Wet 35mm Film - Still Good

[dglickstein]

While on a photo trip in Utah I kept my Kodak E100VS in double bags

in a cooler with ice so it wouldn't fry in the day-time heat. Of the

100 unexposed rolls, 20 were in a bag that leaked and the film got

very wet, wet enough that when I shook it, water flew out of the film

cartridge.

 

I placed the 20 rolls in the front seat, drove around with the

windows open and they eventually dried but when I pull an inch or two

of the film out the emulsion side is sticky, unlike a roll that was

never wet.

 

My questions: Are these 20 rolls trashed or unreliable? Will water

dry and leave spots? I thought of shooting a test roll, but some

rolls were wetter than others and I don't know if that would show

anything consistent with regards to the other rolls. Also, will this

affect the quality the image when it is exposed and developed?

 

Thank you in advance.

[dan_sapper]

Best not to put wet or sticky film in your camera. Not only is wet film very easily scratched, but any emulsion gel which comes off the film can deposit into your camera where it will create worse problems.

 

Once the film dries, it might be stuck together as a roll, and likely will not transport properly through an automatic winding camera. You might burn out the motor, rip the sprocket holes from the film, then you have gunk in your camera again.

 

Sorry for the bad news.

[roger krueger]

Dead, Dead, Dead.

 

It'll stick to itself and emulsion will come off. It's possible a roll only slightly dampened

may not have had the water penetrate enough to cause trouble, but why risk it?

[georg_kern]

Pardon me, but driving around with the car with open windows is really the american way to dry film.

 

Regards

 

Georg

[chris haake]

"Pardon me, but driving around with the car with open windows is really the american way to dry film."

 

Ummm...what? Given the circumstances, what should Derek have done to dry the film quickly and safely, without exposing it to damaging heat?

[dglickstein]

Thank you everyone, I will take the advice on the film--trash.

 

Chris, you're right on, I had no other way to dry the film and I didn't know how to respond to that remark about "the American way..." I thought it was a dig. Not sure I understand why he would do that-maybe he thinks it is ostentatious to use a car as a dryer -- may make Americans seem decadent. Maybe he can explain his remarks.

 

Bottom-line for me was to get the film dry.

 

dG

[rowland_mowrey]

Just as a comment on wet film. If you get it wet after you expose it, it is best kept totally wet until you get it processed. If it is wet in salt water, rinse with several changes of distilled water thoroughly and keep wet. If it is wet in fresh water, just rinse with distilled water and keep wet.

 

Soak the entire casette in water and keep it soaked. Put it in a cannister with water and put the cap on.

 

Notify the photofinisher as to your problem.

 

We lost a whole foot locker full of critical film when I was at the Cape. It fell out of a helicopter into the Atlantic Ocean. Kodak taught us that trick to rescue our film.

 

If it is wet before exposure, it is trash.

 

Ron Mowrey

[digitmstr]

>> If you get it wet after you expose it, it is best kept totally wet until you get it processed<<

 

Emulsion soaked in water will change the dev times, contrast, etc... If it stays wet long enough, it will actually cause the emulsion to detach.

 

If it gets wet after exposure the problems are the same, if the film is totally wet for days. There is an actual dev. technique which entails dipping the film in water before the dev. bath. So, it wouldn't necessaritly ruin the film per se. If I had to choose I'd rather it get wet AFTER exposure and not before.