What happens if my film got exposed?

Question

Hello, I was rewinding my camera film (400ASA 35-36frames) according to the instruction booklet of my camera (completely manual Nikon FM10; because I had taken all photos possible); I pinched the rewind button, and started rolling the crank but I accidentally let it loose. I thought it was rewound because I tried to rewind it but it didn't let me, so I assumed it was okay to open the camera back (I was in my bedroom; electric light; at night) and opened it and took the film out including all of it that was NOT REWOUND (it's my first time Rewinding a film, so I didnt even know) and realized that. I rewound it in about less than 2 min. correctly, but I don't know if the photos got spoiled. Do they get spoiled? (They had no fingerprints, no contact with sunlight, no high-low temperatures) I will develop this film soon and I am worried. Did all my photos got ruined because I made a mistake? Even if it was exposed to electric light (lightbulb)??

Answer 1

First of all yes and electric lightbulb WILL expose your film.

You should take it in and try to have it developed.

It is possible that only the pictures stored close to where the film was exposed are ruined.
It is possible that the film that was already rewound is not exposed.

The processing company will NOT charge you for prints that don't turn out.

Good Luck.

Answer 2

Any film that was outside the 35mm cassette and off the takeup spool will be completely exposed, any pictures on that section of film are lost.

Any film that was inside the 35mm cassette will be fine. The cassette is completely light tight.

Any film that was still on the takeup spool will probably be "fogged." By that I mean that there will be areas where the film will be overexposed. The closer to the light the film was the greater the degree of exposure. The closer to the end of the roll attached to the takeup spool the lesser the exposure, but you may find little dark areas at the top and bottom of your finished prints where the light leaked past the rims of the takeup spool.

Hopefully you can reshoot the frames you lost. Don't feel bad, I think anyone who has ever picked up a 35mm camera has managed to do this more than once, at least I know I have.

Answer 3

Did you close it right away and try rewinding the rest?

The photos that were exposed might be ruined, unless you closed it realllyyy fast. But don't worry, the ones that were already rewound should come out.

If the film is exposed to any light, (I'm pretty sure) it will get ruined. The next time you're rewinding film, make sure it gets easier to rewind. This means that it should be finished rewinding.

Answer 4

That happened to me once before, and yes... The entire part of the roll that was exposed to light was erased. The camera was supposed to auto rewind but it didn't... When I opened the camera... I saw the bad news, but I sent the roll in for developing anyway.

It just so happens that I was in the Louvre museum (Paris France) at the time. That really sucked! I lost almost an entire roll of photos from there. The part of the roll that had rewound was ok, but the rest were gone.

Answer 5

A few of us have made this mistake. I know I have done a few variations of the same theme. sometimes it is the fault of the camera , sometimes it is all totally mine.

All the pictures will be overexposed. There might be a few that may have a faint image but they wont be worth printing. Electric light will still expose the film.

Answer 6

In short, the answer is yes, the film is probably ruined.
It doesn't matter what kind of light it is. Any part of the film that was exposed to light (even for a few seconds) will be ruined.
Black and White film is a little more forgiving, but anything more than a 15 watt red light will ruin that too.

Answer 7

The film on the take up spool should be OK too. you probably loss about 4or 5 frames.