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develop your own?
- Thread starter neil_g
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thanks for the link but im a complete newbie at this and dont really know what the recipies mean?
Basically, it's a site where photographers say what developer they use and tag some images so viewers get the idea. It's a fair starting point so long as you ignore some of the weirder/lengthier receipes.
To go back to absolute basics you'll need a film dev' tank (a small drum like thing new or s/hand off ebay), a changing bag (lightproof fabric bag with two sleeve holes for loading film onto spiral and placing in dev tank) developer (see Ilford or Kodak sites) and fixative (ditto). Somewhere to hang your negatives to dry (a line over a bath is the usual) and some negative bags to place the cut strips into.
Then you can scan the negs or if you're lucky enough to have access to a darkroom, print them.
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have a wander about here, http://www.ilfordphoto.com/aboutus/page.asp?n=31 dead handy.
Start on black and white as its v forgiving. But you get negs so you need to scan or print to see them. Printing needs a darkroom or something similar. Slides are great but less forgiving and actually care about temperature
Start on black and white as its v forgiving. But you get negs so you need to scan or print to see them. Printing needs a darkroom or something similar. Slides are great but less forgiving and actually care about temperature
TheBigYin
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One of the best intro's to processing B&W film is the one in the pdf from Ilford...
It's nice and easy to follow, and, while biased towards ilford products, it's a sure fire way to get you started.
I did a quick roundup of the bits needed here
C-41 Colour (colour negatives) is a bit more involved, it seems a bit faster, and runs at higher temperatures, but is basically the same.
E6 Colour (colour slide) is a bit more difficult again, and is pretty picky about the temperature it's done at.
That said, I've done all three of them in the Utility Room sink, using a sink-bowl of hot water to regulate the temperatures, and its worked pretty well.
It's nice and easy to follow, and, while biased towards ilford products, it's a sure fire way to get you started.
I did a quick roundup of the bits needed here
C-41 Colour (colour negatives) is a bit more involved, it seems a bit faster, and runs at higher temperatures, but is basically the same.
E6 Colour (colour slide) is a bit more difficult again, and is pretty picky about the temperature it's done at.
That said, I've done all three of them in the Utility Room sink, using a sink-bowl of hot water to regulate the temperatures, and its worked pretty well.
karmagarda
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Same happened me and it's much easier than you think. Colour get's trickier, and is easier to muck up, but film is far more resilient than you think (apart from a full exposure to broad daylight 
)
I have a very basic setup at home. One of my favourite B&Ws is HP5+ and my dev process goes something like this:
Wait til evening/night time
Get in wardrobe (this is my dark room/dark bag
)
Put film in tank
Get chems to 20 degrees and stick dev chem in the tank.
Swoshy swoshy for about 9 minutes
Wash for about 3-5 minutes or something (can't remember exact time)
Put fix chems in... can't remember how long... maybe 3 minutes
Throw them out and wash again for about maybe 3-5 minutes
Hang em up.
Colour is at about 38 degrees which is harder to keep stable (20 degrees is close enough to room temperature)
For your list I would say the following are the only musts (apart from chemicals):
Dev tank
Thermometer
Hanging clips (at least 1 weighted)
But, I would also say that you should really get the following too:
Storage containers (I cursed myself for not getting these first time around)
Funnel (trust me, you'll thank yourself for getting one!)
Dark bag (if you have no alternative place to load the dev tank)
Optionals which are really nice to have:
Film holders (plastic pouch/pocket thingys)
Tongs
Pipe thingy to force wash the dev tank
Another thing that I reckon isn't necessary, but will make life easier if you've a stack of cash knocking about, is one of those heat tray things with a thermostat. I don't have one, and only had 1 muck up so far!
And if you're not careful with your hands, you should probably get some type of gloves too! I presume this is both for handling the chems, and I suppose in case you touch the film or something.
Anyway, best of luck, and I won't say "have fun" because I already know you'll enjoy it immensly!
)I have a very basic setup at home. One of my favourite B&Ws is HP5+ and my dev process goes something like this:
Wait til evening/night time
Get in wardrobe (this is my dark room/dark bag
)Put film in tank
Get chems to 20 degrees and stick dev chem in the tank.
Swoshy swoshy for about 9 minutes
Wash for about 3-5 minutes or something (can't remember exact time)
Put fix chems in... can't remember how long... maybe 3 minutes
Throw them out and wash again for about maybe 3-5 minutes
Hang em up.
Colour is at about 38 degrees which is harder to keep stable (20 degrees is close enough to room temperature)
For your list I would say the following are the only musts (apart from chemicals):
Dev tank
Thermometer
Hanging clips (at least 1 weighted)
But, I would also say that you should really get the following too:
Storage containers (I cursed myself for not getting these first time around)
Funnel (trust me, you'll thank yourself for getting one!)
Dark bag (if you have no alternative place to load the dev tank)
Optionals which are really nice to have:
Film holders (plastic pouch/pocket thingys)
Tongs
Pipe thingy to force wash the dev tank
Another thing that I reckon isn't necessary, but will make life easier if you've a stack of cash knocking about, is one of those heat tray things with a thermostat. I don't have one, and only had 1 muck up so far!
And if you're not careful with your hands, you should probably get some type of gloves too! I presume this is both for handling the chems, and I suppose in case you touch the film or something.
Anyway, best of luck, and I won't say "have fun" because I already know you'll enjoy it immensly!
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Devving your own film is fantastic, it gets you really involved. There's nothing quite like having your fingers in the dev, rubbing a print to bring through a bit more...don't miss having permanently brown fingers though
A true story to make you cry: When I moved my last studio, (about 3 years ago) the removals firm asked somebody they shouldn't if something was coming with us, or was for the rubbish, and they were told to throw it....want to know what it was?
A DeVere 504 enlarger, 3 Apo Rodenstock lenses, voltage stabiliser x2, devere timer x2, various neg carriers....everything you'd ever need!
I've never fully recovered from the loss...
A true story to make you cry: When I moved my last studio, (about 3 years ago) the removals firm asked somebody they shouldn't if something was coming with us, or was for the rubbish, and they were told to throw it....want to know what it was?
A DeVere 504 enlarger, 3 Apo Rodenstock lenses, voltage stabiliser x2, devere timer x2, various neg carriers....everything you'd ever need!
I've never fully recovered from the loss...
karmagarda
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Devving your own film is fantastic, it gets you really involved. There's nothing quite like having your fingers in the dev, rubbing a print to bring through a bit more...don't miss having permanently brown fingers though
A true story to make you cry: When I moved my last studio, (about 3 years ago) the removals firm asked somebody they shouldn't if something was coming with us, or was for the rubbish, and they were told to throw it....want to know what it was?
A DeVere 504 enlarger, 3 Apo Rodenstock lenses, voltage stabiliser x2, devere timer x2, various neg carriers....everything you'd ever need!
I've never fully recovered from the loss...
I'd need a lot of swift whiskeys to get over that one!
My first 'darkroom' was in the small alcove that lead from my attic bedroom to the window. I blacked out the window at one end and hung a heavy curtain over the other. There was enough space for an ironing board with the enlarger and 3 10x8 trays. I damped down the board with weights to avoid vibration. Long exposures required utter stillness.
Had a small red light and a Krokus enlarger, old style. The lens came with it but was sharp once stopped down a few clicks. Once in there I'd spend hours printing, absolutely mesmerised. Happy days.
Had a small red light and a Krokus enlarger, old style. The lens came with it but was sharp once stopped down a few clicks. Once in there I'd spend hours printing, absolutely mesmerised. Happy days.
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First film I ever developed was colour transparency, as I used to mostly shoot slides and it was cheaper to buy the film in bulk compared to the pre-paid rolls.
Minimum amount of equipment needed to develop just the film as you don't need a darkroom if you are not making prints. Only bit that is a bit trickier compared to B&W is that temperatures are a bit higher, temperature tolerances are a bit tighter, and there are a couple more processes to go through.
Great feeling when that first roll comes out of the tank though.
Minimum amount of equipment needed to develop just the film as you don't need a darkroom if you are not making prints. Only bit that is a bit trickier compared to B&W is that temperatures are a bit higher, temperature tolerances are a bit tighter, and there are a couple more processes to go through.
Great feeling when that first roll comes out of the tank though.