Beginner Developing my first film - any tips??

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Tom
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So I’m waiting for the developing paraphernalia to arrive and I’ve just loaded some HP5 into my Pentax ME Super...

There will undoubtedly be questions to follow like ‘what did I do wrong’ and ‘where have my photos gone?’ Finger crossed!
 
Write down what you need to do to make sure that you do it :)

It's pretty easy and a great feeling when you get the results.

Cold tap water in the UK is typically about 14.5C, so you don't have to add too much hot water to get it to the correct temperature.
I keep a water bath at a few degrees above 20C so that the chemicals get up to temp faster. I just use a plastic washing up bowl - handy for spills and easy to regulate the temp.
Keep an old dishcloth handy for drying your hands and wiping up spills.
For agitation avoid being too rough - slow and gentle movements are better.

Once you know what you are doing is when you make mistakes! So, keep your checklist handy...
 
Once you know what you are doing is when you make mistakes! So, keep your checklist handy...

I’ve got the instructions on the Ilford website, which seem fairly comprehensive... I’ll just have to make sure I don’t capture any really special moments so I’m not too bothered if I mess up!!
 
1) Timing is not super critical, too long is better than too short
2) Measuring concentrations properly is not super critical
3) Temperature is not super critical
4) As long as you put the chemicals in the correct order, you will get something

Most importantly,

5) Have fun
6) Laugh at the mistakes
 
1) Timing is not super critical, too long is better than too short
2) Measuring concentrations properly is not super critical
3) Temperature is not super critical
4) As long as you put the chemicals in the correct order, you will get something

Most importantly,

5) Have fun
6) Laugh at the mistakes
Wise words indeed Mr Hooley.
 
1) Timing is not super critical, too long is better than too short
2) Measuring concentrations properly is not super critical
3) Temperature is not super critical
4) As long as you put the chemicals in the correct order, you will get something

^^^Absolutely this^^^

Once you’ve dev’ed your first film! You’ll wonder what all the fuss was about :)
 
So I’m waiting for the developing paraphernalia to arrive and I’ve just loaded some HP5 into my Pentax ME Super...

There will undoubtedly be questions to follow like ‘what did I do wrong’ and ‘where have my photos gone?’ Finger crossed!

You'll be fine. It's really not difficult at all, I can't remember exactly what age I was when I started developing my own film, but I was 12 at the most. The local camera shop owner talked me through the process and sold me a second hand developing tank and some other bits and pieces. Funnily enough, I do remember that the film was FP4 and I used Microphen and then Acutol (amongst other developers). Never got into printing though, apart from contacts from 120 film, although I did have a few sessions in a darkroom belonging to a friend's father. I couldn't afford an enlarger and my parents wouldn't buy me one!
 
No first developing session thread should avoid the mention of spiral loading.
By far the most frustrating part of the process for me when I was a noob.
Everything else is an instruction to follow, but loading the spiral is a "feel" thing and you only get the feel from practice.
So my advice is to stay calm, if it gets stuck take it off and start again, if you are in a dark room rather than using a bag, make sure you have somewhere you can put your film/spiral if you need to take a break, do not bounce a partially loaded spiral off all 4 walls and the floor in a fit of rage..:)
 
Agree with Joxby and would add that it might be cheaper to waste a roll of film practicing in the daylight before attempting an exposed film in the dark - you can repeatedly use the same roll 0ffilm until it becomes easy.
 
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Whilst I'm sure @robhooley167 is correct it does no harm to get as close as possible to the recommended times and temps but don't obsess over it. The Massive Dev Chart phone app is really good for keeping you on track with timings.

I also agree with @joxby, the hardest part is loading the film. Make sure the balls in the spiral are free moving, cut the leader off the end (35mm) and try to cut the corners off, this is a lot easier if you can retrieve the film leader from the can and do that part in the light - see youtube for leader retrieval suggestions. I try to keep my thumbs on the point at which the film is going into the spiral and keep that part vertical so that the film is loading vertically, I also use my little fingers to stop the film roll getting too close to the spiral.
 
Agree with Joxby and would add that it might be cheaper to waste a roll of film practicing in the daylight before attempting an exposed film in the dark - you can repeatedly use the same roll 0ffilm until it becomes easy.

Absolutely. This is very good advice. Sacrifice an unused film and practice in daylight until you feel confident, close your eyes and do it by feel as you get more confident, then it's all going to be pretty familiar when you do it for real.
 
Absolutely. This is very good advice. Sacrifice an unused film and practice in daylight until you get the hang of it, then close your eyes and do it by feel, and it's all going to be pretty familiar when you load an exposed film in the dark.
 
Good luck!
 
1) Timing is not super critical, too long is better than too short
2) Measuring concentrations properly is not super critical
3) Temperature is not super critical
4) As long as you put the chemicals in the correct order, you will get something

Most importantly,

5) Have fun
6) Laugh at the mistakes

Fair enough, but it's still best practice to get things a close as possible.
 
1) Timing is not super critical, too long is better than too short
2) Measuring concentrations properly is not super critical
3) Temperature is not super critical
4) As long as you put the chemicals in the correct order, you will get something

Most importantly,

5) Have fun
6) Laugh at the mistakes

Good advice indeed.

I did a big batch of films at the weekend and cleared my processing backlog.

Had banding on some of the films - I didn't agitate sufficiently during the fixing. No problem though, I just put the negs back in the fixer and paid more attention. Job done.

Now I have a scanning backlog.
 
Ok, I've just developed my first film reel. it's currently drying in the bathroom but looks like everything came out well!

A few questions:
Do you throw your used developer down the drain?
Can you reuse both the stop bath and the fixer? And what do you store them in? Just a plastic bottle or something??
How worried should you be about getting a little bit of chemical on your fingers and should I get some rubber gloves?!

I'll scan them tomorrow...
 
Ok, I've just developed my first film reel. it's currently drying in the bathroom but looks like everything came out well!

A few questions:
Do you throw your used developer down the drain? - Yes
Can you reuse both the stop bath and the fixer? And what do you store them in? Just a plastic bottle or something?? - Yes I reuse and store in a plastic bottle, try to minimise the amount of air in the fixer if possible, the stop bath is fairly bulletproof
How worried should you be about getting a little bit of chemical on your fingers and should I get some rubber gloves?! - As long as you wash it off you'll be fine, if you have sensitive skin then gloves would not be a bad investment

I'll scan them tomorrow... We look forward to seeing them!
 
I keep a couple of 2lt and 1 lt milk 'bottles' (the plastic things) to store chemicals. They're kept in a dark cupboard so no need for dark bottles.
 
I use clip top plastic jars for mixed chemicals. This was OK when I was only using the Rondinax, which uses 200 ml a time, but when I'm needing 900 ml for tacos in a Paterson tank it's slightly more worrying...
 
Nice job.
How are you digitizing these?
 
I scanned them with an Epson V550

Good lord. I can't get anywhere close to that level of sharpness with my V550. Have to use an X-T2 ghetto scanner. And they're quite big scans... [/jealous]
 
Good lord. I can't get anywhere close to that level of sharpness with my V550. Have to use an X-T2 ghetto scanner. And they're quite big scans... [/jealous]

I can’t say I do anything special! Just plonk then in the holder and scan away. I remember watching a vid about scanning negs and he talked about there being little plastic spacers which fine tune the distance the film is from the scanner bed, which affects the sharpness as it has a fixed focus distance. I think he was using V600 and I don’t think the V550 holder facilitates them. But it might be something as simple as that? I don’t see why you wouldn’t get the same sharpness as mine.
 
@Harlequin565
I reckon we need to pay @Tom Pinchenzo a visit, strap him to a chair and torture him until he gives up his secret :exit::LOL:

I'll be darned if I can get scans like that ( V700)!:sulk:
 
Good lord. I can't get anywhere close to that level of sharpness with my V550. Have to use an X-T2 ghetto scanner. And they're quite big scans... [/jealous]

You should be able to get decent 35mm scans from the V550. How do you scan them and what settings do you use?

e.g. this is a V550 scan.


FILM - Traveler pickup
by fishyfish_arcade, on Flickr
 
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I am considering selling my V700 because home scanning is horrendous for me. Can't get anything close to those with 35mm or 120.
 
How do you scan them and what settings do you use?

Don't wish to hijak the OP's thread but I've tried everything: Betterscanning holders, on the glass, multiple settings, Silverfast, Epson standard software, lots of research... I've read the threads on here (including yours Nige), absorbed, tried, and failed. Maybe I've got a duff scanner. It's good for contact sheets, and that's about it. My photos look pretty good at 1" x 3/4" :)
 
I'm very happy with the scans I get from a V500.
me too ….I just slap em in and push the button ,,mind you I only use them instead of doing a contact sheet ,I don't print from them so I don't know what they would look like printed .
 
I've always been happy with the scans from a whole succession of Epson flatbeds over the last 16 years. One of the very early scans from an RZ67 negative when printed at A3 showed more detail under my 4x loup than I could see with my naked eye, which was sharp enough for me.
 
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