How to: Unload your Film Camera!

As the first entry into our How-to guide, we thought we’d start with something useful such as: How to Unload your Film. If you’re new to film photography, we know how it feels to be super excited to get stuck in and start shooting, but there are always steps and overlooked challenges in the shooting process that can cause some stress along the way!

And let’s be honest, after you’ve shot your roll of film and you’re super excited to get your images back, you don’t want anything to come between you and your perfect shots!

There are some potential problems to consider when unloading your film, such as: torn or accidentally exposed film. This usually comes from issues such as the film release button not being pressed or the camera back being popped open too early. So we thought we’d put together a quick step-by-step easy-to-follow guide that you can reference if need be, once you’ve finished your first roll of film!

Lets Get to it!

Or Scroll to the bottom for our video guide

Step 1: Most SLR cameras will have a small button, located on the bottom of the body of the camera. Once you have found this button, push it in before starting winding back your film to allow your film to be wound back. Forgetting to push this button down will cause a lot of tension when you begin to rewind your film, which can lead to breakage or tearing.

Step 2: Then lift the small lever of the film rewind dial, once lifted begin to turn the rewind dial in a clockwise motion which will begin to wind your film back into the canister.

Step 3: Carry on rewinding clockwise until you feel a sudden loss of tension or a click, this will mean that all of the exposed film is back safely in your canister.

Step 4: Finally you can then lift the rewind lever and dial together, which will then open the back of the camera, with your film ready to be sent off for development!

We hope that these easy-to-follow steps will help anyone new to film avoid making any common mistakes to ensure the best results from your film photography!

If you have any questions about film or your camera, please drop us a message on IG - we're always happy to help!

And if you're ready to have your film developed, head over to see our film developing options & bundles