stupid mistakes from the annals of film

[mrb]

This morning I was winding a role of film onto the reel in my really dark closet when the cell phone in my shirt pocket rang. The little screen was facing away from my body, and it lit up the little room with a pale greenish light. I managed to hold onto the reel and film with one hand, and jam the phone into my relatively light-tight pants pocket with the other. Too late; those negs came out foggy along the top of nearly all frames. :bang: Am I the only one who ever does these bone-headed things?

 

[keithwms]

lol

Precisely the same thing happened to me in the darkroom. Now I forbid my students take cell phones into the darkroom... though I didn't see any fogging from my earlier experience... just a lot of chemicals all over the floor and on my phone!

 

[marvelous1200]

Once on assignment for my old college paper I was shooting the newly elected student president as he and his running mate were receiving the call that was informing them they had won...this was back when we shot BW film bulk loaded. I must not have taped the film to the leader very well, and only after getting what was sure to be great jubilation and facial expressions I got to the end of the roll. I rewound, or more like my Nikon N90 rewound it for me, and when i opened the back to change rolls, all the film was still on the right side, with an empty canister on the other side:bang: :bang: :bang: I still got a shot, but not THE shot....

 

[robert blu]

@ mrb : it seems incredible how these new technologies are able to give real unexpected problems!
rob

 

[Dogman]

After nearly 35 years of using film, I've made just about every boneheaded mistake possible. Sometimes twice. Sometimes several times.

I think the current correct terminology is "operator error".

 

[sepiareverb]

The biggest film mistake is switching to digital 😀

 

[richiedcruz]

I once remember being so tired that I took the top off of a loaded tank (6 reels) right before I put in the developer :bang:

Richie

 

[sepiareverb]

Pouring stock solution Kodak Indicator Stop into a developing can, thinking "Geez that seems strong" then pouring out a thick tarry sludge 30 seconds later. A fine roll of APX25 (one of my last) melted like the Wicked Witch of the West.

 

[totifoto]

Just a few days ago I was in the dark trying to open a Tri-x. I could not find the tabobener I always use to open it so I used a knife. All of a sudden the top lid went off and the film followed and fell somewhere on the floor 😱
I spent about 40 minutes in the dark trying to find the film and finally gave up and put the lights on, still took me a few minutes to find it, it rolled under the sink and behind a leg on the table 🙁

 

[peterm1]

I do not process my own so I cannot claim to be a dud in this department. (Give me time.) But I have made just about every other film related botch up.

Once went on a holiday with a brand new camera. (This was in the early days of my interest in photography.) Came back after two weeks in the Pacific with 15 rolls of film - 14 of which were blank. My first attempt to load the camera using the handbook and following it carefully was successful. Not so my subsequent bone headed, ham fisted attempts. Well at least it gave me the excuse to go on the same holiday again a year later. (This time I got the shots.)

Other such loading stuff ups have been at least limited to loading Leica / Canons of the LTM variety and there I have the excuse that these are notoriously touchy for novices to load. On a couple of occasions (I think due to clumsy trimming of the film leader- a word to the wise, never trim THRU a sprocket hole) I have ended up with the film tearing in the camera and having to extricate the film from a reluctant body where it has become bunched up and jammed.

And of course on a few occasions I have:

- Forgotten which film I have loaded and exposed it wrongly.

- When rewinding a Leica M3 (which seems to take FOREVER) I have thought that I have finished only to find when I have opened the camera that I have not. (Its easier than you think to do because the leader releasing is not always obvious.)

- And once I have even reloaded a previously exposed film because I stupidly did not wind the leader into the canister. Later, thinking it was new, I did the obvious thing and double exposed it.

Thank God for digital.

 

[Larky]

I've poured in fix instead of dev, forgot a film so it was in developer for about 9 hours instead of 16 minutes (long story), forgot to put empty spirals in so the film ends up at the top of the can, not in the chemicals etc. I've done all sorts of stupid stuff, I'm learning now.