Did I ruin my photos?

<p>The film that I use for my camera let's me take 24 pictures. But I forgot that I used up all 24. When I saw a pretty picture opportunity I ran and got my camera and took 2 more pictures. But there was no new film. Are the pictures now overlapping my other ones or did nothing happen?</p>

<p>Maybe. Some 24 rolls have 27 exposures. You won't know until you get them developed.</p>

<p>Which camera is it?</p>

<p>It is usual to get 25 pictures on a 24 roll, and 38 on a 36 roll.</p>

<p>Disposable cameras get 27 on a 24 roll, as they load it in the dark, and so don't expose the leader. </p>

<p>Some older cameras aren't so accurate on the framing, and might overlap slightly, or put a larger than usual space between frames.</p>

<p>Not common, but some just let you keep going, exposing on top of the last frame.</p>

<p>if it keeps taking more pictures than the length of film should, more likely you haven't loaded the film correctly (hasn't caught in the take up spool) and you'll have no pictures at all. What camera, some give hints that there's film inside.</p>

<p>Assuming that you loaded the film properly, you would have felt a difference when you tried to advance the film. Either you couldn't advance it or you would have felt the sprocket holes being torn. OR, if you pulled the film of off the spool, after the initial resistance, it would keep advancing forever. Check the tension on your rewind. </p>

<p>"I ran and got my camera and took 2 more pictures. But there was no new film"<br /><br />If the camera let you take two more pictures, then presumably there was more film. What makes you think there wasn't?<br /><br />If you had truly been at the end of the roll, assuming it was loaded properly in the first place, then the camera would not have been able to advance to shoot the two more pictures. The film advance would not have moved. If you forced it, you could have torn the sprocket holes and maybe double exposed on top of the last picture you shot. But that would have taken some noticeable force and you should have realized something didn't feel right.<br /><br />As others have noted, many camera can get more than the official number of shots from a roll. An SLR might be six inches wide across the back, and so there's a loss of a frame or two just in threading up the camera. Compact point and shoots might be only three or four inches wide, so the film the manufacturer provides as "leader" can be used to take pictures.<br /><br />With the exception of possibly double exposing on top of the last picture you shot before these two, everything previously shot the roll should be fine. Get the roll developed and see what you have.</p>

<p>I haven't developed the roll yet, but I suspect that the spool on my Mercury II doesn't have so much friction that you can't continue winding after the last shot.</p>

<p>Or maybe not enough to get a full (5/8) frame each time I wind it. I know I got somewhat more than I should have.</p>

<p>Most cameras are pretty good at not allowing you to wind past the end of the roll, but maybe not all.</p>

<p>There is the story about the Nikon F motor drive that is strong enough to break the spool and drag spool pieces through the rest of the camera, often not good for the camera.</p>

<p>You never know.</p>