Buying dev chemicals

MindofMel

MindofMel

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Looking into getting away from the high street and dev and scanning my own film... some questions.. watched a great youtube vid here - which makes the whole thing seem eazy peezy - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aB8qXU7dkNk

1) where do you buy such kits in the UK? I'd rather buy a kit and than individual chemicals.. i.e everything an amateur needs in a set!
2) ow often do you need to buy new chemicals?
3) where do i store chemicals
4) am i right in believing that the room/bag etc only needs to be dark, while i remove the film and get it onto the sprocket thingymajig and into the tank. After that i can turn lights on, as in the above video
 
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It's not that hard to buy them separately really. Somewhere like AG photographic or silverprint will supply you and help you pick if you give them a buzz. All you need chemical wise is developer, stop, fixer and perhaps a wetting agent. For the stop and fix the ilford products would be fine and most wetting agents will be fine. As for dev it will depend on what film you use! It's really not all that scary.
 
MindofMel said:
Hey Jim, the dev depends on what film I use? That implies that I have to buy different developer for different films... I shoot alot of Ilford XP2 and then a variety of cheapo colour ones.. all c-41. What dev would that need?
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I don't shoot C41, only 'real' black and white so can't help you with that. C41 is certainly more tricky due to temperature control etc but I believe you can actually buy full kits for C41. However, with cheap C41 processing, when I did shoot it I always sent it away as someone like photoexpress always gave great results for little money.
 
Mel, go to Silverprint. it's also in SE1! They have a 5% student discount and they are the cheapest once you take into account that you don't need to pay for delivery.

I too don't develop C-41 but I believe the older Tetenal and newer Rollei kits are well regarded - each has its own little quirks which are discussed at some length on other film photography fora if you are looking for specifics.

Most of the kits I've seen aren't necessarily best suited for the beginner - you only need a set list of chemicals and a few accessories, there's a lot which is genuinely superfluous or there is a much cheaper supermarket equivalent (I could never understand people buying Paterson branded measuring cylinders, as if measuring cylinders from supermarkets were any different).
 
Didn't realise you are so close to silverprint! Get yourself there, lovely people and very helpful to boot. I often get myself down there when I need supplies as its easy to get to from Victoria.
 
Hey guys, I need to update my location, moved nearer my hospital! I'm now in SW17!

Could either of you recommend a 400 bnw film and a set of chemicals to use? I quite like ilford XP2 400 as it had a fine grain and you get results out of it in tight spots by just pretending it was a 800/1600. Is there something similar?

If i could get a trial run of whatever those films are like 2 rolls and chemicals. I would just buy this set here and be good to go. ( http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FILM-DEVE...Supplies_SM&hash=item4843673f55#ht_3273wt_480)

A great guide here which make sit seem relatively easy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rROBVLNEb3M


What did people do before youtube.
 
Kodak Tri-X or Ilford HP5+ are probably what your looking for, their pretty easy to use 400 speed films with generous latitude and are very widely used and famous.

That kit looks fine to me although you can probably get the same stuff a bit cheaper from AG Photographic:

Dev Tank and 2 reels:

http://www.ag-photographic.co.uk/paterson-universal-processing-tank-2-reels-784-p.asp

For a thermometer just get a cheap one off ebay (I've got one of those in the kit - it was sold as a meat thermometer for £5 to me!) and plastic jugs can be got quite cheaply as well. You'll likely have a stopwatch or similar at the moment so why get another?

A graduate will also likely come in handy for measuring out the chems accurately:

http://www.ag-photographic.co.uk/vit-lab-100ml-graduate-1724-p.asp

I think thats everything you'll basically need although you may want some extra items such as a squeegee.

Oh and you'll need a film changing bag to load the film on the dev reel, look on ebay they usually go for a reasonable price.

I got all my chemicals for Christmas to go with my dads equipment (in the loft since 1985!) so I'm almost ready to go - except I managed to leave all my exposed B&W films in the freezer at my uni address before I came home for Christmas so I've not got anything to develop yet!
 
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MindofMel said:
Hey guys, I need to update my location, moved nearer my hospital! I'm now in SW17!

Could either of you recommend a 400 bnw film and a set of chemicals to use? I quite like ilford XP2 400 as it had a fine grain and you get results out of it in tight spots by just pretending it was a 800/1600. Is there something similar?

If i could get a trial run of whatever those films are like 2 rolls and chemicals. I would just buy this set here and be good to go. ( http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FILM-DEVELOPING-KIT-35MM-120-FILM-STARTER-PACK-NEW-DEV-TANK-/310368485205?pt=UK_Photography_DarkroomSupplies_SM&hash=item4843673f55#ht_3273wt_480)

A great guide here which make sit seem relatively easy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rROBVLNEb3M

What did people do before youtube.
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Then jump on the Northern Line, the shop is a 5 min walk from Waterloo. Tooting isn't the back of beyond you know (I lived there for 5 years whilst studying at St George's!).

As for a standard black and white I would start with HP5+, it's forgiving for both exposure and developing but don't start pushing films when you first start developing, it's a whole different kettle of fish!
 
Yup, extremely close to Waterloo, it's no problem at all getting chemicals. Shops like these are few and far inbetween, so to have direct Underground access to them means you should take advantage!

'Fine grain' requirement means I would personally prefer to recommend a T-grain film - so Kodak T-Max or Ilford Delta 400. I shoot T-Max regularly and, developed in T-Max Developer, the grain is extremely fine - it has an absolutely superb reputation for minimal grain.

My chemicals of choice are:
T-Max Developer
Tap Water for stop bath
Ilford Rapid Fixer
FotoSpeed RA50 for wetting agent - since we live in a hard water area, a wetting agent is necessary in the final rinse to prevent water streak marks.

Just a note on developing in general: initially it may look like a complicated process, so many steps, so many things to worry about, so many bits of apparatus, but once you are comfortable with it it is basically a routine process - pouring liquid in and out of a container, agitating a bit and so on.
 
Thanks for the links Samuel, does work out cheaper! Will just get hold of a thermometer and changing bag etc

Haha Jim, on days like today where it was nigh on the Apocalypse outside - a trip that involves being outside the safety of ones house for more than 5 minutes seems far too much hassle! [/lazybones]. Will either pop down there / call them tomorrow!

Thanks for the help all, will go for the ilford HP5 to begin with.

Also, side note - if you are using expired film, does that change times etc or do you develop as normal and just see what happens?!
 
MindofMel said:
Also, side note - if you are using expired film, does that change times etc or do you develop as normal and just see what happens?!
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Depends on the film, how long expired, what ISO it was at exposed at and how it was stored.

Expired film kept in the fridge exposed at box speed will very likely develop and perform exactly as fresh film would, in general.
 
RE: expired film - ahh fair enough.. will cross that bridge when it comes along

Watching the clips on youtube - people seem to be pouring the developer / fixer / stop bath / photoflo BACK into their original bottles after use out of the tank. How long do they use the same chemicals for before you need to change them?

Basket Complete? I have found a changing bag and a digital thermometer on ebay. All in all looks like an even £100ish pounds

screenshot20120104at000.png
 
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They won't be original bottles - they will be bottles/storage containers that contain the mixed chemicals in. All 4 cannot be put back into the original stock solutions, to the best of my knowledge.

Longevity and use depends on individual chemicals. Kodak recommends developing 4 rolls in my preferred dilution of T-Max Dev (1:4) for instance. This sort of information is published in each products' technical data publication which are readily available online.
 
freecom2 said:
They won't be original bottles - they will be bottles/storage containers that contain the mixed chemicals in. All 4 cannot be put back into the original stock solutions, to the best of my knowledge.

Longevity and use depends on individual chemicals. Kodak recommends developing 4 rolls in my preferred dilution of T-Max Dev (1:4) for instance. This sort of information is published in each products' technical data publication which are readily available online.
Click to expand...

Ah yup, on closer inspection, they seem to discard the developer and photo flo but keep the stop bath and fixer solutions.

Thanks for all of your help! May make me developing my first roll into a little movie and post it up.
 
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