Photographer Discovers 70-Year-Old Undeveloped Film Inside $13 Second-Hand Camera

Jan 26, 2026

Pesala Bandara

A split image: on the left, a group of skiers wearing numbered bibs stand on a snowy mountain in a vintage black-and-white photo; on the right, an older man holds an old camera, standing indoors with framed photos behind him. — Camera expert Ian Scott of Salisbury Photo Centre, U.K. holds the 1930s Zeiss Ikon Baby Ikonta camera (right) which had undeveloped film full of photos of post-war Switzerland (left).

A photographer was stunned to discover that a vintage camera he bought at a charity shop still contained undeveloped film holding photographs taken in post-war Switzerland.

The amateur photographer purchased a 1930s Zeiss Ikon Baby Ikonta camera for $13 (£10) from a second-hand charity shop in Wilton, near Salisbury, Wiltshire, in the U.K. The camera appeared ordinary at first, but once home, the photographer, who asked to be anonymous, realized it still contained an exposed roll of film.

A hand holding a vintage folding camera with a round lens and metal dials. The camera’s viewfinder is popped up, and the background is softly blurred with a yellow chair and a wooden table visible. — The 1930s Zeiss Ikon Baby Ikonta camera

An old folding camera is placed on top of several black-and-white vintage photographs, some showing people skiing and others featuring groups near buildings. The background includes a modern office device.

Inside the camera was a roll of Verichrome Pan 127 (VP) film from 1956, which had never been developed. Unsure whether the film could be saved, the photographer took it to camera specialist Ian Scott at Salisbury Photo Centre, a Fujifilm retailer, to see if anything could be recovered.

Scott tells PetaPixel that the film was carefully developed using Rodinal developer at a ratio of 1 to 100 over 60 minutes with no agitation. The process revealed a series of 70-year-old photographs showing an unknown family and skiers in Switzerland, including images taken outside the Badrutt’s Palace Hotel in St. Moritz.

A group of skiers and officials gather outside a wooden cabin in snowy mountains. Some sit at tables with papers, others stand holding ski poles, all wearing winter clothing and numbered bibs. Skis are propped nearby. — The photos show skiers at Badrutt’s Palace Hotel, in St Moritz, Switzerland.

A skier moves downhill on a snowy slope as another person stands in the distance; a train or tram is visible in the background on the snow-covered mountain.

A person wearing winter clothes stands on an ice rink with snow-covered buildings, a church steeple, and a large tower in the background; others are skating nearby. The scene is bright, and the photo is in black and white.

Two people sit on a wooden bench outside a snow-covered cabin. One wears ski gear and a bib with the number 38, while the other adjusts ski equipment. Snow is piled high beside the wooden building.

Several of the skiers are wearing numbered bibs sponsored by baby milk brand Cow & Gate. Scott says the individuals in the photographs have not yet been identified, and Salisbury Photo Centre is asking anyone with information to come forward. Because Verichrome Pan 127 film was only sold starting in 1956, and because the Cow & Gate Ski Trophy took place across Switzerland during the 1950s, Scott believes the photographs were likely taken later in that decade.

A group of skiers wearing numbered bibs and winter gear stand in a row on a snowy mountain slope, smiling and posing with skis and poles. Snow-covered peaks rise in the background.

A group of people in winter clothing stand on a snowy ski slope, some holding ski poles. They appear to be preparing to ski, with snow-covered hills visible in the background. The image is in black and white.

A group of women sit on folding chairs around tables outdoors, in front of a house with large windows and a covered porch, appearing to enjoy a social gathering. Some hold cups and bags are placed nearby. — One photograph shows a garden tea party, possibly in the U.K.

In a further interview with The Daily Express, Scott calls the discovery of the decades-old photographs “an exciting mystery.”

“The exposed film has been inside that camera waiting for someone to unearth it for maybe 60 or 70 years — it’s so incredible that history was literally sitting there on a charity shop shelf,” Scott tells The Daily Express. “It’s just amazing that they’ve been in there 60 years and nobody has seen them, not even the photographer who took them! Now we take pictures on a digital camera, you see it straight away but these were just lost.

“It does make you wonder what other sort of treasure troves are hidden in a camera, in a shop waiting to be developed.”

Image credits: All photos courtesy of Salisbury Photo Centre.