My 8x10 transparencies have been destroyed

[Rory_5244]

Woe is me. After months of taking pictures and then sending up the pile via DHL, with warnings taped all over the box, "PHOTOGRAPHIC FILM", "DO NOT EXPOSE TO LIGHT", etc., I received a bunch of transparent sheets back from Calypso Imaging today. Some sheets have images that are barely discernible. Everything went so well last time with a FedEx/A&I combination. I can't believe it. I don't know who to blame or where the film may have been exposed. Did I do it? I rather doubt it: I'm pretty obsessed. I was touting how great 8x10 was just a couple days ago, now this. I think I'll crawl into a dark corner now and DIE.

[snuck]

Woe is me. After months of taking pictures and then sending up the pile via DHL, with warnings taped all over the box, "PHOTOGRAPHIC FILM", "DO NOT EXPOSE TO LIGHT", etc., I received a bunch of transparent sheets back from Calypso Imaging today. Some sheets have images that are barely discernible. Everything went so well last time with a FedEx/A&I combination. I can't believe it. I don't know who to blame or where the film may have been exposed. Did I do it? I rather doubt it: I'm pretty obsessed. I was touting how great 8x10 was just a couple days ago, now this. I think I'll crawl into a dark corner now and DIE.

Obviously someone from the department of homeland security didn't believe tha it was film. You have my condolences. This has nothing to do with the 8x10 format, and everything to do with shipping.
Cheers

[Ed Richards]

Were they fogged? Was it uniform? Was it all of them?

[Rory_5244]

Hi Ed,

They were all uniformly transparent, except for 2 (at the bottom of the box) that were also uniformly exposed, but not as much as the others. On those two I can see a very light, burned out image on the film. I wonder of DHL will accept liability. Probably not.

[Ben Hopson]

Wow! I just returned home after about six weeks on the road. I have a bunch of 4X5, 8X10 and 120 that needs to be processed and I was ready to send the color film to Calypso. I still will, but after reading your horror story I will be more concerned about it's safe handling in route. I have not had any problem using Fed X or UPS in the past and hope the trend continues.

Sorry about your loss.

[Capocheny]

Rory,

OUCH! You have my deepest sympathies and condolences!

How many sheets were there?

[In the future (Ben, you might want to take note ) you might want to divide up your films and send them at different times and dates.]

Any opportunities for re-shooting the images?

Cheers

[Rory_5244]

Thanks for the thoughts, everybody. You're all great.

[Ed Richards]

> They were all uniformly transparent, except for 2 (at the bottom of the box) that were also uniformly exposed, but not as much as the others. On those two I can see a very light, burned out image on the film. I wonder of DHL will accept liability. Probably not.

Does sound like they got hit with a pretty good dose. As for liability, how much did you insure them for? You might get the value of the film and processing back. Gives some pause when you think about mail order film, which most of us have to buy.

[Rory_5244]

Thanks, Ed. 20 sheets insured for $200. USD approx. (Kodak E100VS).

[John Hannon]

Rory, I am very sorry to hear about this. Do you think the film was zapped when it was mailed to you new or on the way to the lab?

I think the idea of dividing up a large shipment is a good one.

--John