Shooting 120 film overseas , bringing back to develop. How to make sure negs. turn out OK

<p>hey everyone<br>

Going overseas in a few days , and contemplating taking my mamiya 645 for some B+W rolls of 120 film.<br>

My first roll of this in B+W was ruined by some sort of handling error ~ I used the roll , stored the film for a week or two and then developed and the entire roll was basically over exposed/washed out. At a guess i left it not-so-tight or something along those lines. ( camera and lens is fine and Im fairly competent and handling the camera )</p>

<p>My question is , I will travel to japan from Australia , and want to take the same 645 camera over , take a few rolls of B+W or colour film then get them developed back in Oz.<br>

What precautions should i take with the exposed film/s to ensure they arrive back ready for developing and no issues ?<br>

Any thoughts greatly appreciated ! Thanks ben</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Mail them back to your home from Japan and avoid the airports. I put mine in plastic 120 film holders ADOX and Rollei films come in them.</p>

<p>Mmm a great suggestion I didnt think of. I might consider even chucking my 35mm in the mail too.<br>

Obviously keep it as sealed and dark as possible ? How to keep the 120 tight on the spools if i cant find 120 film holders?</p>

<p>I made some from cheap PVC pipes I cut and glued a cap on one end and then taped the other end cap on. I have seen 2 35mm cans used that the bottom is cut out of one and then taped together.<br>

Where there is a will there is a way.</p>

<p>Larry</p>

<p>Uh? There was a recent thread that says there are wonderful film processing in Japan - http://www.photo.net/film-and-processing-forum/00WaTz</p>

<p>I'd consider developping the films in Japan. 7 years ago, I developped some color film in Kyoto, and they did a very good job. Some films that were carried around and went through countless Xray were a bit fogged... By all means don't put any film in your check in luggage.</p>

<p>I have used old perscription plastic bottles. Just the right size. If you want you can roll them up in duct tape to be more light tight.</p>

<p>No need to avoid the airports, the X Ray dose given to carry-ons won't hurt your film. Therefore no need to waste valuable trip time looking for/going to japanese labs to process your film no better (or worse) than you could have it done at home at your leisure. </p>

<p>Just load/unload in shade, make sure its rolled quite tightly and stick down with the tab supplied. I always put the roll back in the foil sleeve it came out of, but I don't know that this does any good at all. </p>

<p>I would investigate your film problem a bit more closely. I rarely have had issues, unless loading in the sun and then only streaks, never the whole frame. We shot 25-30 rolls of film every time we did an aerial shoot and with over 15 flights, my assistant changing film in the bubble of the helicopter's front seat and keeping the film in plastic bags--stripped of the foil before we left the ground--never had even one streak, let alone totally over-exposed. I think you have a different problem than you might think!</p>

<p>I don't like running the film through the x-ray and always have it hand checked. If you are only taking a flight there and one back, then it is just a minimal inconvenience. They will try to get you to put it thru the x-ray, which may not hurt it (slower films), but insist and they should hand check it. If the Japanese are harder to understand or get cooperation, one time through should not be an issue.</p>

<p>Check your other problem though, it isn't what you think, IMO.</p>

<p>(Oh and the pipe bomb things sounds like a great idea!)</p>

<p>I've been on countless trips where I take 120 rolls back to be processed, both overseas and domestic. I've never had a problem like you mention and sometimes my film sits for months before I process it. In fact I have some rolls still from my honeymoon which are over a year old... I should really process them :P<br>

Indeed it might be another problem as John A says. I personally wouldn't trust mailing my film. What if it gets lost? How do you now the storage of the parcel is not going to be crazy hot or cold or humid etc? Take it back with you on the plane. If you are in comfortable conditions, then the film will be fine. X-Rays will not be a problem if you don't put them in your check in luggage and since you say you are travelling to Japan from Oz, you will be in safe hands.<br>

Once you shoot a roll and you have wrapped it up tightly it will most probably not leak unless you do something wrong. In fact I've had rolls that were left slightly loose from my error and they turned out fine. To wrap mine up I just finish the roll then take it out of the camera. Then pull on the sticky paper device and tension the film as you wrap it round and stick it down good. With Kodak I find the lick 'n stick to not be as tight as the Fuji stickers but both are good enough. Make sure you get the edges of the film lined up with the lip of the spool. Light can leak in otherwise. That is the only weak spot. After I finish shooting I just stick them in my camera bag, no extra protection.<br>

Did you only get 1 roll that was overexposed? Was it your first B+W roll? Did you get any more after that?<br>

Again, I would avoid mailing. Japanese postal services are amazingly good but accidents do happen. And if you are not so fluent with Japanese then you might have some problems getting the right service. Best not to risk it :)</p>

<p>There are opaque plastic bags, used to ship large format film outside the original box. It would be prudent to put exposed MF film in such a bag. There's always a danger that exposure to light will fog the edges once outside the original foil package.</p>

<p>Local processing is a fail-safe means to avoid accidental exposure. However you have to find out where and how long it's going to take for processing. It can get very expensive outside the US. I've never been in one spot long enough to do that, so I just schlepp it around the countryside(s) and take it home for processing. Six years ago I got my roll film back in a day. Now it takes two weeks.</p>

<p>B+W processing is available in the big cities in Japan but it will take time, up to a week depending on where you take it to. Its also reasonable in cost, but obviously more expensive than doing it yourself.</p>

<p>I haven't had problems so far when it comes to traveling. However, you can buy an "X-ray" safe film bag. It's basically lined with lead on the inside. You can always ask for a hand-inspection for your film and it should be safe. Haven't any problems let.<br>

<br />BUt that being said, a lot of modern X-ray machines are safe on the film. But it's up to you if you want to risk it.</p>

 

<p>The last time I flew, I put all my exposed 120 film in my cargo short pocket.<br />Because the spools are plastic, they went through the metal detectors without a trace, and when I had them processed back home, they all turned out perfectly fine.</p>