Is my whole 35mm film damaged?

Question

I put in my 35mm film in my SplitCam. And I took just a couple of photos. For some reason I felt like the film wasn't really going around with the spool, so I opened the back and apparently it was perfectly fine hahaha so i just closed it and started shooting again.

Should I just put in a new roll or can I still use this one?

Answer 1

No, if the camera doesn't spool all the film first then the unexposed frames should have been safe within the canister. The pictures that you took and the readied frame have most likely been effected.

Simply advance the film to the next frame, or the frame after that to be safe, and continue using the rest of the roll.

Answer 2

Really the simplest thing to do is just rewind that roll and process it.

Place a new roll and keep going from there, redo some of the shots that you feel were damaged.

It is not worth the risk of using fogged film, a new roll won't cost as much as missing important shots.

True the unused portion of the film is unaffected but when I do an important shoot like a Wedding or something that can not be redone the risk is too great.

Good Luck

Answer 3

That's hard to say. It depends on how bright the light was when you opened it. How sensitive (what ASA) the film is.   I opened the back of my camera at a wedding reception that I was shooting years ago and was horrified that I would lose irreplaceable wedding shots......... but I didn't lose ANY.

Answer 4

The film that was still in the cassette should be just fine.  You'll lose the pictures you have already taken and the next couple because they were exposed when you opened the back.  So, 2 already taken, 2 already out of the cassette--you'll only lose 4 or 5 pictures.