How can I reuse a roll of Aps Film?

Question

Hello 👋🏻, I just got back into film and purchased a Nikon Pronea S And it takes APS film which I found cool to use again. My issue is that I’m trying to figure out if my camera is defective and if I’m able to rewind the cartridge back to the beginning.

Today I loaded an expired roll of (Voigtländer) Vxg200 (40exposures) And after a few shots I’d say maybe 5 the camera rewound itself and marked it as fully exposed #3

A few conditions I want to share to give you all a better (guess) one of the two batteries 🔋 weren’t new. It had life but not new.
It’s really cold out today. Camera was purchased from eBay with seller notes 📝 in working condition!

I would like to salvage this roll but I have no idea how to reuse this roll in my Fuji point and shoot, can I do that? And do you think there might be an issue with the camera itself?

Answer 1

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.