I finally realized I was loading my film backwards for 2 years

I was shooting a roll of Tri-X last month and kept getting blank frames, so I asked the guy at the photo lab what gives. He showed me the leader was on the wrong spool and I had been loading the whole time with the emulsion facing out. Has anyone else had a stupid film loading habit that took way too long to figure out?

2 comments

2 Comments

verab2828d ago

A quick correction on that, because it might save you some future trouble. The film's emulsion actually faces the lens when loaded correctly; if it faces out as you described, the light has to go through the film base first, which can cause a soft, slightly fogged look even if you do get an image. You likely weren't getting completely blank frames, just very faint or hazy ones that looked blank next to a proper negative. The leader being on the wrong spool is an easy mistake, especially with the old metal reels in a changing bag. I did something similar years ago with a bulk loader and spent a whole weekend wondering why my contact sheets looked like muddy puddles. Once you get the hang of that little emulsion curl feeling, it becomes second nature.

jessicamiller27d agoOG Member

Honestly I gotta push back on this a bit. That whole "emulsion facing the lens" thing gets way overblown. I've loaded film backwards before and still got perfectly fine shots, just with a slightly different look. The whole idea that the light has to go through the base and that causes fogging is more of an old wives' tale than a real issue for most people. Film is designed to be pretty forgiving, and modern emulsions especially can handle that kind of mistake without turning your whole roll into mud. The real problem with loading wrong is usually mechanical, like getting the leader caught on the take-up spool or not advancing the film at all. I mean, if you're getting blank frames, it's way more likely you just weren't winding the film on properly. The lab tech probably just gave you a generic answer to sound knowledgeable.