Venturing into developing my B&W films myself

Ellie Jones

Ellie Jones

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I'm just getting into B&W film photography, sent my first film to the lab for developing, printing and scanning, I know I could lower the costs by not ordering the prints, but alas sca's seem to be Jpeg, and if you want high resolution then it still remains costly. So hubby is encouraging me to develop myself etc.

Even though I do really want to, I don't think I'm ready to go for the full darkroom, enlarger route quite yet so I'm looking at starting off developing then scaning

The suppliers I will use, is going to be Firstcall photography as I can arranged to collect due to being near.

They do a couple of beginner's kits

Cheapest is £40, with chemicals that can develop 10 films,

- a Paterson Universal two film tank with two spirals
- a thermometer
- a 25 ml measuring cylinder
- 100 ml of ADONAL film developer
- 100 ml of ADOFIX Fixer
- 50 ml of ADOLFO wetting agent
- an exposed film to rehearse the film spooling process

Next is two other kits,


next up, you get the kit for both developing and printing, various tongs and trays etc but no chemicals

then they have one more expensive again, but has safelight etc

I do attend to buy a scanner, 3 options I looking at are

Plustek 8100 or the 8200i (the later I'm thinking about the hoards of b&w/Colour negatives from my parents photograph negatives I inherited possible scanning/restoring and sharing with my siblings)

or the epson V600 (I'd prefer the V800, but cost puts me off)

The other option I've got is to

Purchase the basics, plus things like changing bag (easier than sorting out a darkroom affair) and getting separate chemicals

But what would be a good chemical for developing the ifford HP5 film.

As to the darkroom items, I'm stalling at the moment on one hand I want the ability to print old fashioned proper photographs, learn the dodging/burning etc. But not quite ready for that leap of faith, so rather go digital scanning/editing to start..

So any advice best way forward, and advice of best chemicals etc. would be gratefully received


P.S . sorry for long post
 
If you are going to go larger than 35mm the epson is the only sensible option, imo.

For the kit, you could save a bit of money (probably) buying used tanks and reels from ebay. For chemicals, fixer doesn't really matter just get what ever, but for developer I'd get something popular like Rodinal* its easier to get help than when you're using more esoteric soup.

*Having checked Adonal is just a different formulation of Rodinal so its probably fine.
 
I'd definitely suggest getting the basic equipment and change bag and then buying your own chemicals. I have a couple of 600ml and a 100ml measuring cylinders, thermometer and tank. For storing stop bath and fixer I use cheap plastic (disposable) bottles that bottled water comes in. I usually mix up a litre of each.

I'd also suggest looking at the Massive Dev. Chart - https://www.digitaltruth.com/devchart.php - to see if your film/developer combo is on there (and if you have a suitable smartphone get the Massive Dev. Chart app to help with the developing times.)

Personally I mainly use Kodak HC110 developer for B&W because the concentrate has a very long shelf life and I don't develop very often. I also use a stop bath but not everyone does. If you do go down the HC110 route buy some syringes off ebay, they make measuring 9ml or 16ml of the concentrate a lot easier (a chemist might supply some if you don’t do ebay).
 
I can't see myself going any bigger than 35mm formatt, and most of the photographs from my parents were taken on a kodak instamatic (mum's first camera, and replacement was a 35mm point and shoot affair)

Ebay, I've avoid really don't trust it after being ripped off a couple of times when I sold my old stamp collection on there... So even though I'm happy to purchase second hand, I'd rather it be via local means.

Chemical is a bit of errm for me, so . so go with a popular for ease.

One way I'm quite excited as I love a challenge, but as saiid don't want to invest too much at this stage
 
Ellie Jones said:
I can't see myself going any bigger than 35mm formatt, and most of the photographs from my parents were taken on a kodak instamatic (mum's first camera, and replacement was a 35mm point and shoot affair)
Click to expand...

If you're absolutely sure you'll stick at 35mm then the dedicated 35mm scanners give better quality than flat beds and I think they're quicker.
 
Ellie Jones said:
I can't see myself going any bigger than 35mm formatt,
Click to expand...

We all said that......:D

I was definitely, absolutely, positively not going to get a medium format camera, fail number 1.

I was definitely, absolutely, positively not going to get a large format camera, fail number 2.

My advice is to future proof yourself a bit and go with Epson then if you do fall into a medium format hole you won't need to spend again to get something to scan it with.

Oh, and welcome to the funny, eccentric and pretty much always helpful and polite Film and Conventional Section (y):wave:
 
Andysnap said:
We all said that......:D

I was definitely, absolutely, positively not going to get a medium format camera, fail number 1.

I was definitely, absolutely, positively not going to get a large format camera, fail number 2.

My advice is to future proof yourself a bit and go with Epson then if you do fall into a medium format hole you won't need to spend again to get something to scan it with.

Oh, and welcome to the funny, eccentric and pretty much always helpful and polite Film and Conventional Section (y):wave:
Click to expand...

Thanks for the welcome..

Ermm, possible feature proofing might be an idea, as to be honest film came around after having a debate on whether film digital killed photography, having never used film I lacked support for my opinion, that digital has upped the anti rather than destroyed photography. So decided to buy 5 ifford HP5 films, obtained a Praktica BMS + Pentacon 50mm lens, What I hadn't anticipated was not only how much I enjoyed the really having to think about composition, exposure etc before hitting the shutter, but the benefits this has given me with my digital (my overall photography has improved) And I've not been a lover of B&W until I got my mitts on a film, something different about film than you achieve with digital

I actually did say, that I wouldn't pursue film after I finished my 5 films purchased, and def wouldn't be going down the self developing side of it all :LOL::LOL:

Now I find, hubby not only encouraging me, but he's waiting for me to decide, so that he can finally buy my birthday present (late but that's my fault) .
 
Hi Jo.

I have a spare tank and reel you can have. I got a bunch off eBay. The tank is an old Jobo one and it's a bit squeaky but it works fine. The reel that comes with it is an older style which has no ball bearings to grip the film as you put it on the spiral so you kinda need to use your thumbs (was designed that way, it's not broken). Some of my students say this is "trickier" to use than the more modern Paterson spirals and I'd agree. But free is free :) It's a small tank that only does 1 roll of 35 or 120 whereas the smaller Paterson tanks will also generally do 2 rolls of 35mm at once. If If your husband is determined to pay for new though, you can pretend you didn't see this :)

I'd avoid Adonal/Rodinal for HP5. I use Rodinal because it has so many dilutions, a long shelf life, is cheap, has entries against almost every film in the Massive Dev Chart, and gets me excellent results on low ISO (100 or lower) film. However (In My Opinion) Rodinal exacerbates grain on higher speed films (400 or higher) and whilst everyone raves about HP5 I hate the stuff because I get what I'd call "bad" results from using it. I did get some Ilfosol to try with HP5 but I haven't done it yet. Others may chime in on this, but I thought it worth mentioning. If you're sticking with hp5, then I think HC110 is good advice from @sirch above.

If you want the tank & spiral, drop me a PM with somewhere I can send it to. It'll be snail-mail.
And welcome to the F&C section!
 
steveo_mcg said:
If you're absolutely sure you'll stick at 35mm then the dedicated 35mm scanners give better quality than flat beds and I think they're quicker.
Click to expand...

I've got a Plustek 8100 and, while it gives me better results than my Epson V550 flatbed, it's considerably slower because you can only do a single 6 frame strip at a time, and you have to manually advance it each frame as well. I'd say it takes me around three hours to scan 36 frames. The extra time is worth it though, IMO.

Something like a Pakon on the other hand... :)
 
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Future proofing is definitely a good idea. When I started in photography, anything bigger than 35mm was way out of my price range. Now, larger formats are affordable (although second hand prices are rising).

I'm not at home at the moment, so I can't check, but I have a Jobo tank (modern) that can handle 5x4 and 10x8. And I suspect, with the right reels , 35mm and 120. I thought 120 was my limit on size, until I had a 5x4 recommended/demonstarated in a shop where I'd gone to buy film. I now think 10x8 is my limit...
 
Harlequin565 said:
Hi Jo.

I have a spare tank and reel you can have. I got a bunch off eBay. The tank is an old Jobo one and it's a bit squeaky but it works fine. The reel that comes with it is an older style which has no ball bearings to grip the film as you put it on the spiral so you kinda need to use your thumbs (was designed that way, it's not broken). Some of my students say this is "trickier" to use than the more modern Paterson spirals and I'd agree. But free is free :) It's a small tank that only does 1 roll of 35 or 120 whereas the smaller Paterson tanks will also generally do 2 rolls of 35mm at once. If If your husband is determined to pay for new though, you can pretend you didn't see this :)
Click to expand...

And this is why this place is my favourite forum, there's such generosity and support here.

I'd avoid Adonal/Rodinal for HP5. I use Rodinal because it has so many dilutions, a long shelf life, is cheap, has entries against almost every film in the Massive Dev Chart, and gets me excellent results on low ISO (100 or lower) film. However (In My Opinion) Rodinal exacerbates grain on higher speed films (400 or higher) and whilst everyone raves about HP5 I hate the stuff because I get what I'd call "bad" results from using it. I did get some Ilfosol to try with HP5 but I haven't done it yet. Others may chime in on this, but I thought it worth mentioning. If you're sticking with hp5, then I think HC110 is good advice from @sirch above.
Click to expand...

Completely agree, I use Rodinal a lot, but I tend to use something else once the speed picks up (except Delta 400, I love that in Rodinal]

If you want the tank & spiral, drop me a PM with somewhere I can send it to. It'll be snail-mail.
And welcome to the F&C section!
Click to expand...

You not just gonna email the tank? :LOL:
 
Harlequin565 said:
The reel that comes with it is an older style which has no ball bearings to grip the film as you put it on the spiral so you kinda need to use your thumbs
Click to expand...
I find those reels easier TBH and if (when) the film gets stuck you can work it round using the thumb slots
 
A lot of good advice already been given so I haven’t a lot to add tbh.
I am a tad frustrated though in that only a month since I gave away locally ( I live in France) 2 complete dev tanks , a changing bag, measuring solution container, and jugs along with some film clips all suitable for 35mm or 120 format film.
I would have just as happily boxed up and sent in your direction to get you started.
If I come across any other useful bits I’ll let you know!
 
Sorry I haven't replied earlier, busy and forgot

thank you all for you kind offers of kit, but I've been given some basic kit from a friend to get me started.

I shall start a new thread with my endeavours
 
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