Strange film damage

[jpolzfuss]

Hi,

I just purchased a super8-film on ebay: a 33m short of the "battle of midway" - distributed by Revue (German and French Titles), Orwo b&w, no sound stripe. (I just needed a starting airplane from WWII to cut it into another film)
Since the most damage is normally found on the first meters of the film, I started to roll it down from the reel to do a quick examination with the naked eye. BUT: Instead of gliding down in a straight line, the film started to curl! The whole first 3 meters came down as one helix! And there's no sign that this'll change The perforation looks good, but every 10 to 15cm one side of the film stock is either shrunk or overstretched!
My question is:
Is this a normal behaviour of Orwo-material stored incorrectly? (
Or is this a clear sign that the film was used as a decoration in helix form in a shop's window for more than year (and hence molten by the sun)?

Another problem is the auction's text:
http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie ... %3AIT&rd=1
(Short summary in English: Condition is used; cover looks good; film is "untested")

To me the film looks like totally unprojectable = totally damaged = definately not "used"!

Jörg

[Angus]

Well if the seller said the cover looked good but the film was untested, that doesn't actually suggest that the film is in good condition - just that the cover (box) is!

Looks like maybe you have been the victim of a seller who has been very clever.

[jpolzfuss]

Looks like maybe you have been the victim of a seller who has been very clever.

Yeppp...

[camera8mm]

Sounds like the film shrunk while in the can. It probably hasnt been unraveled in years, shrunk to a "curled rolled state" film renew chemicals might work to project it, but only temporarily.

[jpolzfuss]

Hi,

thanks for your replies. The eBay-seller agreed to return my money. Hence I'll only loose the postage for the return...

Jörg