Shopping list for home development film

I don't use changing bag, dark room is enough for me. But I have to watch for light leaks around door edge if it's not evening....

I also don't use large measure jars, small measure glass is enough for me to take needed amounts of concentrates.

I skip stop bath as my times are long, don't use wetting agent.

Essentially I have and use - developer, rapid fixer, funnel, dedicated jar to mix chemicals, tank&reels, thermometer, small piece of chamois leather to remove excess water from film.
 
Your welcome. I use the cheap-o metal bottle/ can opener. I can't comment on the other equipment as I use SS reels and tanks. Chemistry is a personal choice. Right now I use HC110 and Rodinal simply because it's a one-shot mixture. I avoid shelf life issues that way.

The problem is, you're going to like this. I just ordered 75 rolls of film - and I'm thinking of ordering a 400' roll of movie film. I NEVER thought I would shoot this much film. I still love my digital cameras, but b&w film grows on you.
 
I'm glad the bottle opener got covered. That and a pair of small scissors, preferrably with rounded tips so they don't either stab you or cut through the changing bag. Everything else is in this picture:

filmdevelopingkit.jpg
 
1. Get a steel encased thermometer.
2. Stringe because you only need very little wetting agent ( I used 4.5ml per 900ml ). Been awhile since I last used DDX, but I remember using a 50ml stringe as well.
3. 3 X 1 litre pitchers, for each dev, stop and batch. I wash the dev pitcher and use it for wetting agent.
4. This one is a sensitive issue for folks here, but when I started, I used ball bearing plastic reels. Works great until it gets dirty, then it's terrible. Bought some Hewes stainless steel and can't recommend it enough. However, some plastic tanks with middle core might not be compatible with stainless steel.

Have fun.
Regards
TJ
 
I find my bag to be more than adequate. The tent would require more space to use, and may be harder to store. My bag rolls up into the same space required by a shirt. I have used it in the field to retrieve infrared film from my camera, and once to get a roll out of a camera that came off the spool in the cassette.

I'd also change the chemicals a bit. I know that rapid fixer sounds like you are taking a short cut, but actually rapid fixer is (in most cases) technically superior to 'regular' fixer. Regular fixer (as you have in your cart) uses sodium thiosulfate. It's the thiosulfate part that does the work. Rapid fixer uses ammonium thiosulfate. This non-metal containing fixer requires less time to fix, and less time to wash out than does regular fixer. And some materials REQUIRE ammonium sulfate to completely fix.

And indicator stop bath ... it's unnecessarily expensive. Stop bath is not needed at all, but is preferred by some people. It is 5% acetic acid, which, coincidentally, so is distilled or white vinegar. Or you can buy 28% acetic acid and a bit of phenolphthalein indicator and mix your own. But vinegar is so cheap (compared to developer and fixer) that you can just one-shot it along with your developer.

Finally the funnel and syringe ... Buy a funnel at the grocery store for a buck. Or develop your ability to pour from a large mouth into a narrower one. This skill will come in handy, and might prevent contamination due to a dirty funnel. And a 12 mL syringe is going to be too small for the HC110 if you ever plan on developing two or more rolls at once (it'll work OK for a single roll.)

Dang, now THAT was way more than 78 words! :eek:
 
THANKS! :)


Chris101 said:
I find my bag to be more than adequate. The tent would require more space to use, and may be harder to store. My bag rolls up into the same space required by a shirt. I have used it in the field to retrieve infrared film from my camera, and once to get a roll out of a camera that came off the spool in the cassette.

I'd also change the chemicals a bit. I know that rapid fixer sounds like you are taking a short cut, but actually rapid fixer is (in most cases) technically superior to 'regular' fixer. Regular fixer (as you have in your cart) uses sodium thiosulfate. It's the thiosulfate part that does the work. Rapid fixer uses ammonium thiosulfate. This non-metal containing fixer requires less time to fix, and less time to wash out than does regular fixer. And some materials REQUIRE ammonium sulfate to completely fix.

And indicator stop bath ... it's unnecessarily expensive. Stop bath is not needed at all, but is preferred by some people. It is 5% acetic acid, which, coincidentally, so is distilled or white vinegar. Or you can buy 28% acetic acid and a bit of phenolphthalein indicator and mix your own. But vinegar is so cheap (compared to developer and fixer) that you can just one-shot it along with your developer.

Finally the funnel and syringe ... Buy a funnel at the grocery store for a buck. Or develop your ability to pour from a large mouth into a narrower one. This skill will come in handy, and might prevent contamination due to a dirty funnel. And a 12 mL syringe is going to be too small for the HC110 if you ever plan on developing two or more rolls at once (it'll work OK for a single roll.)

Dang, now THAT was way more than 78 words! :eek:
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