistakes themselves are valuable though: they fix in your mind what to be conscious of, what to do and what not to do, and teach you to become a better photographer. There is no better teacher than your own mistakes, and there are just as many mistakes to be made with a digital camera as with a film camera.

The biggest difference, at this level, between a film and a digital camera is that some types of mistakes are more recoverable in one vs the other. For instance, it's likely that I'll run out of recording space with a digital, but it's more likely that if I do something truly stupid with a film camera, I'll find a way to wrestle some kind of image out of the film.

G

[Messsucherkamera]

There should also be a tiny bit of resistance when you advance film if it's properly loaded. But everyone has done that and you don't learn anything if you don't make mistakes.

There is a distinctly different feel when you advance the film in a properly loaded camera and an empty camera.

You can check to see if film is loaded in a camera body by turning the rewind crank (without moving the film rewind lever first) . If the camera has no film in it, the crank will turn freely with no resistance. If there is a roll of film in the camera, you will feel a bit of resistance and then the crank will stop.

You can also make an exposure and watch the rewind crank for movement as you advance the film.

[Turtle]

Yeah, been there too, but as for taking great pictures, film is no less suitable than digital. The latter also has its share of potential digital catastrophes.

[jwicaksana]

Just happened to me again yesterday. I'll still develop them to see if something's actually in there. :D

[sepiareverb]

I recall making about 40 exposures onto one frame with an F100 one time while believing I was getting a nest of Kildeer eggs hatching. When I realized I was set to multiple exposure I continued on with the roll and saved myself a whole roll of film and processing. Nothing on that first roll (after the brain cramp subsided) was any good anyway, it was the next roll that had the keepers.

stupidity abounds.

[paradoxbox]

i always check using the rewind crank to make sure my film's loaded after advancing the first frame on my film cameras.

one of the nice things about the m2 and m3 is that the spool that holds the film grips pretty tightly - you can be very certain that the film is winding correctly if you rewind and it won't turn anymore. never had a problem with the m3 but i have had trouble with cameras like the contax II/kiev 4 where the spool isn't very high quality. sometimes the film leader comes out of the hole in the spool.

need to be extra careful with those.