Is this film salvageable?

[Patrick Barry]

Hi all,

 

We're shooting a film project here in Florida. Shooting 16mm black and white reversal. Don't have a lot of money for film, putting most of it on my credit card.

 

Which leads me to my question - once when I was changing a mag, my brain must have been fried and I opened an unexposed can of film in daylight. But it was only out of the can for about 5-10 seconds before I realized what I was doing. I never opened the bag.

 

My question is - is this salvageable? Can I shoot a few pickup shots on it? Is the interior bag Kodak uses light proof?

 

Thanks all for your expertise,

 

Pb

[K Borowski]

Yes, unless you opened the can up-side down. THe black bags are light-proof. Cans are often opened in subdued light in some labs.

 

Industry standard practice is to keep the bag in the can and keep the bag securely wrapped around the film so no light can leak in. . .

 

 

 

 

Of course, if the bag was up-side down, bright, direct sunlight, uncrumpled, light could have leaked in.

[Charles MacDonald]

But it was only out of the can for about 5-10 seconds before I realized what I was doing. I never opened the bag.

 

My question is - is this salvageable?

 

"Should be ok if the bag was not opened in any way. getting the lab to do a clip test of the first 5-10 feet would rule out about 50% of the possibility of damage. (IE if it passes the clip test you have a 50% chance of having usable film, -- if it fails you know you have a roll of leader.)

 

Problem I am picturing is a small amount of open space, which fogs the roll only near the core. - Might sneak by the clip test.

 

Good news is that if it is only fogged on the perf area or the soundtrack area and you are using STANDARD 16 (Not Super 16 or ULtra 16) you might get away with some fog.

 

I would reserve it for pickup shots and "optional" scenes that you can afford to loose, or try shots that you can conveniently re-do if needed.(as if there are ever any of those)

[John Sprung]

Since the bags open at one edge, it's hard to imagine it fogging only near the core. Even if it did, it would only be the edge. If it passes the clip test, go ahead and use it.

 

 

 

 

 

-- J.S.

[Patrick Barry]

Thanks guys for all the responses. I appreciate it!

[K Borowski]

Any time Patrick. Hope we set you upon the path towards making the right decision. . .