# Oops... did I just expose my film? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 8, 2003, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oops-did-i-just-expose-my-film/159983 "2003-03-08T23:16:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kansas\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kansas\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kansas_Man)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2003, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oops-did-i-just-expose-my-film/159983/1 "2003-03-08T23:16:21Z")
I have a K1000 manual 35mm camera. I thought (falsely) that I have rewinded the film and I openned the case! I saw that the film was on the spool and immediately closed it. Apart from the film that was stretched out over the shutter, will the rest of the film (the part on the spool) be exposed? Is the whole roll messed up do you think? ---
**Author:** ![Davebear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@Davebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Davebear)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2003, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oops-did-i-just-expose-my-film/159983/2 "2003-03-08T23:18:42Z")
It’s probably not too bad, if you closed the camera that quickly. Some frames may show some light leakage, but you’ll probably get some that are fine. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2003, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oops-did-i-just-expose-my-film/159983/3 "2003-03-08T23:36:20Z")
Yes, some of the frames are ruined. But probably not all. I would develop them anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2003, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oops-did-i-just-expose-my-film/159983/4 "2003-03-08T23:44:46Z")
That’s why I like the 35mm cameras that wind the exposed film into the empty cannister. When you load the film, the first thing the camera does when you close the back, is to wind all the unexposed film out of the cannister onto the empty reel. As each frame is exposed, it is wound into the empty cannister. That way, if you accidently open the back without rewinding, you don’t lose all your pictures, as they are safe and sound inside the cannister, and the only thing you lose is the unexposed film. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2003, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oops-did-i-just-expose-my-film/159983/5 "2003-03-09T01:39:23Z")
The film on the take up spool is fairly tightly wound. You might still have useable negs. Especially since color neg film has an anti-hilation backing (removed in developing) intended to prevent light bouncing back into the film from the backside. As for the rewinding into the spool cameras, they are all fairly new and motorised. The older cameras followed the Leica standard and you rewound after the roll was finished. Easier mechanical design. ---
**Author:** ![Florentine\_Pogen\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Florentine\_Pogen\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Florentine_Pogen_1)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2003, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oops-did-i-just-expose-my-film/159983/6 "2003-03-09T02:37:13Z")
The light damage may even be able to be fixed if you develop your own film. As in overdeveloping to make it darker. ---
**Author:** ![Kansas\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kansas\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kansas_Man)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2003, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oops-did-i-just-expose-my-film/159983/7 "2003-03-09T03:36:19Z")
Thanks for all the replies. The concensus so far seems to be that most of the film should be okay, but might need to be overdevelopped. I probably should have mentioned this earlier, but the film is: – Fuji Neopan Professional (b&w) 1600 Since this film is more sensitve to light, does that mean that the film is more likely to be messed up than if it was a 200 film? ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2003, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oops-did-i-just-expose-my-film/159983/8 "2003-03-09T03:40:47Z")
unfortunately, yes