Why did my film camera rewind early?
Point-and-shoot from the late nineties. Eight frames into a roll of 36 it whirred and rewound the whole thing into the canister. Second time it has happened, both times in the last fortnight, both times outdoors in the cold.
Are the eight shots I took gone, and what do I do with the roll now? And is a camera that does this twice worth taking to a repair shop?
@tension_not_counting · 2h ago · 2 replies
The eight frames are almost certainly fine. They were exposed normally and the film has just been wound back into the canister, which is what happens at the end of any roll. Get it developed and tell the lab it rewound early so a mostly blank roll does not surprise them. Do not reload it and shoot again unless you know how to handle a partial roll, or you get double exposures and light leaks.
As for why: most motorised cameras do not count to 36 and stop. They detect the end by tension, so anything that makes the film resist reads as end of roll.
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@eight_shots_in · 35m ago
Both times in the cold is suspicious then. Batteries rather than the camera?
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