My film back popped open in the middle of a roll at the Grand Canyon

I was shooting a roll of Portra 400 on my Mamiya RB67 at the South Rim, trying to get the sunset light on the rocks. I heard a click and saw the dark slide slot was open, exposing maybe 10 frames. I closed it fast, finished the roll in the dark, and developed it myself. The last few shots had these wild light leaks that actually looked kind of cool. Has anyone salvaged a roll after a back failure like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

iris4411mo ago

My old Pentax K1000 back latch failed at a family reunion in 1998. I lost a whole roll of my cousin's wedding cake cutting to a huge streak of orange fog. I still have that ruined print in a box somewhere, the colors are all wrong but it's kind of a memory itself now.

wyattbennett1mo ago

Wow, that orange fog actually saved you from a boring photo album! @iris441, those messed up colors probably show the feeling of the day better than a perfect shot ever could. It's like the camera made its own memory on accident.

ivan87318d ago

Ngl, I had a similar thing happen with a beat up Mamiya C330 at a punk show. The back plate just gave out during some strobe lights and I lost half a roll of Ilford HP5. Developed it anyway and those frames looked like some demented disco ghost photos. The band actually asked to use one for their album art. Sometimes the camera wants to be an artist too, I guess.