Film Stuck in Take-Up Spool: How To Get It Out

[corazon]

Hey there...it's been a qhile since I've been on here..but alas.. my return..


So I just finished a roll the other day and i overwound it, resulting in it ripping and disconnecting from the canister. The film obviously can't be rewound and it is really taught, I cant get my fingers in there to take it out so I can develop it. Does anyone have any pointers on how to get the film out (saving the film is preferable and not breaking the spool in my Leica is a must 😛).


Thanks for your help.

 

[newsgrunt]

In a darkroom, manually move the film back to the cassette side bit by bit. of course this is presuming you've engaged the rewind lever and haven't totally advanced the film to the spool. If there's still a loose tail end, you should be ok. Then just load it onto a reel and have at it. If you take it to a lab, make sure it's sealed in a black film cannister and make sure the lab knows there's loose film inside and to use the darkbox.

or you could try and loosen the film on the take up spool so that it's not too tight then pull the roll off the spindle. what I'm trying to get at is that you're aiming, for wont of a better description, to have a loose roll such as when you lose your grip on the rewind knob and all the film unwinds like a spring.

I've never tried either so ymmv and just mind the shutter curtain while you're attempting this, they don't take well to fingers yano 😉

and good luck

 

[tedwhite]

Never had this happen before, but if you've pushed the rewind lever the spool should rotate and maybe move it enough to get a grip on the ripped end? Tweezers might help, but of course keep them away from the shutter curtain.

 

[Livesteamer]

It sounds like you need to unload this in a darkroom. Is the film still connected to the cannister it came in? Has the sprocket torn the film preventing rewinding? What model Leica is it in? Do you have an empty film cannister so you could unload the camera in the dark and transfer the torn film into the spare cannister or onto a reel for developing. If the film is torn, you probably need to just cut that section out with a scissors at the loss of a few frames. Good Luck. Joe

 

[dmr]

This happened to me a couple years ago, not in a Leica, however. I ended up sacrificing a cheap roll of film, taping the loose end to the cut-off end, and carefully winding the exposed film into the cartridge. This of course was done in the bathroom with the light out and a towel under the door.

At a camera shop tent sale I then picked up a couple of those empty reloadable 35mm cartridges in case this happens again. These came in handy for my redscale experiment a few months back as well.

 

[like2fiddle]

You'll need a darkroom or a film changing bag. Just take the bottom off the camera and operate the camera as if you were taking photos: advance, trip shutter, advance, trip shutter - the film should work its way out the bottom of the camera under the take-up spool.

 

[payasam]

Happened to me a couple of times. Did what Roger describes. Have to be careful to handle the film by the edges.