home developing but which film

ped

ped

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Hi guys

I know this question has probably been asked so so many times already and I have had a look at lost of threads, but as it's such a personal thing I found it hard to find exactly what I was after.

So, I want to start developing my own film (not printing just yet, though)

First off, is it easier to home develop C41 B+W film, or something like HP5 B+W film (and what's that processing called?)

Secondly, which starter kit should I buy? Being a bit impatient and a one fix find of person I'm looking at buying all the bits together. I made a saving on the printing equipment as someone at work gave me the full kit for that side of things, so I don't mind spending £50 or so on a starter kit to get me up and running.

I have seen starter kits on the web but as I'm not sure which type of film is easiest to start with I'm not sure which to buy, and which chemicals I'll need to go with. I'm after one with a changing bag and one of those tanks I can leave in my sink as I don't have a darkroom available to me at present.

So, if anyone could kindly furbish me with said linkage and advice to get me up and running I would be very grateful, and remember, keep it simple.

(if it helps, I have the following chemicals already: Kodak polymax developer http://www.firstcall-photographic.co.uk/products/530/kodak-polymax-developer-500-ml Ilford Hypam http://www.ilfordphoto.com/products/product.asp?n=41 though I assume this stuff is for printing rather than developing?)

Cheers and sorry if I'm asking a pant wettingly stupid and misguided question

Yours
ped
 
go for "normal" black and white rather than C41 (which is really colour negative chemistry, that has been co-opted for the chromagenic b&W's like XP2+)

This guy on ebay has kits for hardware and chemicals, and is pretty good to deal with - may well combine postage if you ask nice...

I bought a changing bag from here - a bit dearer than the chinese jobs, but it's a good cotton one, some of the cheaper ones are nylon, and a great way of loading your film with dust via static :shrug:
 
Thanks for the links. Looks good, and thanks for the advice on the changing bag, too.

I'm still a little confused about the order I would do things with such a kit (using three types of chemicals etc) but I am willing to learn... Could you break it down for me?

ped
 
Pop film in a reel in dark room, Insert into tank and put lid on. Lights on now.
Pour Developer in, wait for time as stated on instructions.
pour out dev, pour in water or Stop bath.
Pour out stop, Pour in Fixer, leave for 3 mins.
Rinse with fairy.
Look at negs :)

Job done. It may seem daunting first time but really is as simple as making a cappuccino.
 
Superb, thanks Sam. Come to think of it I bookmarked a page with some instructions a while ago that got deleted and that sounds the same.

Looking forward to trying it - next I'll ask about printing :)

ped
 
nope - the chemicals are for paper developing - the link i made to chem's will cover it though!

edit:
sorry - i was a little rushed - I think that the Kodak polymax can be used for certain specialist film use, and Hypam will work fine as a film fix at 1+4. To be honest though, the ones I linked to are a good starter kit, and fit in well with the instructions in the obligatory Ilford PDF - Processing your first B&W film
 
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I have started with Ilford HP5+ I'll post my results in a day or so :)
 
TheBigYin said:
go for "normal" black and white rather than C41 (which is really colour negative chemistry, that has been co-opted for the chromagenic b&W's like XP2+)

This guy on ebay has kits for hardware and chemicals, and is pretty good to deal with - may well combine postage if you ask nice...

I bought a changing bag from here - a bit dearer than the chinese jobs, but it's a good cotton one, some of the cheaper ones are nylon, and a great way of loading your film with dust via static :shrug:
Click to expand...

I'm in the wrong job if you can get away with charging that much for B+W chemicals :eek:
 
^^ What he said... if there's a cheaper supplier let us know!
 
well - in fairness, the ebay guy's not the cheapest supplier - Ag Photographic for example are cheaper, but it was a way of posting a single link for a pretty balanced set of chemicals as a starter pack.
 
Right this is kinda a thread hijack but you will hopefully find it helpful:

I have run HP5+ in Paterson AcuLux for 11 mins, I have found dev times of both 11mins (digital truth) and later I found 13mins suggested by someone else. my pics have turned out rather dark, is this due to under development?

Untitled-2.jpg
 
How have you got them from negs into a digital image? A little PS would bring that right up.....
 
puggie said:
Right this is kinda a thread hijack but you will hopefully find it helpful:

I have run HP5+ in Paterson AcuLux for 11 mins, I have found dev times of both 11mins (digital truth) and later I found 13mins suggested by someone else. my pics have turned out rather dark, is this due to under development?

Untitled-2.jpg
Click to expand...


Can you post a pic of the negs held up against a widow/lightbox, only real way to tell if development is an issue.
 
SparkUK said:
How have you got them from negs into a digital image? A little PS would bring that right up.....
Click to expand...

What he said... exposure looks OK, and if the dev time is a little on the low side then you would burn a bit longer in the enlarger (or in this case, give it a tweak with the package of your choice :LOL:)

Tweaked and descratched...

boosted.jpg
 
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I've un crossed my cross so please feel free to display that image. Hopefully the OP can learn from my mistakes :)

on closer reading 11 min is for aculux3 (digital truth dev chart) I have plain old aculux and the bit of paper in the bottom of the box suggests 13min for HP5+. SO just to confirm, that extra 2 minutes would lighten up the negs a bit more, BUT I could over expose on the enlarger to get the brightness back.

I'll post up a photo of the neg once I've found a USB lead :)

AG-Photographic is £7.95 post for 3l of chemicals some film and paper, cos that is where I got mine :)
 
puggie said:
I've un crossed my cross so please feel free to display that image. Hopefully the OP can learn from my mistakes :)

on closer reading 11 min is for aculux3 (digital truth dev chart) I have plain old aculux and the bit of paper in the bottom of the box suggests 13min for HP5+. SO just to confirm, that extra 2 minutes would lighten up the negs a bit more, BUT I could over expose on the enlarger to get the brightness back.

I'll post up a photo of the neg once I've found a USB lead :)

AG-Photographic is £7.95 post for 3l of chemicals some film and paper, cos that is where I got mine :)
Click to expand...

It'll be £7.95 for courier delivery for any of the developing chemicals, because Royal Mail won't take liquids (if they know about it) - I know a few places do send stuff out via RM, but most places now have to ship via couriers. Thats part of the reason why if i've just needed Dev, I've bought one of the powder ones (ID-11, perceptol) - I begrudge spending more on the courier than the goods themselves!
 
I'm not a photoshop expert, far from it, but a quick nudge in levels to get the whites white, rather than grey makes a big difference, this is literally two or three seconds to do. We do really need to see your negs though. This makes it look better but you won't be getting the best out of your film if you're not exposing and developing properly.

5145545690_620237bbc6_z.jpg


(I've nicked Ambermiles idea of doing half of it for comparison)
 
coo - lookit all dem scratches :LOL:

To be fair, it *is* underexposed camera-wise... check the lack of detail in the shadows.
 
I pushed the black up a bit if I'm honest but that's my preference. Scratches? Don't get me started..... and as for cat hairs..... is it illegal to wax a cat?
 
I really do need a clean drying area for negs, I was a little annoyed yesterday :)
This thread was about film wasn't it originally?

OP If I were you then I'd get say ten or more rolls on one type of film and one sort of chemicals. I'd base this choice on looking on Flickr or somewhere for different films in different developers etc. Then I'd experiment with those rather than keep trying different ones. My $0.02
 
Pics of Negs:

IMG_6276.JPG


IMG_6277.JPG


I am pretty confident I have under developed by 2 mins.

This is my picasa page of film bits if you want to download the full size versions.

http://picasaweb.google.com/Backhouse78/PentaxFilmStuff#

EDIT: the scratches are down to another mistake. I put the film down on a sheet of paper and it stuck to it, so despite re-washing there is still bits stuck to the film and I have probably damaged it from the re-washing.
 
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Puggie Going by the top set of negs they look to be OK, the last 3 shots of the car my be under exposed a little-but should print.
Mark
 
Edtog said:
ID11 http://www.ag-photographic.co.uk/ilford-id11-1l-353-p.asp £4.69
Stop http://www.ag-photographic.co.uk/ilford-ilfostop-500ml-587-p.asp £4.49
Fixer http://www.ag-photographic.co.uk/ilford-rapid-fixer-500ml-815-p.asp £6.95

P+P £7.50

Total £23.63 ;)
Click to expand...

If your paying £7.50 postage then you might as well go to Firstcall and get their cheap fix and stop. MILES cheaper than Ilford and just as good. I also use their cheap dev but thats personal choice. You can grab some Legacy Pro while your there @ £2 a pop!
 
Very interesting reading, thanks.

Changing bag arrived today, got a very nice quality one as I intend to use it a lot!

My chemicals and so on should be coming to work soon so I better load up the HP5!

ped
 
I'm planning on having a bash with the rollei 100 next as its cheap... £18 for 10 rolls from ag-photographic.
 
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