Camera opened before rewind

I think I did the ultimate blunder today, besides dropping a brand new Leica M7 with a 35 mm

Summilux overboard at sea. After two hours of walking under a hot sun and shooting a roll of Tri X, I

started rewinding the film back in my Nikon F3. A bit distracted, I paid no attention to the end of the

process. Only when I realized that I had cranked for a long time and that the crank was feeling slack,

did I conclude that I could open the back. Oops... The film was not wound back in the canister. The end

masking tape had broken loose from the spool and I was, indeed, rewinding... wind.

 

Now, to make a long story short, do you think the film is entirely fogged, ot can I salvage at least some

photo from the beginning. In other words, is it worth going through processing?

 

Yes, I'm ashamed of myself .

 

Thanks.

Usually only a few frames are exposed when you open the camera with out rewinding the film. You might have a few more than that as the film was not wound tight , but I would bet not more that 7 or 8 at the most.

i heard it's a universal law that if it can happen, it will happen. so, big deal.

 

if you develop it, you may be able to get something. if you fail to salvage anything, you don't lose any either. if you don't develop it, the possiblility of salvaging anything will be forever lost.

 

just a thought,

 

- refinder

I made this mistake mor than one time. You loose what is between the can and take up spool and maybe the edges of a wrap or two in the take up depending.

 

If not open too long, I predict a lost of 6/8 frames.

 

Get in the habit of checking the rewing before opening a camera. If it will not freely move, there is film in it.

 

Stop making stupid mistakes, but since we are not perfect, s--t happens.

I can relate some experience from my scuba diving days...

 

I once flooded a nearly brand new Nikon N90s and Micro Nikkor due to wrist lanyard getting caught in the housing's o-ring seal when I sealed it all up. Didn't notice until I was at 80 feet below the surface, about to take the best macro shots of my life.

 

And once after a dive, I completely forgot to rewind the film in my Nikonos before opening the back. I quickly closed the back up. Just a few frames were ruined (and only partially), so it's definitely worth getting your film developed to see what's there.

 

The M7/35 Lux incident must hurt. Ouch, my sympathies. I assume it's at the bottom of the sea somewhere? I don't scuba dive anymore, so don't worry, I won't be trying to recover it. :-)

Mitchell, the Leica M7 was just an example. I didn't do it myself. The closest I came was to

drop a Leica lens cap (those nice silver ones) in the Saint Lawrence river.

 

I will process the film. We'll see.

 

Thank you, all.

<i>besides dropping a brand new Leica M7 with a 35 mm Summilux overboard at sea</i>

 

Aw we thought you did that too!-- we were feeling sorry for you!

 

good luck on the film - hope you removed what was left of the roll in absolute darkness. Having the back open longer in subdued light long enough to rethread the spool will be too long and expose what was left of the roll. Good time to buy a changing bag.

Thanks, Terence. Yes, I did that, I put the camera in a changing bag, then I put the film

back on the spool in the canister, closed the camera and rewound the film as usual in full

light. As we speak, the roll is gettings washed after processing. Can't wait to see the

extent of the damages. I'll keep you posted, if only for those who will make the same

blunder. I can't be the only one, right? ;)