Tutorial How to develop your first B&W film.

freecom2 said:
Fomapan is both a blessing and a curse for home developing. It's very difficult for a beginner, but if you can get Fomapan onto a developing reel, you can pretty much get anything onto a developing reel.

That's when more expensive, thicker film stocks such as Kodak and Ilford film really come good - makes developing far less hassle.
Click to expand...

Took me an average of 45 minutes (at least!) to get each one of the 3 Fomapan emulsions on my reel as they would either keep slipping off or kink (to the extent that on my first home development which was Fomapan 200, my dad ended up having to help me and had to cut one offending kink out of the film as it was so big the reel would not advance and then put the two halves on the reel!)

I'm tending to standardise on Kodak Tri-X or T-Max 400 now (still not sure what ISO 100 film yet though) and both of them definitely go on way easier.
 
Yeah, it's quite the learning experience alright. Cheap film is great till it leaves the camera and needs to be developed... then it's not so fantastic.
 
GP3 is actually ok right up until you want to scan it! the curl means it practically mounts itself in the spiral.
 
freecom2 said:
Fomapan is both a blessing and a curse for home developing. It's very difficult for a beginner, but if you can get Fomapan onto a developing reel, you can pretty much get anything onto a developing reel.

That's when more expensive, thicker film stocks such as Kodak and Ilford film really come good - makes developing far less hassle.
Click to expand...

I ended up cutting it in half - one part was so crinkled it had to be disposed of. I'll scan the results tonight, need to get my lightbox down from the attic!
 
Hi and merry Christmas folks! I am all ready to go with my kit as we speak. One noobie question though, my girlfriend got me Ilford rapid fixer but it says on the bottle its for film and paper. This is the right one isn't It?

Thanks :)
 
Yes it is but the dilutions are different for film and paper.

I can't remember whats what and at the moment I am to drunk as well :D
 
Knikki said:
Yes it is but the dilutions are different for film and paper.

I can't remember whats what and at the moment I am to drunk as well :D
Click to expand...

Drunken black ops later fella?!
 
norters said:
Hi and merry Christmas folks! I am all ready to go with my kit as we speak. One noobie question though, my girlfriend got me Ilford rapid fixer but it says on the bottle its for film and paper. This is the right one isn't It?
Click to expand...

Yup, that's the one. It lasts ages as well, I've gone through a few bottles of developer and I'm still less than halfway through my first bottle of Ilford rapid fixer. Check out 'clip tests' for judging how good your fix still is, it lasts ages (y)
 
freecom2 said:
Yup, that's the one. It lasts ages as well, I've gone through a few bottles of developer and I'm still less than halfway through my first bottle of Ilford rapid fixer. Check out 'clip tests' for judging how good your fix still is, it lasts ages (y)
Click to expand...

Cheers for that! Just about to pour out the rodinal and do stop and fix. Very excited. I was surprised how little trouble I had getting the film on the reel. I think I did it properly! Will find out in about half an hour!

Hoping they will be dry before eleven so I can scan before bed :)
 
simon ess said:
:LOL:

:clap:

Great, isn't it?

That's how I felt when I did my first a few months ago.
Click to expand...

It's a miracle! And a great money saver too. Local lab charges seven quid for dev only!
 
freecom2 said:
Seeing negatives come out of a tank you've poured a bunch of liquids into is magic!
Click to expand...

On close inspection there are a few over exposed areas on a few frames but I reckon I got a good twenty out of the roll.

I used rodinal semi stand 1+100 for an hour as a test. Going to try a more conventional method next time and see what I prefer.

Without the help of the f+c section I would have been totally baffled so thanks all!
 
Well on absolute impulse on my lunch break just now I popped into that well known camera shop and asked if they had any chemicals and the dude came back out with an uncollected customer order of Ilfotec DD-X that should do me for 16 films!

Proper caught the bug now! I have another roll of hp-5 in the house ready for development so I know what I'm doing when I get in!

I'm right in thinking that if I just put one reel at the bottom of my two reel tank then 300ml of solution is enough to do the one film? You don't have to fill the tank with solution for just one? I know it's a silly question!
 
norters said:
Well on absolute impulse on my lunch break just now I popped into that well known camera shop and asked if they had any chemicals and the dude came back out with an uncollected customer order of Ilfotec DD-X that should do me for 16 films!

Proper caught the bug now! I have another roll of hp-5 in the house ready for development so I know what I'm doing when I get in!

I'm right in thinking that if I just put one reel at the bottom of my two reel tank then 300ml of solution is enough to do the one film? You don't have to fill the tank with solution for just one? I know it's a silly question!
Click to expand...

Most tanks tell you on the bottom what amounts you need for different numbers of films.
 
cowasaki said:
Most tanks tell you on the bottom what amounts you need for different numbers of films.
Click to expand...

Just finished devving a roll. The bottom of my tank does indeed tell me to use 290ml for a roll but I have to admit I did use 300ml of the ddx. They are currently hanging to dry and on first inspection they do look ok :)

One more newbie question. This is the second time I have used diluted fixer which I am storing in a very well cleaned plastic bottle. Should I be extending the fixing time over the life of his particular dilution of fixer or will the ilford recommendation of two to five minutes do me until it is exhausted and i have to mix some more?

This thread has been an invaluable resource and I would like to say that k you again for all the very helpful information it includes.
 
norters said:
Just finished devving a roll. The bottom of my tank does indeed tell me to use 290ml for a roll but I have to admit I did use 300ml of the ddx. They are currently hanging to dry and on first inspection they do look ok :)

One more newbie question. This is the second time I have used diluted fixer which I am storing in a very well cleaned plastic bottle. Should I be extending the fixing time over the life of his particular dilution of fixer or will the ilford recommendation of two to five minutes do me until it is exhausted and i have to mix some more?

This thread has been an invaluable resource and I would like to say that k you again for all the very helpful information it includes.
Click to expand...

To be honest I'm a little wasteful with chemicals and don't tend to use them till they are dead. I'd rather use them less than recommended than spoil a film. Are you just developing your films and scanning them or are you going to be doing prints?
 
norters said:
One more newbie question. This is the second time I have used diluted fixer which I am storing in a very well cleaned plastic bottle. Should I be extending the fixing time over the life of his particular dilution of fixer or will the ilford recommendation of two to five minutes do me until it is exhausted and i have to mix some more?
Click to expand...

For HP5+? 2-5 minutes is probably more than enough, it won't take much fixing. You can do a clip test on it once you start using it a lot (I used my last batch of Ilford Rapid Fixer, 1+4 dilution, 12 times and that was with mostly Kodak T-Max, a film that requires a lot of fixing) to check if the fixer is still good.

You get the film leader, and drop a small amount of the fixer on it - see how long it takes for the fixer to clear it. Double the clearing time (or triple it for t-grain film like Kodak T-Max) and that's how long you should be ideally fixing for - if it's a long time (significantly more than stated on the bottle), then your fixer is exhausted.

But I will emphasise - fixer can be reused a lot.

p.s. just looked at my developing notes, on my current batch of fixer I've used it 16 times (with a bit of a top-up with fresh fixer) and it's still performing fine.
 
Last edited:
Wow thanks for the speedy replies! At the moment I am only scanning. When my girlfriend and I get out new place I plan to delve into printing as my friend has everything i need that she no longer uses and she told me it's mine when I want it!

Great info freecom2 :) I think I'll be using this batch for a good few more rolls yet!
 
if you're using 35mm, clip the end of the film into this shape...


Film leader cut off by The Big Yin, on Flickr

then take the bit you've cut off, pour some fix into the cap of the bottle, and put the cut off bit of film into the fix, and start a clock. Record the time that it takes to completely clear the film that's under the fix. Double this time, and it'll give you the time your "depleted" fix will take to be effective. If it takes longer than 10 minutes to clear the film, I usually throw the fix and make a new mix.

You can do the same with 120 film, cutting a sliver off the end of the film, but you'll need to do that inside the changing bag - at least with 35mm you can clip the film leader outside the bag, start the roll into the spool, then put the "assembly" into the bag as a unit!
 
norters said:
Great info freecom2 :) I think I'll be using this batch for a good few more rolls yet!
Click to expand...

This site has a nice image of it being done:

http://www.rogerandfrances.com/subscription/fixer exhaustion.html

On this point about re-use though, never go cheap on the developer - if it looks like it has gone off/long period of time, it is easier to mix up a fresh batch/buy a new bottle rather than potentially ruining a whole roll of film and 36 individual photos! If fixer does go off, on the other hand, you'll notice as soon as you open the developing tank, just put the film back in the tank and get some fresh fix to re-fix the film.
 
Last edited:
Fixer does indeed last a long time - I managed to get 10x rolls of 35mm Tri-X, 8 rolls of 120 Tri-X, 1 roll of of T-Max and 2 rolls of Acros out of 1 liter and 1+4 dilution.
 
I was taught at college (many years ago) fix for twice the clearing time plus 1 minute. If the clearing time of Hypam @ 1:4 exceeds 3 minutes mix up fresh stock. I still do this today even with my Alkaline Fixer.

If you really get into developing, you may want to start to mix your own developer and fix from the raw chemicals. I have now been doing this for about a year and am really impressed with the quality of my two developers. Caffenol CL for semi-stand developing and Pyrocat HD for my staining, rotary developer. I make up an Alkaline fixer TF-3.
 
A quick developing question - is there a guide anywhere for developing colour film in black and white chemicals? Timings etc.
 
What chemicals? I've done a dozen or so in Rodinal 1+100 for an hour. Its not pretty and I wouldn't use it for anything unless you need grain.
 
I've got Kodak D76. If it doesn't usually turn out well, I won't bother - was just curious!
 
Wow, they are really grainy, aren't they. Thanks for the tip, I'll stick with dropping films off at Asda! :p
 
Well my second roll was not as successful as my first! These were HP5+ again this time shot at 400 and devved in Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 for nine minutes. Now I'm not sure what I have done but they are all like this:



waterfront by rednorters, on Flickr

Oh well! Back to the drawing board!
 
You've overagitated it, developer moves through the sprocket holes quicker than other areas overdeveloping the areas it hits. I have a couple of rolls which look like that
 
robhooley167 said:
You've overagitated it, developer moves through the sprocket holes quicker than other areas overdeveloping the areas it hits. I have a couple of rolls which look like that
Click to expand...

I just watched a video on vimeo where I was told that as I only had 300ml of liquid in the tank I was adding more oxygen to it by tipping it up and over! I think next time instead of tipping it I'll gently invert it. Ah well, I'm learning as I go :)

Thank you!
 
Wow that's a lot! I only do 15 seconds of gentle agitation every 3 minutes when I'm not stand devving
 
robhooley167 said:
Wow that's a lot! I only do 15 seconds of gentle agitation every 3 minutes when I'm not stand devving
Click to expand...

I will try that! I was just following the ilford recommendation as I'm new to this and I do what I'm told!
 
If you want, I'll dig up the PDF I used when I taught people how to use the darkroom in my uni photography society, covers all of the aspects of developing film
 
robhooley167 said:
If you want, I'll dig up the PDF I used when I taught people how to use the darkroom in my uni photography society, covers all of the aspects of developing film
Click to expand...

That would be great, thank you!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top