Found film

A well known found film was found in 1930 at the shore of arctic island Kvitøya; the film had recoverable images of the last days of S. A. Andrée's Arctic Balloon Expedition of 1897.

Old, exposed films are rare finds; before introduction of online auction systems, the common sources were family archives and antiques stores.

Most of the found films were discovered inside the old simple box-type cameras which were forgotten, lost, discarded or abandoned by the owners.

Several photo lab services specialize in development of old outdated films.

The self-processing by photo enthusiasts is common but not recommended since the latent image is not recoverable most of the time without special procedures such as use of high-contrast active developer at the very low temperatures (as low as 0 °C/32 °F).