Film Stupid Medium Format Film Question (don't laugh)

bobbywise

Regular
Location
Nantes, France
Name
Robert Wisbey
Hi,

I use digital and 35 mm film.
I just got a couple of Fuji rangefinder medium format film cameras (GW690iii and GSW690iii), and have read up on loading the film etc. , plus some YouTube videos.

So here's my stupid question : when I remove the film, why won't it get overexposed by the ambient light (it's not like 35 mm where you rewind it back into its canister, and I wouldn't think it would be light proof left rolled up) ?

With Well Wishes,

Rob
 
Medium format film has a light-tight black backing material to it, and you're winding it onto a spool with tall round "ends" that protect the edges of the film. So when you expose the last shot, you wind and wind and wind (so that your exposure gets covered by a new layer of film), then you open the camera and use the little tab of tape to seal it closed to itself. Now, it's a roll of black light-proof backing material on the outside, and black plastic spool ends.

35mm film is just the film itself. Medium format has the backing paper.
 
Thanks Kyle,

I understand that you keep rolling it up, then stick it down when you take it out.
But the physicist in me is thinking that the photons of ambient light are of a small enough wavelength to get inside the thin gaps of a tightly rolled film of medium format film :)

I guess it's ok :)
 
I had a GW670, with that I had to open the back in subdued light. The spool never seemed to be wound tight enough. My 645 however was never a problem. Prepare yourself for the 690's shutter ! Let the seismic activity commence
 
I've seen the result of light leaks in 35mm cartridges, usually in the first and last frames. Static electricity can be a light-flash problem when separating film from a spool when tape has to be pulled off.
 
One time I had to open a film cassette at midday and sunshine because my first try to load it with 120 film led to a rip off the paper flag.
After this I could develop a lot of the film without exposure marks. I wouldn't recommend this or the change of film at direct sunshine but normally it's save.
The 120 film don't need to got rewinded in camera and is simpler to get it into a developing tank than a 35mm film, I think.
 
I've seen the result of light leaks in 35mm cartridges, usually in the first and last frames. Static electricity can be a light-flash problem when separating film from a spool when tape has to be pulled off.

Do tell how one gets light leaks from a 35mm cannister on the last frames of the roll.
 
Do tell how one gets light leaks from a 35mm cannister on the last frames of the roll.

In the field, if the canister leaks, all frames are equal along the edges. In the darkroom, with static electricity, anything goes. Been there many times.
 
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