broken film

[stokesphotog2]

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I broke a film when rewinding, so now the exposed film is on the take up spool.  How can I get the exposed film off of the take up spool?

[pixelman]

You need either a dark room or a “changing bag” which is a light tight bag with arm holes. 

In either case you need to extract the film and get it into a light tight container for processing. One solution here is to get an inexpensive 35mm reloadable  film cassette and “load” the film onto the cassette. That way most labs can deal with your extracted film. You could also extract the film and put it into a developing tank and take the tank to your lab. 

Edited November 21, 2018 by pixelman
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[stokesphotog2]

Thanks very much for your reply.  My problem is extraction. I can't get ahold of the end of the film to pull it off of the take up spool.  By the way, the camera is an M6 if that makes any difference.

[pixelman]

try spinning the slotted take up spool anti-clockwise by putting your finger gently in the center of the prongs and turning.  You hat should release the tension on the rolled up film and hopefully allow you to extract it. 

[Stealth3kpl]

That's a coincidence. Today, I realised I broke a film. When rewinding it a few days ago, I think I must have knocked the release lever out of position stripping some sprocket holes, tearing the film on winding the film into the cassette. When winding the film from the cassette onto the developing reel in my changing bag, I was suddenly aware of another tongue of film emerging from the cassette.

I hope I've not damaged the camera. I recall difficulty starting the next film but it seems to be running through OK now. We'll see soon enough.

Pete

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[Pyrogallol]

Try vacuum cleaning the camera with the bottom off and back open if possible to try and remove any small bits of film loose inside.

[stokesphotog2]

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Thank you all for ,your helpful input. I finally got the film out of the camera.  Here’s what I did:

1) I abandoned any idea of saving the 36+ images.  There is no way I could have done this with my hands in a dark bag.

2) The break was right at the beginning of the rewind process, so the whole roll was on the take up spool. So I rotated the take up counter clockwise to release the tension—thank you Pixelman.  

3) Under a strong light, I was able to get a grip on the film end with a tweezer, and pulled the film out through the bottom, not the slot at the end of the shutter. 

4) At the suggestion of Pyrogallol, I will now vacuum the cmaera.

 

Lessons learned:  

1) If something binds on aLeica, stop and figure out what you are doing wrong. Leica mechanisms don’t bind.

2) if you are shooting a 36 exposure roll, stop when your counter gets to 36.  Don’t put undue strain on the mechanism by trying to squeeze out a”bonus” frame or two.

3) Always keep your thumb on the rewind lever throughout the rewind process.

 

Again, thanks to all of you.

[Ko.Fe.]

I had film broke closer to the end of the roll. It was -28C.

I went back to hotel room,  asked on internet and was able to retrieve the exposed film. The trick is to wiggle the take in tulip and have camera in horizontal, normal position. Wiggle take up tulip and at some point gravity will do it. Take up tulip is not hard fixed, this is why it is possible to wiggle it and get film loose.

I think even modern film M has frame counter upto 40. I'm bulk loading and I made it upto 44 or so exposed frames in M4-2. But then metal reel for developing is not going to take it and even get so much film into Paterson reel is problematic. These days I load 24 frames and keep extra loaded cassettes.

[250swb]

So long as you don't use the force of a demented gorilla to advance your film stopping at '36' is just a waste of film.

[Ko.Fe.]

It was main reason why I sold Rollei 35. Film advance is not informative at all. I was chewing on last frame constantly.