Tutorial How to develop your first B&W film.

Anybody got any recommendations for specific bits of kit for developing, or an all in one kit? Ordered a Canoscan 9000f the other day and fancy having a blast at developing some films at home [35mm and 120] but a little confused on which reels for instance are the best. Any pointers, good suppliers?
 
Deckard said:
Anybody got any recommendations for specific bits of kit for developing, or an all in one kit? Ordered a Canoscan 9000f the other day and fancy having a blast at developing some films at home [35mm and 120] but a little confused on which reels for instance are the best. Any pointers, good suppliers?
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I will be adding some kit to my for sale thread later today including the film developing container with spools that do either.

You basically need a light tight bag or dark room; the developing container; something to open the film containers; measuring containers; thermometer and chemicals.

I have a dark room but find the bag so much easier, these can be found on ebay for about £10-15. A can opener will do for opening the film cans, you do also need a pair of scissors but I found a pair of scissors with a can opener at ikea for less than £2. Measuring cylinders are cheap off ebay and it is easiest if you actually get 3, one for each chemical.
 
Thanks Darren. I noted that Paterson do a kit with most things in for around £80, only it comes with 3 trays which I'm unlikely to use if I only scan the negs, but you never know if I might try some wet printing I guess. I'm lucky to have a useable cellar at home, so pretty much have a ready made darkroom already. I'll keep my eyes peeled for your thread later too.
 
There's a kit sold by eBayer 'Unitol2' I think, it has everything you need for developing (patterson tank, reel, three measuring jugs, thermometer etc) for about £40; I sent a PM to another member with an exhaustive kit list which I'll copy here later.

Cheers
ped
 
Here we go!

This is what I bought - all I needed to ass was a film picker (prefer that to the tin opener), some scissors and some film hanging weights (though I used brown tape and clothes pegs for a while!)

Here's the changing bag link, I can't remember which exactly I got; mine was about £20?
http://shop.ebay.co.uk/sis.html?_kw...rkroom+film+changing+bag+4x5&_id=280583850078

This is the kit I bought
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/FILM-PROCESSI...raphy_DarkroomSupplies_SM&hash=item484051697a

And these are the chemicals I bought
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/FILM-PROCESSI...raphy_DarkroomSupplies_SM&hash=item484051697a

Only other thing I added was some de-ionised water to rinse the negs.

Cheers!
ped
 
TheBigYin said:
A bit like this ?
...
I understand my problem was caused by Bromide Drag... came about due to insufficient agitation while using perceptol at stock concentrations.
...
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Note, too, that bromide drag can be caused by agitation that is insufficient in turbulent flow. In other words you could agitate more but if that agitation is laminar in nature, the developer is never really replenished sufficiently on areas of the film.
 
I was lucky, found my dad's old Patterson tank that he used before he met my mother (about thirty years ago). Still in it's box, good as it was the day it was bought :)
 
thanks for the effort of putting this together, but I just have a few questions.....

Bearing in mind I will only be shooting film occasionally, what quantities of chemicals should I be looking at buying (don't want to end up with out of shelf life chemicals if I buy too much) for starters?

thanks

Paul
 
Paul - I'd get hold of something like Rodinal - it keeps for years. Ilford Stop and Fix (500ml stock) last for yonks if you keep them in airtight containers.

Oh - and if you're after a changing bag, put up a wanted request in the classifieds, rather than in here ;)
 
TheBigYin said:
Paul - I'd get hold of something like Rodinal - it keeps for years. Ilford Stop and Fix (500ml stock) last for yonks if you keep them in airtight containers.

Oh - and if you're after a changing bag, put up a wanted request in the classifieds, rather than in here ;)
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Thanks, I was looking at Rodinal as i've heard that is gives fantastic results with the APX films, just wasn't sure about the rest and what quantities....

..I did request in the wanted section, but it's been resigned to the depths after only a few days, i'll try giving it a bump

thanks again
 
Rodinal does keep for years, it doesn't once mixed - although since it's a liquid you can just mix small amounts as and when you need them.
 
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antihero said:
thanks for the effort of putting this together, but I just have a few questions.....

Bearing in mind I will only be shooting film occasionally, what quantities of chemicals should I be looking at buying (don't want to end up with out of shelf life chemicals if I buy too much) for starters?

thanks

Paul
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Paul,

You only live 5 miles down the road. If you want to pop round next week and have a chat about film and processing let me know. I might have some chemicals you can take a sample away to play with.
 
Hi,

I've just read through the thread, and I don't think I've seen this tip anywhere, but apologies if I've missed it.

When I used to develop films many years ago, I used to rewind the film in my Nikon FM carefully so that I could feel when it came off the sprocket but had not yet been fully wound into the film cannister. This meant that I could cut the end of the film into a nice curve, missing sprocket holes etc., in the light. I would then take that film and the developing tank into the darkroom and finish the job.

I've just bought all the stuff I need to get going again - hence my visit to this thread. I still have the Nikon FM - It was a 14th birthday present 31 years ago!
 
hey all - hope this is in the right place... scanners? Can I use a regular flatbed scanner, or will that not work for negs? I bought a little "negative scanner" from a boot fair - it's just a webcam in a box, I think. Are either any good/both crap? :p
 
mothdust said:
hey all - hope this is in the right place... scanners? Can I use a regular flatbed scanner, or will that not work for negs? I bought a little "negative scanner" from a boot fair - it's just a webcam in a box, I think. Are either any good/both crap? :p
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A new thread would have been most appropriate but it doesn't matter. You can't use a normal flatbed scanner as you need light to go through the negative to create a normal image. Lots of flatbed scanners have a light top to them which does this. Look at stuff like the Epson V500
 
mothdust said:
hey all - hope this is in the right place... scanners? Can I use a regular flatbed scanner, or will that not work for negs? I bought a little "negative scanner" from a boot fair - it's just a webcam in a box, I think. Are either any good/both crap? :p
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Crap with a capital C those little negative scanners, they are just webcams mounted in a box and they produce very poor quality scans.
 
s162216 said:
Crap with a capital C those little negative scanners, they are just webcams mounted in a box and they produce very poor quality scans.
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Agreed with a capital A :LOL:

I was given one by a friend who'd tried it and given up on it - his words were "Maybe you can get something useable out of this, i've wasted 2 weeks trying to get a single decent scan of anything and failed dismally - if it won't work for you bin it!"

I struggled along for a while before realising my mate was right - ended up I was so frustrated with it, I unplugged it and threw it out of the upstairs office window!

Terrible, Terrible things - if you want budget slide/negative scanning look out for something like the Epson 2480 - should pick one up for £20 or so on fleabay...
 
I spent £200-300 on a slide/neg scanner a while ago (can't remember what it was now but it would be on here somewhere) and it was absolute rubbish. I have had absolutely no issues whatsoever with the Epson V500 which was about £130 if I remember rightly and it scans any sized neg whatsoever unto 11"x9" ! plus is obviously also does normal scanning of pics etc.
 
I have just bought my FP4 from a well known small shop, along with developer and fixer etc, what amazes me unless I am wrong is that they sent me Ilford multigrade developer for FP4 :bang:

Surely, can this develope film I thought it would be ID11 or Ilfosol am I right

Thanks
 
Multigrade is a paper developer and not for film. I use Ilfosol 3 for my Ilford film and 400 films in general.
 
Well you can develop it in lots of stuff (just not Multigrade). XTOL, D76, Rodinal R09, T-Max Dev, Ilfosol 3, DD-X, Diafine...
 
Thanks both, thought that, as I said I used to use Patterson universal years ago, am amazed that a photo shop sent me this knowing I was doing film.

Thanks again
 
My system 4 tank arrived today off ebay, mint, amazing, though I have seen a massive take up on equipment now, a year or so back processing gear was almost pennies, now cameras, darkroom and processing are shooting up.
 
JSER said:
My system 4 tank arrived today off ebay, mint, amazing, though I have seen a massive take up on equipment now, a year or so back processing gear was almost pennies, now cameras, darkroom and processing are shooting up.
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Certainly the trend I'm spotting. I bought my used (but minty) Paterson universal tank for £8 off eBay, I am trying to acquire another one but all of them are completing for like £15 sometimes!
 
I bought 3 darkrooms full of kit and had another given to me. I currently have 3 enlargers, a stack of cat litter trays taller than the cat and a box of film dev cans. Maybe I should open an ebay shop :LOL:
 
freecom2 said:
Certainly the trend I'm spotting. I bought my used (but minty) Paterson universal tank for £8 off eBay, I am trying to acquire another one but all of them are completing for like £15 sometimes!
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That is what I paid, though I got a second mint for £6 inc post today, but even force film washers in tat condition ate £5 plus, what is this a return to the good old days because more and more people appear to be going "film", one shop siad Mono flies off the shelves even 100' rolls, and the price of the one loader I could not afford once the used Watson loaders are £19 plus

I bet that the companies like Patterson (whatever), Ilford etc are beginning to see that sticking with it was a good idea after all.
 
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If your developing more than one roll of film in a tank do you add any compensation to the time? I thought I'd read something on a datasheet about this but can't find it now.
 
I think your referring to how you have to adjust the dev time by X% when reusing the stock solution each time because obviously the developer will start to get used up more every time you use it so an increase in time is needed.
 
just how much can you touch undeveloped film? Im just practicing with a spare 120 roll getting it off the reel and into the developing spool and i can do it with eyes closed now :) but im touching it a lot in doing so, specifically getting the leading edge onto the spool.

So long as its pitch dark is it fairly touchable at this stage or not at all?
 
well - with 120 film, you've generally a couple of inches of film either end of the roll that hasn't actually got a picture on it, so I wouldn't worry too much ;)
 
essexash said:
just how much can you touch undeveloped film? Im just practicing with a spare 120 roll getting it off the reel and into the developing spool and i can do it with eyes closed now :) but im touching it a lot in doing so, specifically getting the leading edge onto the spool.

So long as its pitch dark is it fairly touchable at this stage or not at all?
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There's about an inch at either end of the film which can be handled a bit rougher, but in general you should avoid touching the emulsion side (inside the roll) as much as possible. Carefully touching the non-emulsion side should be fine and you might find necessary to ensure the film is progressing onto the spiral.

Sometimes things get tricky, though, so make sure your hands are as clean and dry as possible before trying to load film in case you get in a tangle (and wear gloves for the chemical stages).

Edit - dagnabbit! beaten by someone else two posts in a row!
 
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Just try to touch as little as possible, in general. My first developed roll was more fingerprints than photos, but with practice your roll will be fingerprint free.
 
just done my first roll, its hanging in the bathroom drying now. And theres an image on the strip! tis black magick i tell e'

Trickiest bit was getting it off the roll and onto the dev spool. My test roll didnt twang around quite so much and getting the little strip of sticky tape off the end of the roll was a bit of a mare, but made it in the end.
 
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Best to practice a good few times with a naff old out of date colour roll valued at 50p before you spoil any decent film. Luckily every film I've done has worked out because of the time I spent practicing first. I was lucky enough that another member on here sent me some old colour film for me to try with first. I am so busy at the moment that I have not had chance to use my film kit. The real alchemy bit starts when you develop your own prints :D
 
heres a quicky, how can you tell if youve over developed the negative or over exposed the shot in the first place? Are they different "looks" to the end result?
 
Alastair said:
You can buy a basic RO unit from about £60 from someone like Osmotics. They're slow to produce any volume at low water pressures (a booster pump increases the production rate and increases efficiency). For every litre of "good" water there is about 3 litres of waste - the waste can be used in the garden, for flushing the loo, etc.

The only downside is that DI water is "hungry" after being stripped of all dissolved ions, RO without a DI stage might be better, otherwise there are treatments that can re-ionise the water.
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I used to live in a very high calcium water area and it used to leave chalky deposits on my negs. I was recommended by a lecturer , when doing an A level in Photography at night school, to use something like Calgon in a large pan of water then filter it through coffee filters to get rid of the sequestered calcium.

It was seriously chalky water though.
 
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