How long does it take you to finish a roll?

[ajmartinez]

I went with a few days, but that's not really honest. It takes a few days right now because I'm on vacation in Scotland. When I'm at home a roll of 36 can take a week or two for a few reasons. First, I don't bracket. If it takes me 5 minutes to be certain the exposure is correct, so be it. Second, I tend to shoot more medium format than 35mm and sometimes forget I even own a 35mm camera.

 

[nikon_sam]

A lot if it depends on what's going on around me...sporting event or the kid's in Marching Band...could be mere minutes...but then there are cameras in which I have no idea what's on the roll in there...I have maybe two bodies that have had the same roll for over a year now...depends...

 

[Keith]

It's a little like focus ... anywhere from mimimum to infinity!

My problem is my rolls can jump from camera to camera. I'll have an idea and load a particular film into a camera and never shoot a frame when the idea evaporates. Then I'll remove it and fit it to another camera with the same intention ... often with the same end result!

From memory one roll of LP 400 went into four different cameras before a frame had been exposed!

 

[barnwulf]

I picked a full day but over a weeks time I probably don't shoot a roll a day. I sometimes shoot 1-3 rolls a day but I average about 4 rolls a week. Sometimes more. I shoot usually 4 days a week. Jim

 

[DougFord]

How long does it take you to finish a 36 exp roll, on average? Or 3 rolls of 120, or maybe 1.5 rolls of 24exp film. I must confess that it took me a month to finish my last roll, and it looks like my current roll will take about the same time to expose. (I am a very slow shooter and can only shoot on weekends.)

My usage varies considerably from year to year. If I don't feel the desire to shoot, I don't. In which case a roll may last me many months.
'Free time' or more free time has no influence on the number of frames I expend. If anything, more time equals far less output for me.
My 'grand productive days' occurred predominately when I had only weekend days to shoot. More specifically, Sat/Sun between the hours of 1 and 6pm. 😀

 

[anjoca76]

I would love to shoot more than I do, which is probably a roll or two a week, on average, but even though I almost always have a camera with me, it's not always easy to find something new to photograph during my daily work-week routine.

Not that this is the same as shooting, but I do find myself constantly composing and guessing exposures in my head--even if I'm not in the right circumstance to pull out my camera. That must count for something!

 

[DNG]

When I go out, I go for about 3 hours and shoot at least 1 roll, maybe 2... I rarely have a partial roll in my camera. I load, and leave. If I do, I use it by the end of the next day most of the time.

 

[bgb]

I could have picked any of those answers, guess it depends what I'm photographing and if i have some inspiration. So anywhere from a few seconds with the motor-drive turned on to several months if i can't find the right angle or the right light.

 

[helen.HH]

depends on my "EYE" & my Mood...
from a day to a week 🙂 .... 😱...:bang:

 

[raid]

Like Helen said ... I took yesterday two rolls within a couple of hours.On other times, it may take me a week or weeks.

 

[Carterofmars]

Too long. I've had a roll of Ektar in my Ikon ZM for approx three weeks now. Sometimes, out of frustration, I just snap anything to finish the roll.

 

[Mcary]

Depends; sometime I wont shot a single frame for week or more while other times I'll shoot multiple roles in a few hours of less. I generally don't like to leave film in the camera so my dogs and cats get lots of pictures taken of them 🙂

 

[Snacks]

Medium format has slowed me down, so a 120 roll takes about a week, unless I go to an event or a particular place that's out of the ordinary. The times that eat film are generally planned, though. If I'm just walking about I'll take a DSLR, given the slim odds of a good shot in my town.

 

[sreed2006]

I don't believe I have ever shot 36 film exposures in less than 5 minutes.

The longest I've ever taken to finish a roll was about 15 months (and I only had one camera at the time). That was years ago.

My top speed, when there's lots to shoot and the weather is nice, is 30-60 minutes per roll.

I believe the ratio of keepers goes down the faster I shoot, if not the overall quantity of keepers, too. If I start shooting fast, I get careless, and then do not get anything worth keeping.

 

[Keith]

A while ago I did clip the wild looking 18 volt pistol grip motordrive onto my OM-2 to see how quickly it ate a roll of film ... six or seven seconds from memory!

Definitely the fastest roll of film I've ever shot!

 

[Roberto V.]

Sometimes I can burn one in 10 minutes. Other times I might walk around taking photos for 3-4 hours and only finish one roll in that time. I have 2-5 loaded cameras at any given time, so some rolls might last a week or two.

 

[Roberto V.]

I believe the ratio of keepers goes down the faster I shoot, if not the overall quantity of keepers, too. If I start shooting fast, I get careless, and then do not get anything worth keeping.

That usually applies to me too. One time, I had only about 10 minutes to shoot a roll with a Mamiya 7 and finished it. I got 8 keepers on that roll. If only I got so many keepers on every roll 😱

 

[bhop73]

For me it just depends.. like others, I often have a roll in multiple cameras. Depending on my mood or what I want to shoot, i'll take a specific camera with me. I may or may not finish the roll that's in it. Typically my rolls last a couple weeks to a month, although sometimes, if i'm at some type of event, or maybe a museum, or something similar, i'll go through a roll or two in an hour or so..

 

[kossi008]

Well, I can give you an average (and did so, a week), but it is not really meaningful, as my times have varied from a couple of minutes to half a year. The NEX will push my average towards the long end for now, but I expect film to make a comeback once I'm done playing... 😀

 

[dct]

For me it just depends.. like others, I often have a roll in multiple cameras. Depending on my mood or what I want to shoot, i'll take a specific camera with me. I may or may not finish the roll that's in it. Typically my rolls last a couple weeks to a month, although sometimes, if i'm at some type of event, or maybe a museum, or something similar, i'll go through a roll or two in an hour or so..

Exactly the same for me. (Too?) many bodies and most of them loaded with rolls of different flavor (b&w, color, low/high ISO). If not an event, most rolls will take weeks if not months to finish.