All that wasted film

[hirohhhh]

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Yesterday I went to the play with my MP (and my wife too) with the roll of FP4 already inside with just a couple frames shot. It was pitch black in the theatre so I had to sacrifice the entire roll and replace it with Delta 3200. I shot couple shots during and after the play and went home.

This morning we went to the local show with the kids. It was hot and sunny and so bright that I had to sacrifice another roll and put a fresh roll of FP4. It gets darker now and I still have to finish 2/3 of the roll.

We have plans for the evening, but I’ll have to put new roll of 3200.

One reason why I love medium format is because I can easily shot 10-12 shots in any occasion, but 36 is just too much for me.

How do you solve this? Multiple cameras or something else?

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[LocalHero1953]

Leica II Model D with Delta 400. Leica Standard with Delta 3200 (and Nikon 2.8cm - exposure and focusing are just guesswork, but low risk). Leica IIf with XP2 (I’m just checking it out). Leica M4 with Portra 400. 

[stray cat]

Rewind the film with the camera to your ear. Once you hear the film leave the take-up spool take out the roll and mark on the leader what frame you were up to. Load the new roll. When you are ready to use the original roll click it and wind on, with your lens cap on, to the number on the leader +1. You lose one shot, not a roll.

[Siriusone59]

Long ago I learned to develop a feel for rewinding my film from the take up spool.  I would note what frame I was on and wind back into the cartridge stopping as soon as it was pulled free.  Then I could change film to what I needed, later I would reload the original and with cap on advance until I was where I left off plus a frame to cover for errors on the other film cartridge.  That was with a 35mm, on MF(Hasselblad) I would just change the film back with what I needed.  It help to have a way to mark the original cartridge with something to help you remember where you stopped using it.  Masking tape and a sharpie are your friends.

[Siriusone59]

Looks like stray cat and I posted at the same time...at least it's the same idea.🙂

[frame-it]

56 minutes ago, hirohhhh said:

How do you solve this? Multiple cameras or something else?

multiple cameras

[Anbaric]

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Multiple cameras. For most systems, a decent second body can be had for about the price of a dozen rolls of Delta (or less). In the Leica M world, of course, the calculation is a bit different...

[hirohhhh]

@stray cat I'm definitely trying it next time. I heard about this technique, but it always sounded intimidating that there's a big chance I'll screw up something and expose the roll, but from you post it actually makes sense.

[Tom R]

1 minute ago, hirohhhh said:

@stray cat I'm definitely trying it next time. I heard about this technique, but it always sounded intimidating that there's a big chance I'll screw up something and expose the roll, but from you post it actually makes sense.

Just remember the actual frame count, obviously ensure that the lens is completely covered (or that you're working in a darkroom, changing bag, etc.), and don't forget to add 1 to the new count so that you don't accidentally double expose the last frame.

[stray cat]

9 minutes ago, hirohhhh said:

@stray cat I'm definitely trying it next time. I heard about this technique, but it always sounded intimidating that there's a big chance I'll screw up something and expose the roll, but from you post it actually makes sense.

In one sense - what have you got to lose if the alternative means you are sacrificing nearly a whole roll anyway? You can't actually lose shots this way unless you forget to put the lens cap on when you re-insert the film and wind on to the frame you were up to +1. As a kind of extra precaution I always set the camera to the highest shutter speed and the smallest aperture as well, but that's just me.

It's actually pretty foolproof. If you do happen to miss hearing the film leave the takeup spool and end up rewinding the whole roll into the cassette there are film retriever devices you can buy for not much money.

Anyway give it a shot every now and then and see how you go - maybe even devote a roll to just practicing the technique and I'm sure you'll find it's not that difficult.

Edited October 9, 2022 by stray cat

[Aryel]

I do the same as @stray cat and @Siriusone59 with the addition of closing down the lens and using the fastest shutter speed to move back to the next frame. This is just for added peace of mind. 

[carl_valiquet]

there is such a tool called a film puller or film retriever ( info on Tube). You rewind the film completely in its cassette, and then use the film puller to take ou the leader. Be sure to indicate on the leader and or cassette how many exposures you took on it, so as not to double expose. Regards. Carl.

[Huss]

This thread, along with the other one where you tore the film out of the canister, suggests you need someone to show you how to use the camera.

As others have mentioned, it is very simple to just note how many pics you have taken, rewind the film - and stop the moment you feel the tension release, this is very obvious - and next time when you reload it, advance it with the lens cap on(!) so you don't multiple expose the images you have already shot past the number you had previously taken.  Then add another to make sure no overlaps.

By advance it, I mean wind on, push the shutter button (it doesn't matter much what speed it is but better a faster shutter speed to reduce chance of light leaks), wind on, push the shutter button until you have reached the correct number of previous shots.

[250swb]

5 hours ago, carl_valiquet said:

there is such a tool called a film puller or film retriever ( info on Tube). You rewind the film completely in its cassette, and then use the film puller to take ou the leader. Be sure to indicate on the leader and or cassette how many exposures you took on it, so as not to double expose. Regards. Carl.

Sometimes they work and sometimes they don't, different cameras put different bends in the film leader and unless the film is pristine and the leader unbent those devices are useless.

[Ouroboros]

I've used a Hama film retriever for well over 20 years with no real problems but it definitely works better with Kodak films than some others.  The type of substrate used for the film is the key to how frustrating or otherwise film retrievers can be.   If the film doesn't appear after 3 or 4 attempts to retrieve it, I lever the top and bottom off the cassette in a changing bag with the edge of a pair of scissors.

When I briefly taught photography in a local College, watching students trying to use film retrievers early in their course was a good indicator as to which ones might go on to do well.

[Stuart Richardson]

2 hours ago, 250swb said:

Sometimes they work and sometimes they don't, different cameras put different bends in the film leader and unless the film is pristine and the leader unbent those devices are useless.

I typically process 35mm by pulling the leader out of the film with a film puller and using the canister to "push" the film onto the spool, in which case I can often load my jobo spools in about 30 seconds. I don't recall encountering a film I could not retrieve...most of mine are shot in Leica M cameras. I think mine is an "AP" film puller. That said, someone gave me a metal one and I have never been able to get that one to work, so perhaps in this case the plastic ones do the job more easily...

Additionally, they do not work if you do not follow the instructions to the letter. You have to rotate the film in the canister a certain number of times listening to the clicks to tension the film, in a certain order, otherwise they don't typically take hold.

Edited October 9, 2022 by Stuart Richardson

[Stuart Richardson]

The final alternative would be to get a camera like the Hexar RF (I think AF perhaps as well), and I think Nikon F6, all of which can be set up so that when they rewind the film, they leave the leader out.

[250swb]

10 hours ago, Stuart Richardson said:

That said, someone gave me a metal one and I have never been able to get that one to work, so perhaps in this case the plastic ones do the job more easily...

 

So you seem to think that some work and some don't, I never realised that.

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[Stuart Richardson]

2 hours ago, 250swb said:

So you seem to think that some work and some don't, I never realised that.

At least for me…but I imagine they have to work for somebody at least…

[Doug A]

On 10/8/2022 at 6:55 PM, hirohhhh said:

...One reason why I love medium format is because I can easily shot 10-12 shots in any occasion, but 36 is just too much for me.

How do you solve this? Multiple cameras or something else?

I faced the same issue when my medium format gear became too heavy for me to carry comfortably and I found that it took me forever to finish a 36-exposure, or even 24-exposure, roll of film. My solution is to bulk load 12-exposure rolls.

On the one hand this is wasteful because the head and tail of a 12-exposure roll are the same length as those of a 36-exposure roll. On the other hand, I do get 40 rolls from a 100' bulk roll so it is still much less expansive than shooting 120 film.