Erv Loc: Medina Ohio

LOL!!! We could start a club!!!!:)

Mikeazz Loc: I live in Northport, NY

Thank goodness it never happened to me because a Newsday photographer taught me to put up the rewind handle, and to make sure it turned every time you advanced the film, on the load sprocket. I always advanced it one extra turn, just as "insurance" to make sure the film was loading correctly.

However, a friend of mine, who had a wedding business, mentioned to his "second shooter" that he was getting 40 pictures out of his 36 exposure roll! The shooter looked at him, and said that's impossible! Long story short, the only photos of the wedding, were from his second shooter. The owner, however, had to tell the bride that none of the portraits and home shots came out, and would have to take them again. Needless to say, the couple wasn't happy. The owner lost a lot of business because of the situation, and started to use his second shooter at every stage of the wedding.

I had a successful wedding photography business, back then, but decided to quit while I was ahead. I was always nervous about getting the film back from the lab because in those days, you didn't know how the photos were going to look. Luckily they always turned out fine, but the pressure of possibly messing up a person's wedding was something I never wanted to have to deal with. Today digital, solves at least that aspect of shooting a wedding.

bpulv Loc: Buena Park, CA

Larry,

You didn't say what kind of digital camera you use but, if your camera has a display mode that allows you to view the histogram, you should learn to use it every time you change lighting. It will always give you information on the status of your exposure.

Geegee Loc: Peterborough, Ont.

I got into a good habit right away when I bought my Leica M3 back in 1956. After inserting the leader onto the take-up spool and sliding the cassette and spool into the bottom of the camera, I always turned the rewind knob to tension the film and watched it rotate while I advanced the film two frames to the first exposure. I used that camera for forty years and never had a problem. I guess it was a good habit and not just good luck.

toxdoc42

I also remember taking some "fabulous photos" and then realizing the film was not advancing. After that episode, I made sure that I used the rewind knob on my Nikon until it felt tight, and wasted the first photo, actually I would shoot a colorchip/neutral grey card, at the beginning of every roll, to be sure I had the film set up correctly. I often "rolled my own," and sometimes did exceed the 24 or 36 on a roll standard. Today, the camera is supposed to tell you if you forgot to load a card!

Georgews Loc: Wellington, New Zealand

Was at a friend's wedding taking some photos and the 'pro' was getting pissed at me. But two days later he called to see if I had anything decent. He had 2 cameras on the day - one he forgot to load and the shutter on the other died so guess how many photos he got! He learned the hard way - while I laughed all the way to the bank.

halraiser

Years ago I took my brother up Mt St Helens. Now you should understand that this brother went on a mission to Japan for the Church of Jesus Christ of Later-day Saints (Mormon) and he had picked up some of the Japanese stereotype photography habits so he was snapping gobs of pictures as we ascended. Then as we approached the summit he suddenly realized that he had no film in his camera. I guess it saved him development expense since it in the days before digital.

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

I have a Pentax k1000 that I used extensively back in the day. I happily never ran into that problem though.

TheShoe Loc: Lacey, WA

Similar is not the same - My first camera was an Olympus OM1-MD, a beautiful piece of equipment. When the count reached 38 on a 36 frame roll, I was not too worried because I had frequently gotten an extra frame. I started worrying when it went to 40 and checked to see if the spool was turning. It wasn't, so I opened the camera inside a black bag and found that the film had spooled entirely off of the reel. I wound it onto a different reel inside the bag and put it into a black canister and took it to my friendly developer. It turned out that there were only about ten frames worth of film on what was supposedly a 36 frame roll, and it had not been firmly attached to the spool. I had 10 good frames and 30 virtual ones. At least the first 10 frames were exposed.

Mr Bill 2011 Loc: southern Indiana

I learned early on with my 35mm Minolta SLR to hold the cassette in my hand while i threaded the leader thru the slit in the take up reel, then made a few winds of the leader onto the reel before I placed the cassette in the camera and tensioned the film. Only then would I close the camera back and wind the film, watching that the rewind crank turned like it should. Never had a problem, and it was apparent when rewinding the film when the film pulled free from the take up reel because there was a noticeable loss in tension.

aaciolkowski Loc: Sugar Grove Illinois

I had a system set up so I couldn’t make a mistake but I still did

Bri Loc: NZ

Several decades ago on a cruise in the Pacific I noticed I had 27 shots taken, oh well must be a 36 film so carried on. It soon became obvious there was a problem so crawled into the sleeping bag to investigate to find the winder was broken and the film was not moving.
So here I am at the beginning of a six month cruise, and the nearest camera shop several months away.
Several weeks later I anchored at an island to be greeted by an American accent "do you realise you are unauthorised personnel on a US military establishment"
This a supposedly British Island. Anyway to cut a long story short I did stay the night and before I left the following day after taking on 25 gallons of water from the desalination plant a guy approached and said "you are going to be visiting places I will never get to. Take this camera and film and send me the photos when you can. I do not want the camera back" What a godsend, made that voyage.

wanderingbear Loc: San Diego

It has happened to EVERY photographer at ( hopefully) only one time.

The Bear

RCJets Loc: Virginia

Same thing happened to me in 1967 in Bangkok. I was there for a short R & R leave from Vietnam and had my Topcon RE Super 35 mm. My small group was on a river tour of some local canals which had lots of local vendors selling their stuff from their boats. Our guide told us to get ready for some very colorful shots as we neared a turn in the narrow canal. I quickly reloaded my camera with a 35 Exposure roll. As the scene came into view, the colors were mind blowing! Lots of small sampans with racks of silk fabric that must have continued for over fifty yards. The colors were everything our guide said they would be and more. When my shot counter got to 37 exposures and still advanced to 38 I knew I had lost my only chance for the shot of a lifetime. That scene could have been in Nat Geo. I can still visualize that scene in my head.

I don't have that problem now with my DSLR.

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

Even my last film cameras, a clamshell Olympus and a Canon EOS Elan, automatically loaded themselves and told me if they had failed.