Anyone dev their B&W film while traveling?

[Siluro]

I am starting to plan for my 'big trip', I will be traveling to various places around the world for ~6 months beginning in June (yay!).

I will be shooting mostly (possibly all) b&w and I am trying to decide whether I
a) carry all my film around and dev it when I get home, or
b) carry some basic dev. equipment with me and buy chemicals when possible.

Has anyone here carried a tank, spools, measuring cups, thermometer etc. with them while traveling? I have traveled with 30 odd rolls of film before, but that has been for a month at a time, I am trying not to do the maths on how many rolls I am going to need for 180 days...

Although I have never had a problem with x-ray scanning etc before, 6 months is an awful lot of airports. Any tips?

 

[whitecat]

I have found myself shooting alot of chromogenic film lately. I develop it at a one hour place and have it put on CD. No prints. Very handy if you're xray conscious.

 

[Harry Lime]

Yes, I develop my b/w film in hotel bathrooms.
I take along a changing bag, stainless steel tank, measuring beaker, small scale, a piece of string and a handful of clothespins.

I would also take raw chemicals, but am worried that in this crazy day and age they will be mistaken for god knows what and I will find myself with a one way ticket to the nearest gulag.

I have considered taking commercially packaged Xtol or D76, but don't want to mix more than 1 liter at a time. Maybe Kodak HC-110 is the ticket, as it was designed for exactly this purpose; photojournalists on the road. Rodinal doens't work for me as I tend to shoot Tri-X and this combo tends to come out too grainy.

The other option is to buy raw chemicals at your destination and mix up something simple like Stoekler 2-bath or a variation there of. This would be my ideal solution as I prefer 2-bath developers.

Other than that all I can suggest is to either keep the amount of times your film is xrayed to a minimum or send it home via FedEx.

 

[Nigel Meaby]

I'll second Harry. I prefer to process as I go. You can then see if you've got the shots before you move on. Easier to try and re-take than have to return! I would also recommend buying a small digital thermometer like you would use in the kitchen with a metal prong. Less likely to get broken on your travels. Dev tank etc may be a little bulky to carry but at least they are fairly light. Which countries are you planning on visiting?

 

[Siluro]

Hmmm, some things to think about. I hadn't thought of string, and a digital thermometer would be a good idea, so they are now officially 'on the list'.

I am also worried about chemicals going through customs, so I am hoping to pick some up when possible.

I am going to the US, Canada, UK, all over continental Europe, and with any luck, spend some time in North Africa. Will be stopping at any place in Europe that I can get a short-term job working with the locals - always an interesting way to see a place.

 

[Nigel Meaby]

In the UK a good place to check out for all your supplies is Silverprint http://www.silverprint.co.uk/

 

[Siluro]

Thanks for the ideas, and more importantly, the moral support in knowing that other people still bother to do this!

 

[Damaso]

I've never had any trouble taking chemicals through security, especially powdered ones. Basically developing on the road means taking an extra suitcase or bag with you to store your stuff and a film scanner. I don't know what the point of processing film is if you aren't going to scan it as well...

 

[sepiareverb]

I've not done this in a long time, but used to run 4x5 sheet & roll film in Motel 6 bathrooms. Motel 6 is a chain here in the US with bathrooms that have no windows. I had a wooden travel case that held 1 L bottles of chemistry and trays, plus a metal tank & reels. A string with plastic clothespins for drying.

 

[mr. mohaupt]

Hum... Looks like I will be doing some of this as well. My job has me traveling all over the country 4 days at a time.

Great thread!
~m

 

[abumac]

Rondinax could be the solution for you. Works very well. No Changing Bag, no Tank. All in one.

http://www.phototeka.it/images/rondinax.pdf

 

[MartinP]

Basically developing on the road means taking an extra suitcase or bag with you to store your stuff and a film scanner. I don't know what the point of processing film is if you aren't going to scan it as well...

The point of developing the film en-route is that you avoid damage from repeated airport x-rays to a large extent. The developed negs can be shipped home periodically, when one hits a country with good postal systems.

(Edit: oops, I missed the bit where the OP mentioned he was going to be visiting only Europe and North America. In this case chemicals and film are sufficiently available on location, especially if planned in advance, and one could just carry a tank etc.)

There is no need to scan film. Even if you wanted to scan at some future date, carrying a scanner on a long trip also implies carrying a computer so making the whole luggage load very cumbersome. From observation, the average amount of junk that people take seems to turn many trips into a baggage-handling expedition, rather than a holiday.

 

[Damaso]

Personally I have found that the whole x ray film fogging debate is a bit over rated. As long as you don't check your film I haven't found multiple x ray inspections to be a problem. At the same time always ask for a hand inspection when you can. A film scanner like a Nikon Coolscan isn't very heavy or bulky and I think a lot of people carry laptops these days regardless. As I said, I don't see the point of taking everything you need to process film and then not scanning it.

Of course, to each his own!

 

[Siluro]

I have also never had a (perceivable) problem with x-rays, but I have never traveled for more than a month without developing my negs before. The main reasons for wanting to develop are to make sure that everything is working okay and that I do not expose the film to too many x-rays. Remember, I am talking about 6 months of going in and out of airports regularly. I have tried the manual check thing before, but realistically after the first two or three inspections it gets very old, especially when 100 people are lined up behind you for a transfer in Dubai waiting to go through the gate. And when traveling from Western Australia, that is just the first leg of the journey...

As I have a SCSI film scanner, it will not be coming with me! In a perfect world I guess that I would like to take scanner but a) I do not want to carry any more than necessary and b) you can tell quite a lot from the negs anyway. As I will be staying with friends at various places I will probably try and make some crude proof sheets with flat bed scanners, but my trusty loupe can tell me the rest.

So far I have resolved to take the following:
- 2 reel tank, with 2 plastic convertible (135 & 120) reels.
- Digital thermometer.
- 1 litre measuring cup/jug.
- Changing bag.
- Scissors, can opener.
- Clothes pegs.
- 20cm hose pipe.

This will fit into a space 20cm x 15cm x 15cm in my checked in luggage 😎

I will probably try and pick up some Kodak T-Max dev. concentrate and Ilford fixer when I have enough unprocessed film to warrant it.

Thanks for all the replies!

 

[tmfabian]

i just pack the powdered chemicals, no worries about leaks and the store nice and flat in my luggage.
i usually bring along a changing bag an reels and just use the plastic hotel cups or emptied water bottles as mixing/pouring devices (i do a 1+1 mix of d76 so i just eyeball it.)

 

[Nigel Meaby]

If you are making up the dev as and when you need it you may also want to take something to measure small amounts of liquid such as a syringe or small measuring beaker. I'm thinking of dev's like Rodinal 1:50 etc. If you are using something 1:1 then ignore this! 😀
Oh and don't forget a length of string!

 

[Nigel Meaby]

I've just bought one of these:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&item=110366537728

 

[mr. mohaupt]

Had to bring this tread back up.

Just some notes on Developing on the road.

I got into Omaha last night at about 1 am and checked into the hotel. I had all of my developing stuff with me. I got into the bathroom mixed up my chemicals and then killed the lights to start rolling up my reel. WHOA the door had some light leak. It was not under the door as you would expect but along the sides of the door. BE SURE TO LET YOUR EYES ADJUST to see where the light is coming from. I didn't notice this until I was half way finished getting my film onto the reel. I was using ISO 400 and had "no visible" problems but if you were using something faster say 1600+ I think you would run into problems.

I brought a little bit of masking tape and used that to hang dry my film from the shower rod. Getting the water temp to stabilize at the right temp took about 7-10 mins and then (I used a digital thermometer) it would vary from 68-69.4. I figured that was close enough for government work though (lol). To figure out the temp of the running water I put my thermometer in a cup under the running water.


Other then me developing my Agfa APX at Tri-x times it came out great! If I can find a place to scan them here in town I will post some results.


~m

 

[Siluro]

I got into the bathroom mixed up my chemicals and then killed the lights to start rolling up my reel.

What chemicals were you using?

 

[StanSmith]

Durst had a portable enlarger called the Magico and I guess the purpose was to do enlargements on the road. If there is no darkroom at home and the cost of rental darkroom too high then a portable enlarger and a light tight motel bathroom is a viable option.