Any hope my film has not been destroyed?

[Michael_qrt]

Hi all, I recently bought some film from a member here and had it shipped to a shipping agent to be combined with other items and sent to me. One 'service' they provide is to take a few pictures of the package contents when it arrives. Anyway I almost fell off my chair yelling a stream of expletives when I saw the attached picture of the inner black plastic envelopes of Ilford film. So, is there any chance that these envelopes are sealed and light tight? The film is Ilford Delta 100 5x7.

75746

[Kirk Gittings]

Dumb-at best a 50/50 chance. Why did it go to a "shipping agent"? Was it an international shipment? Only way to know would be to test a sheet to see.

[Michael_qrt]

Yes, it's for international shipment. You can save a lot on shipping costs if you buy things regularly (more than the cost of this film, though it certainly dents the savings). The obvious downside is you have some dumb guy rifling through your stuff. I'll obviously test the film, but my bet is it's toast. The above picture is clearly with flash and that's a lot of light to get in the cracks.

[Brian Ellis]

I've read somewhere that the black plastic is light tight by itself, i.e. you don't need the box and other packing materials. If this is correct there's probably a chance it's o.k., how good a chance I don't know. Obviously you should just try a sheet and see.

[Michael_qrt]

Brian, I'm sure the black plastic is light tight but it's not clear whether the plastic envelopes are properly sealed or have open ends that are just folded over. I havn't used ilford sheet film before so I don't know how it's packaged.

[Brian Ellis]

Brian, I'm sure the black plastic is light tight but it's not clear whether the plastic envelopes are properly sealed or have open ends that are just folded over. I havn't used ilford sheet film before so I don't know how it's packaged.

Maybe it's time to try a sheet and find out.

[Michael_qrt]

Maybe it's time to try a sheet and find out.

Haha, will try it as soon as i get it, though that could be a few more weeks.

[Tobias Key]

I think you should contact the shipping agent as soon as possible and explain the error - I would be inclined to refuse delivery of it.

[E. von Hoegh]

I think you should contact the shipping agent as soon as possible and explain the error - I would be inclined to refuse delivery of it.

Ditto. The item has been mishandled, and in a properly ordered universe they (shipping agent) should be liable.

Good luck!

[Michael Cienfuegos]

That shipping agent must have been trained by the TSA. :(

[Oren Grad]

Brian, I'm sure the black plastic is light tight but it's not clear whether the plastic envelopes are properly sealed or have open ends that are just folded over. I havn't used ilford sheet film before so I don't know how it's packaged.

Open ends that are folded over. Sorry... :(

[John Olsen]

Test from the middle of the stack. The top sheets may have protected the lower ones. At least that's been my own experience with enlarger paper when I've suffered from brain failure. My condolences in any case.

[E. von Hoegh]

That shipping agent must have been trained by the TSA. :(

Who are in turn trained by Burger King.

[B.S.Kumar]

One 'service' they provide is to take a few pictures of the package contents when it arrives.


Was it sent that way, or did the agent remove it from the sealed envelope? Was the package clearly marked "Film. Do not open."?

Kumar

[W K Longcor]

Maybe the agent was really good at his job and opened the envelopes to count the sheets to make sure they were all there!:(

[BetterSense]

In my experience the black bags are light tight, and you can get away with a lot in terms of unfolding the ends. In other words, if the ends stayed mostly folded oven, the film will be fine.

Also, when film is stacked up, the sheets in the middle are pretty safe. So I would definitely test it; you might lose the sheets from the ends, and the middle may only have a slight fogging around the edge which is typically blocked by the film holder anyway.

[E. von Hoegh]

In my experience the black bags are light tight, and you can get away with a lot in terms of unfolding the ends. In other words, if the ends stayed mostly folded oven, the film will be fine.

Also, when film is stacked up, the sheets in the middle are pretty safe. So I would definitely test it; you might lose the sheets from the ends, and the middle may only have a slight fogging around the edge which is typically blocked by the film holder anyway.

The problem is, the dumbass probably took the film out of the envelopes. Why people can't get it through their hatracks that film is light-sensitive will always elude me.
He paid for unexposed film. He should get it, without a trace of fog on any sheet. It will be a miracle if the film isn't ruined.

[Andrew O'Neill]

They look like they have been opened. Ilford doesn't seal them.

[Michael_qrt]

OK, so Ilford doesn't seal the plastic envelopes. Hopefully the ends were left folded over, it seems some have had luck before in this case. As I said I'll test the film when I receive it and post the results here.

The film was sent in the normal Ilford film box (they also provided a picture of this, which would have been great if that's all they did), which obviously says photographic film all over it. I'm contacting the shipping agent about it but ultimately I may not have much recourse if they don't want to do anything about it.

Thanks for all the responses, I think I'm annoyed just as much about the waste of materials as I am about the financial loss.

[Ian David]

Yeah, your problem is not that the black plastic bags were taken out of the boxes. Rather, if they took the bags out of the boxes to check contents, you can bet that they also opened the bags. I will eat my hat if your film is not significantly fogged...

[sepstein17]

I'm betting on it being TOAST...think he may have been nosy enough to see exactly what he was consolidating...

[mdm]

I have used a parcel forwarder to ship xray film to me. They did not open the package because they were just forwarding it without consolidating orders. cxs does not ship overseas and 11x14 xray is not available locally. If its new ilford film they would have broken the seals on the box to get it open. Its one thing to check that everything is in a parcel but something else entirely to break the seals on a box.

[Pawlowski6132]

I'm sure they opened the bag and pulled the film out to see what was in there.

[Louis Pacilla]

I think you should contact the shipping agent as soon as possible and explain the error - I would be inclined to refuse delivery of it.


Ditto. The item has been mishandled, and in a properly ordered universe they (shipping agent) should be liable.

Good luck!

I agree with these fine gentlemen.

[Louis Pacilla]

I'm sure they opened the bag and pulled the film out to see what was in there.

Yep.

[E. von Hoegh]

You know, evil is inherently limited. But stupidity... stupidity is infinite.

[rguinter]

You know, evil is inherently limited. But stupidity... stupidity is infinite.

As the old adage says, "You just can't fix stupid!"

But my guess is the film is probably OK unless the film stack inside each black-plastic envelope was taken out and separated from the protective end-boards (i.e., cardboards).

Just my hunch.

Bob G.

[Michael_qrt]

Lots of responses, thanks chiming in everyone, at least I've gotten something for my misfortune. My take on the situation is that the guy quickly rifles through the packages taking a few snaps, obviously without any real thought. I doubt he would have taken the film out of the plastic package, my hope is that he was rushing through it enough that he wasn't bothered to unfold the ends of the packet and look in. If that is the case then judging from the responses here, the film might be of at least some use. I live in hope...

BTW the film box was previously opened and half used, so it wasn't sealed. I've contacted the shipping agent and am awaiting their response.

[IanG]

You need to assume the worst, if by any chance it's undamaged that's a bonus.

Ian

[Michael_qrt]

Well, there's been quite a delay since I last replied to this thread, I just got time to test the film. I tested 3 sheets, one from the top, bottom and middle of the top envelope (box had 2 envelopes of 25 sheets). Much to my surprise they were all 100% fine, no fogging at all. I guess I got rather lucky. No scanner at the moment and just took some boring test shots so you'll just have to believe me.

Still have to test the second envelope, maybe that was opened and the film ruined but so far so good!

[saviour100]

Well, there's been quite a delay since I last replied to this thread, I just got time to test the film. I tested 3 sheets, one from the top, bottom and middle of the top envelope (box had 2 envelopes of 25 sheets). Much to my surprise they were all 100% fine, no fogging at all. I guess I got rather lucky. No scanner at the moment and just took some boring test shots so you'll just have to believe me.

Still have to test the second envelope, maybe that was opened and the film ruined but so far so good!

Hope your second batch is all ok too.