Last weekend I purchased this 1961 Ferrania Euralux 44 plastic camera in Thirroul on my way back from our 365 meetup.
The camera was sitting in a dusty pile of junk. In the camera was a size 127 roll of Verichrome Pan that had been exposed. I developed the roll of film in D76 after pre-soaking. The emulsion has some cracking from age, but I estimate the roll had been in the camera over 50 years given the make of cars in the backgound of one of the photos.
I contacted the Illawarra Mercury and had expected they were running a story today to find the original owners of the film, but this has not eventuated. Maybe next week. I hope to return the negatives.
Amazingly this demonstrates the life in film, it's tangibility, and its capacity to keep and preserve memories over time.
Peter, did you want any of us locals to post a copy of this on our social media sites? Facebook and the like? I'm not from the northern suburbs but who knows, hey? We can wait and see if the Mercury is going to print a story first. In any case, keep us posted!
A "lost" camera was found in New York City a few years ago. The man who found it posted the photos found on it on every website he could think of. Eventually the camera was reunited with its owner - a visitor from France (I think) who had given up on finding it and returned home. The man who found the camera traveled to Europe to return it to its owner. There are stories about it somewhere on the internet.
i echo @michaelelliott 's comment - it's like unearthing a time capsule. i would've loved to see the expression in your face, peter. i hope you find the family. i'm so interested in this story. you're like the indiana jones of photography! awesome processing. you're making me think about going into processing, if ever i find the inclination.
I swore I commented on this topic earlier but my comment is not here. Humm? Anyway, what a great find, Peter. It would be wonderful if the negatives could get back to the owners. Yes please keep us posted.
I hope you find the family -- just think how amazing it would be to see themselves as they were 50 years ago. Please let us know if you reunite the camera with its owners. And don't you wonder why nobody noticed film in the camera?
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A most amazing find!