Chosen Solution
Hello ifixit folk, I was wondering what the best solution to getting film to develop would be? They are all turning out blank >_<. Thanks lads! -British Joey
Hello Joseph from the UK, We’ve made an extensive troubleshooting guide for film not developing issues on this camera. If the film is developing blank, we recommend that you check to make sure the shutter is functioning properly and the light/five-mode dial is set to proper lighting. If the problem consists then replace the batteries. The other problem may be that the film you have has gone bad and at this point you’ll need to buy a new batch. Cheers!, Richard
Ours did the same thing and we realized that we touched the back part where your not supposed to touch. We tried another film pack and was very careful NOT to touch it and it worked. So maybe you made the same mistake we did. :)
The most important thing is that one, you don’t use expired film and two, you don’t expose the film to light no matter what. Even if you open it in the dark, any hint of light will kill the film. Even if you are curious as to if the film is positioned correctly or if there is any film left, ignore that urge because you will 100% ruin your chance of your film developing. Also, when the film pops out after the photo (make sure you don’t open the back whatsoever!) turn it over so that the image that’s developing isn’t exposed. I’m not sure if this makes a difference or not, but I take no chances so long as the photo comes out! The environment might also factor in, take that into consideration. If it’s very cold or very hot where you are, your film might take longer to develop since it’s so sensitive. The camera should be at a pretty average temperature so that it’s at its prime. I hope this helped!
The cause of the issue depends on what you mean by “not developing”. If the photo turns out all white then that means your film has been flashed - or exposed to so much light it’s no longer able to record a photo. Film works by being exposed to an image projected onto it through the camera’s lens while the shutter is open for a fraction of a second. Therefore the film must otherwise remain in total darkness until it gets pushed out of the camera, during which the packet that contains the development chemistry gets broken open and spread across the film by being squeezed through a set of rollers. The black card that sits in the front of the film pack and gets ejected the first time you push the shutter release is commonly referred to as a dark slide - it’s there to protect the film from light so you can load it without damaging it by exposure to light. If the photo turns out all black, or some photos turn out all black and others turn out just fine, then your Instax camera has a defective shutter. For some reason, it jams just slightly and fails to leave an opening. The film ends up not getting exposed to the image and that’s why it turns out all black. This seems to be a recurring issue with the Instax Mini 9, and maybe other models too. The camera has a one year warranty so you can get a free replacement or repair from Fujifilm. Also contact them to get any film that was wasted replaced. Or return the camera to the store you bought it from for a refund if that’s their policy and buy yourself a replacement. That’s how I solved the issue with mine.
1- you may have squished or damaged the film 2- you may have left the film in a hot place and have messed with the chemical inside it 3- maybe the film was always just messed up since you bought it
Make sure that on the back of the camera there is a number and not an s. If there is an s, and you take a picture, nothing will come out, but if there is a number, it will use the film and take the actual picture.
Are you opening the back part after every failed picture? Ya I would stop. When you do that the camera goes back to S and will be trying to take off the back cover of the picture pack again, also not taking the picture.
Blank Films 3 of mine came blank Answer- take a few shots waitif not ,new film or battery’s, AA
You got a bad batch. That happens when the film sits at the store to long.
Keep it in the dark to develop! If it gets exposure to light it won’t. Even if the camera is in the light. Also, don’t open the back after you put the film! Your film won’t work again.
Instax mini 8 cameras come with batteries that I believe are energizer batteries but if you read the manual/instructions it comes with then you will see that it says that alkaline batteries work best for it.
If you opened it before they were all gone, then they may have been exposed to sunlight and not worked.
Put it in front of a heater it will show up on the white side. I was having this problem so I tried heat and it worked
have you tried to put the polaroid photos in a dark spot such as a drawer or a dark room for a few minutes?
The reason might be either you opened the back and the film was exposed or it was to cold. You might be able to take a couple of pictures at first but eventually the photos will come out white/ undeveloped. The temperature has to be above 40 degrees fagrenheit and less than 104 degrees fahrenheit. Hope this helped.
It may be an issue with the camera, but if you have taken the film out of the camera after you already put it in, then the film is exposed and wont develop.
Hi Joey, I had this problem, too. I couldn’t find the solution online— first, I would check the shutter. It wasn’t the shutter in my case. There was a piece of black tape inside the camera, above the lens, blocking the exposure. Peel it off- problem solved for me. Hope it works for you too!
Hello I wanted to add an additional answer here as after two months and 3 packs of film I have finally solved my problem as to why every few pictures turns out fine but not always. When I retract my lense into my camera (power down) the next shot out, the shutter doesn’t open - ever. To figure this out I opened my film hatch and took a few pictures without film to watch the shutter, experimenting with things like “blocking the flash with my hand” or “closing and opening the lense” and sure as sugar, the first shot after closing the lense would never trigger opening the shutter. So now to power down my camera, I take the batteries out, and to make sure that my lense doesn’t retract and cause the issue again, I wrapped several rubber bands around the lense, and use a protective cover on the end. Good luck everyone and happy shooting!!
Change the batteries first. Worked for us. We installed the batteries that came with the camera. Even though it powered on and would feed the film, the pictures did not develop or came out totally black, white or a combo of both. Some had colored dots etc. Changing the batteries correct the problem, all pics now develop. Just incase you want to know we installed the energizer bunny! (-:
Their nothing wrong with the camera. Its suppose to relate to the old fashion camera thats the whole point. The picture with be blank at first but got to give it a few minutes so the foto can cool off and the picture will appear. When your out side you put it on sunny mode and when inside the house or restrant put the camera on inside. Its amazing and i love it .. it just takes ime to be able to use it..
You take the photo and don’t touch the blank part just touch the bottom part and shake it until it fully developed
It’s maybe because you take the film box out while it still has film. Another reason might because while you are re putting the new film you touch or squeeze the parts where it says do not touch. I personally had this problem so I took out my film box even though it sill had film and was very careful not touching the parts where they stated do not touch, so after that all my pictures came out perfectly.
mine was cause i opened the back and they became exposed to light but after i took 4 pictures they started coming out again though the 4th had a spot of white in the corner
have you taken the film out. because if it has been taken out the light has touched it. you have to keep the film in when all of it has been used or they will tuen out all white or have white spots.
Ok so… something strange is happening. All of my pictures turned black after some seconds and were not developing at all. The first film pack i bought…i thought it was damaged. So after wasting 4 films, I threw away that pack and tried another one. Same thing happend with the second. Took 3 pictures and decided to remove it from the camera. Bought a tird film pack and wasted around 3 pictures and the same So, somehow…I decided to try taking a picture to the sky leaving the indoor setting to allow the camera to capture more light and guess what. That developed! I read somewhere that maybe the camera was not taking enough light or something…. who knows. so after the one I took to the sky… I tried taking another to a parked car and then that didn’t develop. But then…the car was parked in a place that was not getting enough light so…. I stood up in the brightest place i found and then tried taking a selfie with the sun hitting my face directly but, still leaving the setting for indoors (the one with the little house) and THAT DEVELOPED TOO. My face looked really white because all the light but hey….it developed. It was not all black so that’s something. I took another selfie but with the sun not hitting my face this time. That didn’t develop. (Still with the indoors setting…what is happening!?) So…. Being all frustrated and angry i just decided to finish the whole film pack. I took another picture to the same parked car that was not getting all the sun light…and this time it developed. Then I took another selfie away from the sunlight and this time it developed. I took the last picture I had to some random place that was not very sunny and it developed too…. I have no idea why it worked after that… but I’m thinking…. once you turn on the camera….do you need maybe to give it some time to get warm up or something so it starts developing pictures?
it’s because the film has been exposed to light before being used or the setting was wrong try matching the circle with the orange light on the front of the camera
My pictures start off white but if as soon as they come out you shake them a lot(like I mean for a long time) then the film will start to develop
why does the mini 9 photos come out black and how do I fix it I have tried switching the camera out and find new film and still the results stay the same.
black pictures are a shutter problem, no light is getting in and how can it put the image on the film if it doesn’t open, or barely opens. Never shake the picture, it will splatter the chemicals around unevenly and cause defective developing. NEVER OPEN the film door unless it is showing a 0 that means it is out of film, or you will be the exposing the film by letting light onto the film and you will get all white pictures, since you are not supposed to be the shutter. It will also reset the camera pics left to 10, so once you shut that door, leave it shut. If you have some in there that you already opened on, It could be that only the next film will be ruined and some after that will work, so don’t just throw it all out. Flow chart: Camera needs film->open camera, insert film, now it says “s” - think of the s as meaning ‘shade’, telling you the shade is still over the film. Depending on the camera, some will automatically release the shade when you power on, if not, then the first time you go to take the pic, it will release it. It does this because you have just shut the door, so that is telling it that you inserted a new film pack. If you open that door again, it will think it needs to release the shade on a new pack, and put out a blank white film. OK, so you inserted the film pack and the shade has been released and the ‘s’ now becomes 10. From here your pics will count down till 0…. unless you open the door and it goes back to s, waiting to release the shade from a new pack that you told it was put in, because you opened that film door. If you open that film door, it will continue to go from s to 10, then back to s and release another white film, thinking it is the shade and back to 10. There is nothing to see inside, DO NOT OPEN THE FILM DOOR UNTIL IT READS ZERO! or you will reset your camera to s and start the beginning process over and over until all the film is gone and comes out white.
