B/W Chemicals Advice.

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Hi,

I would like to buy some chemicals for B/W film processing and would be very grateful if anyone could give me a little advice on what to buy.

I shoot 35mm and use Tri-x 400, Neopan 400 +1600 mainly, but was looking at using some Acros 100.

I have the changing bag, and most of the gear according to various guides/vids but alas would love someone to give me specifics on what chemicals I should buy as I'm a tad confused on the variety etc.

Kind Regards :)
 
As a minimum you need some developer and fixer. It is also recommended to get some stop as well. Although many on here advocate just rinsing instead of using a stop solution.

For the final rinse you will need some rinseaid type stuff to prevent drying marks. Again some people on here say Washing Up Liquid does the job.

When I started I went for all Ilford Chemicals - ID11 developer and Ilford Stop, Fix and Rinseaid. It's a good start to see get a feel for what to do. Others on here will recommend other developers as the Ilford ID11 is one shot. Dev then throw away. Other developers can be re-used with an appropriate correction to dev time.

Regards

Mark
 
All the chem's as recommended by Freester are fine. I actually like ID-11's results, though it's not particularly economical - I tend to use it as 1+3 one shot - so a box that makes up to 1 litre of stock solution produces 4 litres of developer - enough for 8 rolls of 120 film, or 13 rolls of B&W. Compared to something like R09 which at 500ml will make up (at 1+50) to 25.5L - 51 rolls of 120 or 85 rolls of B&W, it's not great value. The R09 will last for absolutely ages as well, so if you only develop stuff infrequently, you're not going to waste chemicals.
 
Thanks for the replies guys, I'm going to be doing 2-3 rolls a week on average, so I would prefer a economic way forward, but of course not if my results suffer etc.

Once you make up the solution from the powder, I presume this can be stored ok or do I have to use it in one go on multiple films?

Cheers
 
ID11 lasts at least 6 months in a sealed container. You can buy powder that will make up a batch of either 1 or 5 litres. If you are dev'iong 2-3 rolls a week than you're not going to waste any dev. You may want to investigate other types though for more efficient reuse.

I'd really recommend trying a few and seeing what you like.
 
Fullzoom said:
Thanks for the replies guys, I'm going to be doing 2-3 rolls a week on average, so I would prefer a economic way forward, but of course not if my results suffer etc.

Once you make up the solution from the powder, I presume this can be stored ok or do I have to use it in one go on multiple films?

Cheers
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With ID-11 you get 2 sachets of powder which you mix up with hot water at 40c, first part A, then part B. Allow to cool and bottle up as "Stock Solution"

That stock solution can then be used As-Is, or diluted 1+1 (1 part stock, 1 part water) or 1+3 (1 part stock, 3 parts water). Stock solution will last 6 months in full (i.e. no air inside) bottles, 1 month in half empty bottle. If you're using the normal patterson tank type processing, I'd advise using 1+3 one shot, which takes around 300ml of dev/roll, so a 1 litre mix box will make 4 litres of useable dev, or 13 rolls of film.
 
The only problem I have with ID-11 is that it's a bit slow. Used 1+3, developing times can run to 20 minutes or more, so there is a temptation to use 1+1 or even stock. For an all-round easy option, I quite like Ilfosol-3 liquid dev. It's a decent not-too-grainey developer, works at 1+15 at half the time ID-11 does, and at 2-3 films/week the half litre bottle will still be in perfect nick when you decant the last film's worth out. Not as cheap as the R09 I mentioned earlier, but is my regular dev.

As said, best bet is to try a few types, see which you like the results of. Great thing with black ad white is you can mix and match until you find the stuff that works for you.
 
Freester said:
Others on here will recommend other developers as the Ilford ID11 is one shot. Dev then throw away. Other developers can be re-used with an appropriate correction to dev time.

Regards

Mark
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it can be used again ,with an extended developement time ,but is not recommended for consistancy and best quality , ( so best not to :) )
 
Thanks for all the advice guys, much appreciated.

What about the other chems, stop/fixer etc, is this less important what I use? also is it best to get all from one manufacturer?
 
Another ID-11 1:3 user. Yes, it does take longer to develop a film, for instance Neopan 400 comes out around 17 minutes but it gives you the chance to hone your dev times and makes agitation less critical than with stock solutions, where a missed inversion on, say, 5 minute dev to answer the door makes a difference.

Besides, developing is quite theraputic and one of the few occasions the family know to back off, Dad's busy.

I've always preferred hand tanks with one shot developer - still pretty economical if you're careful - to deep tanks and replenished dev. When I've used group facilities it only takes one numpty to do something stupid or not record the films they've processed to throw your times out. It's quite easy to get contamination so what started out as a cheap option becomes anything but. Unless you're shooting industrial quantities of film I'd stick to small tanks and modest amounts of developer made up in advance.
 
Fullzoom said:
Thanks for all the advice guys, much appreciated.

What about the other chems, stop/fixer etc, is this less important what I use? also is it best to get all from one manufacturer?
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The different Dev's will have an effect on the eventual look of the negs - some smoother, some grainier. Stop and fix are much less critical, and you can pretty much mix and match. When I started up again last year I was donated a tank (Cheers Joxby ;)) and a couple of mixes of chemicals to get me going. All the stuff was Ilford, and I pretty much stuck with it, partly because I knew it worked, and partly because it was all detailed out in the wonderful Ilford PDF file. Simplest solution is to buy whatever stop/fix you can get from the same place you source your dev.
 
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