My film jammed halfway through a roll at the Grand Canyon

Kelly Ramirez · 2026-04-03T03:25:05.147175+00:00

I was on the South Rim trying to finish a roll of Portra 400 when the advance lever locked up completely. I had to open the back in a dark bag later and lost about 8 frames trying to salvage the film. Do you rewind and cut the roll early or try to force the advance and risk tearing the film?

elliot_allen656mo ago

Force it a little, you can usually save most of the roll.

7

the_willow6mo ago

Portra 400 is too expensive to risk tearing in a jammed camera.

5

noah3266mo ago

Honestly, what's the point of forcing it and maybe ruining the whole roll? Tbh I'd rather lose a few frames in the dark bag than tear the film and get nothing. Forcing the advance feels like a good way to make a small problem way worse. I've had better luck just rewinding early and calling it a day.

2