Completely blank film!?!

[Acliff]

I sent three films off to be developed and scanned the other day, and when they were returned to me, I found a refund for one, as they said it was blank.

2 BW400 came out fine, my superia 400, was just as stated, completely blank.

I have no idea how it happened, I'm a little grief stricken that I've lost photos. I wouldn't have removed it unless I felt the wind on lever stop. Unless I'm going mad, and sent new film in my camera, immediately rewound it and sent it for processing...

If the processor had wrongly processed the film, it wouldn't be completely clear film would it?

 

[August Derleth]

You made a mistake. The film was unexposed.

 

[drewbarb]

Does the film have it's edge markings or not?

 

[Steve Bellayr]

When you loaded the camera did you with the back open trip the shutter, advance the film and watch the film advance into the take up spool?

 

[Chris101]

Does the film have it's edge markings or not?

If it doesn't have the frame number and other markings along the top and bottom of the strip, it means that they processed it wrong (most likely spent developer.) If the markings are there then the film was never exposed, or was so under-exposed that nothing showed up.

 

[filmfan]

As has been said, check for the frame #s.

 

[Acliff]

The frame numbers and things are displayed, so I must have been an idiot.

I guess I won't make that mistake again...
I'll be more careful with loading from now on I'm sure.
Once bitten...

 

[ruby.monkey]

Lens cap left on?

 

[brainwood]

Was this your only roll of colour film you had at the time ?? Could you a have sent the wrong roll ( a new and unexposed roll rather than the one out of the camera ) to be processed. I only say this as I have done it myself....once

Chris

 

[MartinP]

Try and figure out what happened and it can then safely join the list of "mistakes I made only once" ! I suspect everyone has a list of those . . . 😉

 

[chris00nj]

In my pre-RF days, I had a Pentax SF1 which would auto-load the film. Sometimes, it wouldn't load correctly, but there was nothing to tell you it failed. I could only tell once the roll got to frame 37, 38, 39, 40, etc. I lost a few rolls, most notably, many of my photos from my only stay in Berlin.

 

[__hh]

I don't think that you are the only person who has had this happen to them. Part of the experience 🙂

 

[Leigh Youdale]

I had two problems in the move from SLR to RF.
A couple of times I left the lens cap on. However this only affected a part roll as I realised my mistake.
The other time I was using a Leica and the leader had not been secured firmly enough in the takeup spool and it pulled out as I was winding it on the the first frame. I was unaware of this and didn't do a visual check of the camera to see that the film spool was rotating. So I continued to cock the shutter and wind on, feeling quite normal, for the whole of that film. Result - blank film.

 

[oftheherd]

Try and figure out what happened and it can then safely join the list of "mistakes I made only once" ! I suspect everyone has a list of those . . . 😉

Excellent advice. And I can't imagine anyone with more that ten rolls of film taken who hasn't made some mistake. Sadly, some of them we have to make more than once to really get it. :bang:

Don't feel too bad. There was once a thread about silly mistakes. It went rather long.

 

[Acliff]

Lens cap left on?

I have left the lens cap on for a variety of photos, but I don't think I would have left it on for 36 shots.

Maybe just to make sure its catching on the spool, I'll fully wind once and fire, before putting the flap down and screwing the base back on.

It is comforting to know, I'm not the first to do this!

 

[Ronald M]

Always load, tension the film with rewind, and advance a little to be sure the film is transporting. Then watch the rewind to be sure the film continues to unspool.

 

[mad_boy]

Is the lead-in (i.e. the part that gets exposed when you load the film) blank or black? (it should be the latter).

mad_boy

 

[mojobebop]

untitled

untitled

i've done that. what i do to avoid it is to waste an exposure or 2.
there have been times due to cold weather or whatever that i have made certain film
was correctly installed, and witnessed the rewind moving, only to have it slip, and i'd have to
re-load again.