c/analog-photo-fails

13

anthonykim•1d ago

Discovered a dark bag trick that saved a whole roll of ruined film

I accidentally opened my camera back mid-roll at a wedding last weekend and panicked hard. Instead of trashing it, I loaded the film into a changing bag and developed it by feel alone in my bathroom at 2am. The top half of every frame has this wild purple light leak but the bottom half came out CRISP. Has anyone else tried salvaging a roll after a back pop or am I just lucky?

27

the_nathan•3d ago

Noticed my old Holga shots got way grainier after I switched to a different lab

I used the same little camera shop in Austin for like 4 years and everything came back fine, then I moved and tried a place in San Antonio and my negatives look like sandpaper. Anyone else see a big shift just from changing who develops your film?

23

dakota787•3d ago

Unpopular opinion: Hitting 100 rolls of film this year isn't a flex, it's a problem

I see people bragging about burning through 100+ rolls in a year like it's some kind of milestone. But I hit 87 rolls last month and realized I was just wasting money on mediocre shots. Most of those frames were blurry or badly exposed because I was rushing to shoot more instead of slowing down. I'd rather have 10 great negatives than 100 that I'm embarrassed to show anyone. Anyone else feel like the quantity over quality mindset kills the whole point of film?

11

holly63•7d ago

Found out my dad's old Pentax K1000 has a shutter count limit of around 100,000 actuations after 40 years of use

I was reading a repair blog from a guy in Portland and he said most mechanical shutters from that era just wear out around that number, so now I'm scared to even fire mine off at a family picnic.

24

victor_lane60•8d ago

Spent $75 on a bulk roll of Kodak Portra and got back 36 shots of pure garbage

I bought a 5-pack of Portra 400 from B&H last month for $75. Loaded it up, shot a whole roll at my niece's birthday party, and sent it off to The Darkroom for developing. Every single frame came back with these weird orange streaks running through them. I figured it was a light leak but I tested the camera with another roll and it was fine. Has anyone else gotten a bad batch of film from B&H recently?

5

keith116•8d ago

The great debate: development times by the book vs. feeling it out by eye in the darkroom

I used to be super strict about following Ilford's times to the second, but after a batch of underexposed rolls from a dim forest shoot last fall I started pulling film early based on how the negs looked... has anyone else thrown the charts out and just gone by gut feel for push processing?

8

ivan522•9d ago

I quit taping my film canisters shut after a light leak ruined 12 frames

Used to tape every single roll like a maniac until one slip let the edge gap open and fried half a roll of Portra. Now I just press the canister lid down firm and load in the bag - way less hassle and no leaks since.

21

jordan184•10d ago

That one week my entire roll of Portra came back blank because of a light seal I didn't check

Loaded up my old Canon AE-1 last Saturday for a trip to the local flea market near downtown Austin, thought I was capturing gold. Got the scans back from the lab yesterday and every frame was just solid white light leak garbage. Anyone else had a camera ruin a whole shoot because of one stupid piece of foam?

15

anderson.cora•12d ago

Opened my camera back by accident on a half-shot roll

Was out at a flea market in Austin last Saturday and got distracted by this old lamp. Popped the back open on my Pentax without realizing I had 14 frames left. Tried to quickly close it but I'm pretty sure half of them got hit by light. Going to develop them tonight and see what kind of crazy double exposures or light leaks I ended up with. Has anyone else done this and actually gotten cool results?

25

gonzalez.vera•12d ago

Just got back from Santa Monica and my whole roll came out blank

I drove all the way out to the Santa Monica pier last Saturday to shoot some dusk photos on my Pentax K1000, and every single frame on this roll of Portra 400 came back completely blank. Turns out the rewind knob was loose and the film never advanced properly the whole time. Has anyone else had a camera do that sneaky thing where it looks like it's working but totally isn't?

15

aaron197•13d ago

Question about film developing: Has anyone ever gone back and compared their first roll to their 20th?

I was digging through old negatives last night and pulled out my first roll of Tri-X from 2022, then compared it to one I developed last month. The difference is crazy - my first roll was all washed out and grainy, probably from bad temperature control in my bathroom sink. Do you think it's more about learning the technique better or just getting lucky with the chemistry batch that day?

28

finley_lee•13d ago

Brought my old Olympus to the botanical garden and something went wrong with the roll

I went to the local botanical garden last Saturday, the one over on Elm Street, and I brought my Olympus OM-10 that I haven't used in like 4 years. I was so careful loading the film, making sure the sprockets caught and everything. Took maybe 20 shots of these huge purple dahlias and some koi fish in the pond. Got the negatives back today from the lab and half the roll is completely blank, just clear plastic. The other half has these weird light streaks running diagonal across every frame. I think I must have opened the back just a crack when I was rewinding the roll, because the camera felt loose in my hands that day. Has anyone else ruined a whole day of shooting because of a tiny mistake like that? I felt so dumb when I saw the scans.

23

jennifer_west•14d ago

That loading spool trick for developing at home saved my entire roll

I've messed up at least 4 rolls this year just trying to get the film onto the developing reel, especially with 120 medium format. Last night I tried the "wet the reel first" trick I saw on a forum, where you soak the stainless steel reel in water so the film glides on instead of sticking. It worked perfectly, no kinks or jams, and I didn't waste another $12 roll of Portra. Has anyone else tried this or do you have a different method for keeping film from sticking?

21

chen.phoenix•17d ago

Unpopular opinion: light leaks can actually improve a photo sometimes

I was at a wedding last June up in Portland and my old Pentax K1000 had a shutter curtain leak that ruined about 12 shots. But one frame of the bride walking through a doorway had this beautiful orange streak across the bottom that looked intentional. Everyone told me to get it fixed immediately, but I actually kept the camera that way for another 200 rolls. Has anyone else kept a broken camera because you liked the weird results it gave you?

23

lisa671•17d ago

Finally got my money back on that junk developing tank

I spent $40 on a cheap Paterson clone on Amazon and it leaked developer all over my kitchen on the first use. Took 3 weeks of arguing but they finally refunded me. Anyone else have bad luck with those knockoff tanks?