Developing film at home - does this method actually give good results?

southernjessie

southernjessie

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I saw this YT video by Mattias Burling:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kp8cACHz_Og


Does the Patterson tank really mean you can develop B&W and colour film at home with the minimum of fuss? I was into film a few years ago and always wondered about developing it at home, but the apparent faffing around put me off.

So this guy uses a Patterson tank like this one: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Paterson-Super-System-Universal-Reels/dp/B0000BZMIH

What else would I need? One of those black bags and....?

Btw - really nice to be back on this forum - it was the first one I participated in when I joined TP.
 
Have a look in the resources section near the top of the page, most of your question will be answered here
 
southernjessie said:
I saw this YT video by Mattias Burling:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kp8cACHz_Og


Does the Patterson tank really mean you can develop B&W and colour film at home with the minimum of fuss? I was into film a few years ago and always wondered about developing it at home, but the apparent faffing around put me off.

So this guy uses a Patterson tank like this one: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Paterson-Super-System-Universal-Reels/dp/B0000BZMIH

What else would I need? One of those black bags and....?

Btw - really nice to be back on this forum - it was the first one I participated in when I joined TP.
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I can't watch the video at the moment, but developing black and white is really easy. You just need a few pieces of kit (e.g., tank, bottles), some chemicals, and a moment of darkness (literally about a minute or so to put the film on the reel and into the tank). I use a spare bathroom with no windows for my darkness, but you could use a changing bag, a duvet, a wardrobe, or whatever else you have/need to create a small space without some light for a moment.
 
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Thanks - so I can put the film onto the reel anywhere that is in darkness - it doesn't necessarily have to be with a bag? I've heard that it's quite fiddly to put it on, and obviously in the dark you cannot see what you're doing.

skysh4rk said:
I can't watch the video at the moment, but developing black and white is really easy. You just need a few pieces of kit (e.g., tank, bottles), some chemicals, and a moment of darkness (literally about a minute or so to put the film on the reel and into the tank). I use a spare bathroom with no windows for my darkness, but you could use a changing bag, a duvet, a wardrobe, or whatever else you have/need to create a small space without some light for a moment.
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southernjessie said:
Thanks - so I can put the film onto the reel anywhere that is in darkness - it doesn't necessarily have to be with a bag? I've heard that it's quite fiddly to put it on, and obviously in the dark you cannot see what you're doing.
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If you decide to go down the home developing route get yourself a tank and a sacrificial roll of Poundland Agfa and practice, practice, practice and then practice some more, it will save you a lot of swearing and frustration in the long run.

You don't need to load reels in a dark bag, I use the cupboard under the stairs to do mine, I find it easier than trying to fit everything in the dark bag, particularly if I'm loading more than one film.
 
southernjessie said:
Thanks - so I can put the film onto the reel anywhere that is in darkness - it doesn't necessarily have to be with a bag? I've heard that it's quite fiddly to put it on, and obviously in the dark you cannot see what you're doing.
Click to expand...

Well, you'll certainly want to practise with a test roll of film and reel in both the light and the dark first, but you should get to be pretty quick with it after doing it a number of times. It's not terribly complicated.
 
Great - thanks guys :)

For a home scanner would something like the Epson V600 be ok? What would you recommend? It would only be 35mm film but I'd like to get good quality scans.
 
southernjessie said:
Great - thanks guys :)

For a home scanner would something like the Epson V600 be ok? What would you recommend? It would only be 35mm film but I'd like to get good quality scans.
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V600, 500, 700 all good scanners. The Pakon gets good reviews as do the Nikon Coolscan series, particularly the IV/4000 versions onwards.
 
southernjessie said:
Thanks - so I can put the film onto the reel anywhere that is in darkness - it doesn't necessarily have to be with a bag? I've heard that it's quite fiddly to put it on, and obviously in the dark you cannot see what you're doing.
Click to expand...

Perhaps you could go to Poundland and pick up a roll of Agfa Vista 35mm film for £1 and take that out of the canister and use it to practice on? Ruining one unexposed film that costs £1 is better than ruining one you've got some nice photos on!

Once you find you can load it onto the developing tank reel by touch alone with your eyes shut, time after time, you should then be ready to load an exposed film in a changing bag or a place that is totally dark (eg pitch black, as even a small chink of light could fog the film). Do bear in mind the possible danger of suffocation if squeezing into a small, light-tight place though, so make sure it's still got adequate ventilation if light-proofing somewhere! Sorry to state the obvious, but thought I'd better mention it!
 
I would probably get the changing bag to make sure it was completely dark when loading the film. I've never seen film in my local Poundland but I'll check. I'll probably get that patterson tank as well as it looks pretty straightforward. Just need to get the chemicals and whatever else is needed.

Mr Badger said:
Perhaps you could go to Poundland and pick up a roll of Agfa Vista 35mm film for £1 and take that out of the canister and use it to practice on? Ruining one unexposed film that costs £1 is better than ruining one you've got some nice photos on!

Once you find you can load it onto the developing tank reel by touch alone with your eyes shut, time after time, you should then be ready to load an exposed film in a changing bag or a place that is totally dark (eg pitch black, as even a small chink of light could fog the film). Do bear in mind the possible danger of suffocation if squeezing into a small, light-tight place though, so make sure it's still got adequate ventilation if light-proofing somewhere! Sorry to state the obvious, but thought I'd better mention it!
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Would buying a kit perhaps be better value for you if you're starting from scratch... something like this maybe? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FILM-DEVE...898053?hash=item4898c82205:g:XgEAAOSwcBhWaDaV

I've not bought anything from that seller so can't vouch for them or the sundries in that kit (feedback seems OK though), but it might be a starting point to look to see if there are any similar deals, compare prices, and weigh up your options? (y)

PS Poundland tend to put their film in the section with blank CDs and stuff like that, or at least my local one did last time I was in there.
 
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Ah thanks very much! This looks like a very good idea to buy the whole kit. I better read up on the actual process though (after loading film onto reel) as this is the part that seems a bit daunting.
 
I find scanning is the painfull bit. Developing the black and white is pretty easy and a nice thing to do. I've not done colour though...
 
southernjessie said:
Ah thanks very much! This looks like a very good idea to buy the whole kit. I better read up on the actual process though (after loading film onto reel) as this is the part that seems a bit daunting.
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It really is a very easy process and when you pop open that Paterson tank and theres a roll of perfect little negatives in there... wow. :banana:
 
Andysnap said:
It really is a very easy process and when you pop open that Paterson tank and theres a roll of perfect little negatives in there... wow. :banana:
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You mean that "perfect little negatives" are possible?? :thinking::D
 
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southernjessie said:
Ah thanks very much! This looks like a very good idea to buy the whole kit. I better read up on the actual process though (after loading film onto reel) as this is the part that seems a bit daunting.
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It is not the least difficult, I did my first at 10 years old, entirely on my own, with only the help of a book.
Make sure everything is clean and absolutely dry and loading a spiral is child's play.
 
Thanks for the encouragement - I shall check out the donut way as well!

I had a look at the thread on which scanner - I guess most do a good job with negatives. I read the thread on scanners - there seems to be ups and downs with each brand - Epson, Plustek, Nikon, etc. I'm sure most will do a good job.
 
I have a Minolta ScanDual IV, which is a dedicated 35mm/APS negative scanner. It's lower resolution than more recent scanners but the results are much better, seems to capture a wider range of tones and more detail than my flatbed scanner. I found mine through the forum; they do turn up on ebay occasionally and they tend to be cheaper than the Nikon versions, probably because of the name. All dedicated scanners can fetch silly money as they're no longer made. The holy grail is one of the dual format Minoltas that can scan 35mm and 120.

My flatbed scanner can be used for 35mm, 120 and 5x4 (with stitching software) and is a Canon 9000F. On reflection, I wish I'd gone for the equivalent Epson as they seem to give better results, though that could be down to personal preference. I have no experience with the Plustek kit.

If you're buying second-hand, make sure the seller includes the negative holders!
 
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