I wanted to throw up a quick post to serve as a reminder to those shooting 120 film in bright conditions. I recently processed a roll of Kodak Portra 400 that I shot in the Mamiya RB67 ProSD. I had some light bleed through the backing paper, marking my photos.

Now we all know the recommended procedure is to load and unload 120 film in “subdued” light. I know that many of us may not strictly adhere to these instructions all the time and yet I haven’t had any issues doing this in the past. Usually I will turn my back to the light to block direct sunlight hitting my film but in this case it didn’t help.

On several frames I had a mottled pattern from the paper showing through and on 2 you could clearly see the numbering from the paper.

Let this serve as a warning, it can happen! I will endeavor to be a little more careful in future loading and unloading to ensure this doesn’t happen again. Examples below!