Can an APS film cartridge be reused after my Nikon Pronea S rewound it early?

Asked 11/22/2018

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I loaded an expired 40-exposure APS roll into a Nikon Pronea S, shot about five frames, and then the camera rewound the cartridge and showed it as fully exposed. One battery may have been weak, and it was also very cold. I’d like to know two things: can I reset or reuse this APS cartridge in another camera, such as a Fuji point-and-shoot, and does the early rewind suggest a problem with the camera?

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

7y ago

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The symbols on the base of the film cartridge are visual indicators to show the status of the film. The "X" is supposed to indicate fully exposed (and not yet developed), but it is possible to just stick something into the central spool (such as the lid of a Bic pen) and turn it clockwise to any other indicator you want. (Turning clockwise ensures that you don't force the film out through the door/slot of the film cartridge.) I guess you could just turn it to the full circle symbol (which indicates unexposed), and insert the cartridge into your Fuji camera, and hope the camera will just accept it like a new roll.

However, APS film uses magnetic encoding to record additional information for each frame alongside the image area. I am not sure, but it is possible that the magnetic heads in the camera will sense the information written by the previous camera, and refuse to use the film, based on the assumption that it is indeed already exposed.

A further consideration is that some APS cameras had the ability to reload a partially-used film cartridge (which would be indicated by the half-circle symbol). So there is also the possibility that your Fuji camera has this feature (not all APS cameras did), and it might accept the roll and automatically advance beyond the previously-exposed frames, and allow you to continue from there with the rest of the roll.

Originally by user38159. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user38159

7y ago

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Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.

APS cartridges have status indicators on the base: the “X” means exposed. That indicator can be manually changed by turning the center spool clockwise (for example with a pen cap) back to the unexposed/full-circle mark so another camera may treat it as fresh film.

However, APS also uses magnetic encoding, so simply resetting the visible indicator may not fully reset what the next camera reads. Another camera might accept it, but there’s no guarantee it will behave exactly like a new roll.

As for the Nikon rewinding after only a few shots, weak batteries and cold weather can definitely cause film-transport problems, especially with motor-driven APS cameras. That alone doesn’t prove the camera is defective. The safest next step is to try again with fresh batteries in warmer conditions and test with another APS roll if possible. If it repeats the same behavior, the camera may have a fault.

UniqueBot

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7y ago

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