If you are too tired to do the full development, just run the developer at least. That way if you open it you can slam it shut again and fix and not lose any noticeable detail
When I first started in photography, back in the 1960s, I was told this mnemonic by a local press photographer = F.A.S.T F = Focus, that also includes lens cap removal A = Aperture, Decide on which aperture is suitable for the shot S = Shutter, Set the shutter speed appropriate to the situation You may need to go through these a couple of times before you- T = Take the shot They helped a young boy taking his first steps into photography, maybe they will help others? Great video Roger.
When I've got 2 or 3 cameras loaded with different films at the same time, I've often forgotten what I'm actually shooting. I normally try put a sticker on the bottom of the camera which I write the film type on if I can't put it in the tab on the film door. With swapping between cameras/films, I've often forgotten to set the ISO correctly and only realised that it was wrong after I took the film out. This can be normally be compensated for during development. Whilst I don't often push/pull film, I do here and there and have got myself confused with a handfull of other films which may have been shot normally. In that case, when I wasn't sure, I just stand developed in Rodinal as a resuce, which normally comes out ok.
I made the mistake of choosing a soft rag to use clean my development gear. Turns out it shed tons of very tiny strands all over the tank & reels. Caught it after developing one negative only so no big loss.
All except fixing first and using exhausted fixer. The wort one that happened to me was at the 25th anniversary of Star Trek Convention in Minneapolis. The first convention where Shatner and Nimoy appeared together. I was right up front when they came on stage. I burned through what I figured was the roll, and at the time I was not real familiar with still cameras. I had a real cheap point and shoot 35mm and did not get the leader properly engaged. I dropped the roll off and when I picked it up the guy said no charge....there was nothing on it....i hadn't been exposed!!! A once in never again opportunity and I F^@%(d it up. Live and Learn....LOL Love the new intro!!
Hello Roger, how are you my friend? My biggest mistake was to start shooting with film 😅, definitely the best, fun and happy mistake I have ever done 😂. Cheers mate 👍
There was an instance I had where the film was not loaded properly. My beginner brain told me that I should reel the film all the way back up to protect it before opening the camera to fix it. Which was silly because I hadn't advanced any of it yet because it wasn't loaded properly. And of course, with the film all the way inside the cartridge, how the hell was I supposed to get it back out? Haha! To really make sure it's loaded properly, the real key is to make sure the sprockets are lining up through the holes. I physically press them into position with my fingers before I crank it, get some tension on the film, THEN close it up. Anyways, in reference to scratches, I believe the #1 cause of long scratches on the film is a squeegee! There is absolutely no reason to ever use a film squeegee. I've ditched them completely, and never looked back. Some wetting agent and a couple of wet fingers is all you ever need.
You missed a negative mystery that's rather common in dry climates. The little lightning bolts caused by static when you advance film to rapidly. I learned this one the hard way shooting Alaskan wildlife in the winter.
I've noticed scratches on my negs and I'm 99% certain it's from those fat tab reels. They're not deep gouges so I've only noticed it on one or two prints, but you can definitely see it inspecting the negs. I was gifted a stainless tank and reel but it only fits 24exp. It's not as hard as people make it out to be. Life hack: you can load the first few inches in the light just like you can with the plastic reels. I would also highly recommend PhotoFlo in regards to spots. I was dissuaded from 35mm for the longest time because it never dried without water spots and streaks. Minute or so twirling around in PhotoFlo and they're clean every time. I soak old spotty strips from before I used PhotoFlo for 20 minutes in a measuring cup. Cleans them pretty well too!
Shot 6 images with my 4x5 only to find I hadn't actually loaded any sheets. I had just put the slides in the wrong way making me think there was film in there. Fixed it by putting tape on each side of the holder only when I actually loaded film. I would then write the type and iso of the film on the tape. I then remove the tape when the sheets are put in the Stearman tank. No tape no film
I remember one time I was visiting in Vienna and had my Leica M4-P which usually are very easy to load correctly. On one outing I had loaded in film and must not have done the usual check on the rewind knob. I spent about 3 hours walking about and taking photos. When I got to 40 I realized what must have happened. When I opened the back the film hadn't advanced at all. I hadn't pulled the leader into the slotted spool correctly and it didn't catch. That is a pretty easy camera to load but one does/should check anyway. I suspect it won't be the last time either.
My mistakes: 1) Opening the camera back with film loaded, 2) Double exposures when forgetting to wide on to the next frame with old folders, 3) Developing color film as B&W, 4) Using exhausted developer.
Another way to get around the double exposure is to have a 'dump-pouch' and it's quite simple, a pouch or compartment that is for the used film rolls that IS IN A DIFFERENT PLACE TO THE FRESH FILM
I have quite a few different film cameras and I sometimes forget which ones have been loaded with film and which haven't. So my top tip would be to stick a piece of the film carton with the film speed on the back of the camera, or failing that a piece of card just to identify what is inside.
In the community post you asked us about our "one" most common mistake. So I didn't mention another of my more common mistakes. I really like my Leitz collapsible 50mm lens. And have shot more than one roll of film without extending the lens... Thankfully, not more than 4 rolls over the decades but learning to slow down just a bit has definitely helped with that. :) These days, I basically treat all my chemistry as single use, so I mix what I need for each developing session. So I do not worry too much about knackered chemistry. And I load my tanks in a changing bag but do everything else in my kitchen so I don't have to try to read bottle labels in the dark.
Been using film for 40 years. Went out last week with a recently purchased GA 645zi. Having a lovely time I was. Got to picture no 10, and realised I had not removed the lens cap.
I started folding the leader after exposing a roll of 35 mm film many years back as a way to mark it. Or ripping off a piece of the leader. But nowadays I mostly spool the leader into the can (with some cameras it is just to hard to detect how much of the leader is still outside the canister). Good tips from start to finish! Edit: Leaving the lens cap on is still a mistake I do; or, now that I shoot 4x5 - leaving the dark slide in place when waiting for the shot and forgetting to take it out prior to exposing the film (this one is rather obvious the moment you want to put it back in, but the opportunity for the shot might be gone).
Nicely done. I expect anyone who has shot film on a regular basis knows most, if not all of these. Blobs, scratches, hairs, dots etc. on negatives are a bloody nuisance and despite being VERY careful, I still sometimes get them. Those long scratches right through the whole roll are a right Royal PIA, especially when you have done all you can to avoid then. I think like you suggest, blowing out inside the camera body before you load is a good idea. I also blow into the film canister light trap as I gently pull out the film leader before loading. Those scratches most likley come from a bit of grit in the trap during the exposures (i.e unwinding), or when you rewind. More likely the latter, as if it was during unwinding you would think it would come out as the film comes out the can. You could do a series like this on darkroom cock-ups too. A few for starters - paper up the wrong way, not stopping the lens down after focussing (how many sheets have gone in the bin 'cos of that one!), turning the light on to see how your print is developing, oh, and opening the door and letting all the dark out! Arhh!
one I've done a lot is with those little shoe mounted meters, finding the exposure on the meter then forgetting to adjust the camera. also nearly made a mistake with my new bronica the other day, forgetting it takes 2 turns off the crank per frame and opening the back with only half the paper taken up, though it was still enough to protect the film.
Think you nailed the top 10 there :o) You showed the clip test for developer, but not for the fixer, might be worth doing a tube on clip testing both developer & fixer. I was taught to clip test fixer from new. Just 'clip' a bit of the leader & dunk it into new fixer. Time how long it takes to clear, for example 2 minutes. The processed film should then be fixed for double this time, e.g. 4 minutes Clip test every time fixer is used. Gradually the clear time will get longer, e.g 3 minutes. In which case fix the processed film for 6 minutes. Eventually, when the clip test takes double that of when new, e.g. 4 minutes, fixer is getting stale and requires replacement. Many stop baths have a colour change to indicate when exhausted.
Great tutorial on very common issues for sure! I would add besides bubbles, If you're finding other artifacts on your film it can be from old chemicals that are crystalizing or particles in your tap water. If you suspect the water, try using distilled water for your rinse and for mixing chemicals.
Cheers Roger, I have a Pentax ME Super that is a bugger to load, I’ve had to go out and re take a full days shots. I’m new to developing and so far I have been lucky but I am sure I will succumb to one of the 10 at some point.
14:32 On a view camera, you would immediately see if the lens cap is attached, because you focus on the ground glass. I presume you meant viewfinder camera instead of view camera (= large format camera). And this immediately brings me to my worst mistake ever since I call film photography my hobby. After buying a 35 mm SLR (Nikon FE) and a medium format SLR (Hasselblad 500C), I wanted to go all in, bought a 4x5 inch large format camera, a lens, five film holders and a pack of Fuji Velvia 50 sheet film (back in 2012, it was expensive but not yet ‚sell your kidney on the black market‘ expensive). And I read that I have to load the film into the film holder with the notch in the top right corner. But being accustomed to landscape orientation being the standard, I assumend (incorrectly) that this means you need to hold the holder in landscape with the opening to the right, so that you can put the film in with your right hand, notches top right. And of course this means: If you rotate the holder counterclockwise by 90° into the correct loading position, the notches are now in the top left corner. I shot 10 sheets of really expensive Velvia, then paid a special lab for hand developing, only to get 10 sheets which had been exposed from the backside through the carrier. I have to admit: This is probably NOT among the top 10 most common mistakes. But it was my biggest failure.
Yep, every one of them at one time or another. Most annoying to have to re-climb a hill in the gloaming because you'd had a lovely relaxed day taking shots on a non-advancing film. I actually hold my leader now and rewind the canister by hand to eliminate slack before putting it in the camera. There's a certain smugness to watching that rewind arm going round as you advance two shots knowing you've probably still got a spare one out of the roll.
Thankfully being a SLR user, the lens cap is never an issue. However, you really have to watch the ASA settings. When I used to do weddings, I always used 400 ASA film to ensure I never messed up. 120 Fujicolour produced beautiful 10x8 prints for the album and sticking the one film saved any embarrassment. Forgetting to change the ASA is such a simple mistake to make when under pressure and in a hurry. I enjoyed the video, bulk 35mm film, you need to be very aware of cleanliness, it is after all next to Godliness.
So happy you are telling your mistakes. It helps me a lot. My last mistake was that the back of my Zenit 3m fell open after taken a shot. All the shots I've taken on that film gone! Not happy. I should check the clasp (is that how you call it) of the back each time of this Sovjet camera.
Great video Roger, funilly enough I have recently been getting the strange round marks on my negatives and couldn''t find the cause in any books, now I know it's bubbles in the developer, thanks to this video. other common mistakes on large format are taking the wrong dark slide out thus exposing the film through the ground glass side, also not closing the shutter after focusing and only rremembeering once the film holder is ini place and you haave taken the dark slide outt.........
My the worst ever... demonstrating how to develop film to my camera club. I shot a film at one meeting, and before the next meeting I loaded it into spiral and put it in the tank ready. After all, watching somebody load film in a changing bag isn't informative or interesting. I had a gash roll of film to show the club how to load it onto a spiral, which I would do in daylight. I popped that into another tank ready to demonstrate. I started the demo by taking the lid off the wrong tank! So I had to go through the whole "this is how you develop film" demo knowing the entire film would be black at the end. It's the only time I've not had pictures of some sort at the end of development in 45 years of film work, but I'll never be allowed to forget it!
Flat and thin are two completely different things. Flat is when the roll is underdeveloped. Can sometimes be be done as an alternative to pulling, if you don’t want to overexpose. Thin is underexposed. Again can en done on purpose instead of push development if you don’t want the contrast. Thin *and* flat is a disaster almost always.
I taped a 8-10 inch piece of parachute cord to my Holga lens cap. If i'm dumb enough not to notice the red camera fumunchu while checking settings, I will see the red string in the viewfinder.
Forgetting to focus... 🤣 Sounds silly but on a viewfinder-only guess-to-focus camera I've got too many great exposures on very blurry subjects. Apparently it's not as hard to remember to meter when there's another device to use. On the plus side, folding cameras don't have a lens cap to use or lose.
Shooting with my 6x9 Mamiya Press and forgetting to take the darkslide out, put a new roll in the camera and then finding out after half a roll of film that I forgot the darkslide again. Some days....
Roger I have a 120 rolfilm mistake tip for you . On my Mamiya RB67 and M645 insert I can load the rolfilm in the wrong way without seeing it at the startmark . You can make all your "photo's" on the backingpaper ...... The exposed film lookes normal , but after the development it is $%$^&&^%%$$#@!! time in the darkroom .
I've found a way not to re-load a film that I've already shot. I always have my swiss army knife with me, and it has a pair of scissors on it, so I cut the "tongue" of the film off so it's ready for loading onto the developing spiral. (Keith)
Ilfosol 3 and Ilfostop are sold in the same size bottles with similar looking labels, and I once picked up the stop thinking that it was developer... ooops. Suffice to say, that my bottles are now covered in sticky labels and felt pen as soon as I buy them
I did the same with LC29. I knew that my developer was going yellow, so the colour didn’t tip me off. Luckily though, the smell did and I didn’t use it.
Very interesting channel, thank you very much! I look with pleasure. Please tell us how you make parallax correction when cropping when you take pictures with rangefinder cameras without such correction devices. Thank you!
Most if not all of these mistakes can be avoided if you: 1. shoot with an SLR with autoload, autofocus and auto exposure 2. send your films to a lab for processing. Just make sure you run a test roll through any camera you buy and always get your negatives back from the lab.
I've had autoload screw up, autofocus not focus on the correct subject, and auto exposure not expose correctly. I've also had labs screw up film (though not often; maybe twice in my lifetime). Moral of the story is, nothing is foolproof; take your time, because haste makes waste.
@@scottplumer3668 I know, I know. I've lost some photos due to a faulty shutter or meter, and my lab also screved up a couple of rolls (still salvageable though). Still, this approach eliminates as many user errors as possible.
Let's see for me .... --Loading errors : Not yet 😛 / -- Half Frame : Happened once but anyway the last shot was blurry and not interessting / --Double Exposures and Blank Negs : Not Yet / --Thin Negative : Happened recently but for Color dev. and yeah it was my developper that was shot / -- Scratches : Happens 1 time out of 2 , the famous long line but i didn't found the problem yet / --Dense Neg. : Happens sometimes , especially when my Developper is fresh --Marks : 1 time out of 2 , and it's ALWAYS during the loading in the tank especally with 36 exp. films ,the film gets jammed halfway i must Re-do the whole thing by inserting the end of the film first instead of the begining , usually the loading's getting better this way --Fixer : Not a Problem , because i develop with Cinsetill DF96 ... So , Dev & Fix in the same bottle ... yeah i know , some folks hates that ''all in one'' developpers but up to now , i didn't had any major problems with it , so i'll stay with that . --Lens Cap : Not yet , anyway i only have SLRs and i notice it quickly when i look in my viewfinder and see nothing. 😝 And for the image examples (on the ''Marks'' part) , i have the same book (but in french) , and i consult it when i encounter some problems with my photos or my dev.
Great video, glad it's not just me that makes stupid mistakes! 🤣🤣 Just a quick question, I'm new to developing so bare with me. I've just developed two HP5 films, both shit in the same camera(Eos 650) within a few days of each other and stored together. When developed in the same tank at the same time, one came out with bromide marks and the other didn't. Any ideas?
Murphy's law: "If it can go wrong, it will". We all mess up from time to time. Folding the leader over is a good practice, alternately you can tear the tongue off. When you (or the lab) develop the film it gets cut off anyway.
I tend to see a lot of white spots on my negatives when I scan them. is that chemical process or not drying the negative properly. Send mine to the lab.
I have a big question :).. So film is rolled onto the spool 120 or into canister 35 mm and when un rolled it tends to want to curl up in the direction it was spooled or rolled onto the spools.. I was told you should roll the film into your develop tanks spools in the same direction.. Something about the direction of the emulsion or something needs to be facing a special way.. I find this kinda strange to swallow because the spool creates a gap between the film so the chems can reach both sides of the film anyway.. Can you tell me if you have tried developing film in either direction and does it really matter what direction the film is loaded onto the development tanks spool?
Hi! I made my first darkroom and used it for the first time last week. After drying the prints they turned pink! Not just the borders but the full picture. I cant find anything about it… do you know what might cause this? Thanks!
Forgetting to check the internal exposure light ie red, green. Forgetting to wind on the film on my zeiss icon nettar, opening the camera door then realising there's unfinished film inside 🤦♂️📷
You don't fix first if you're mixing caffenol fresh in a jug and keeping your fix in a glass bottle for a week... It might be more of an issue when i move on to pyro or.metol.base though.
