Removing film from OM2n - something's gone wrong :((

southernjessie

southernjessie

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I just finished using a roll of Velvia in my OM-2n yesterday - it said 'E' on the counter so I was confident that the roll had finished.

Probably due to me never using an OM camera before but I just wound the small winder on the top left so there was no more movement (it did seem to be 'caught' though), went to a room that was dark and flipped open the back. The film had come off the spool and was on the right hand side, with the end ripped a bit. The spool on the left was empty and just fell out!

I must have done something wrong (obviously) but I never had this problem with my Olympus Trip.

I used the Velvia for about 4-5 weeks and now fear the whole film might be ruined. Even if it isn't, how can it be removed from the camera (the right and side) without ruining it?

Should I take the camera with film still inside to a film developing place and hope that they can do something? Any recommendations (I'm in central London)?
 
There is a small knob above the self timer mechanism marked with 'OM2-N' on one side and 'R' on the other. You are meant to turn it to the 'R' position before rewinding, as this disengages the winder's drive sprockets. If you don't do that, then when you turn the rewind crank it rips the film off the pay off spool. It sounds like that's what happened.

Some of the frames on your film will be ruined and maybe all of them will be fogged to some extent along the edges, it's really hard to guess the outcome.
 
Thank Nick. Sounds like I've been a dumb a$$ :( Do you think any film processing store will be able to get the film out? Or will it be a waste of time?
 
If you haven't opened the back in the light then it should be o.k. It really depends on how dark your 'room that was dark' actually was.

Most (hopefully all) film processors will have a changing bag so they should be able to remove it o.k.


Steve.
 
I think a good old fashioned store would be able to. I wouldn't trust a supermarket mini-lab operator to do it in case they poked their fingers through the shutter. I would do it myself in a changing bag and put the film into a black film pot. Without a changing bag I think I'd do it in a dark bedroom/cupboard/coal cellar at night. You would then have to find a processor who could deal with the film arriving out of its cassette. Sorry I haven't any definitive answers for you.
 
If you were in a dark room but you could still see the problem then I'd say it wasn't dark enough.
 
Thanks everyone. I think I'll just have to put this down to inexperience. It's just a shame since Velvia is expensive but also I've been using the roll for a few weeks so I'll lose all the pics I took (most of which I cannot remember what I took!).
 
Don't give up! Try taking the camera in to somewhere like Genie Imaging (who have the lowest cost E6 process plus medium scan, AFAIK).
Genie Imaging Ltd
  • Unit D4
    Jaggard Way
    London
    SW12 8SG
  • Tel: 020 8772 1700
 
Great - thanks Chris! I'll take the whole camera to them and keep my fingers crossed. I just feel angry with myself for not reading the manual first and thought it would be like the Trip.
 
Unless you live near Wandsworth, it's probably easier to take it to West End Cameras (in Warren Street) or perhaps somewhere like Silverprint in SE1 (near Elephant & Castle).
 
I'm not sure if WEC do slide film (according to their website). I can get to Wandsworth by train in about 25 mins from home so shouldn't be too much trouble.
 
If the film stayed tightly wound on the right-hand spool when you opened the back, the fogging should only affect the first few frames and the rest should be salvagable. Any decent camera shop or film lab should be able to get the film safely out of the camera without damaging it, so it's well worth trying.
 
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