Film can break your heart

[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. 😀

 

[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.