Cheapest way to develop film?

[eIII]

hey all,

new to the RF as many of you know. i've taken many pictures over the last week but right now i don't have the money to get everything developed.

my experience is limited to just going to wal-mart and getting the 1 hour with cd. i'd like to just get the cd and view them on my computer first, but they don't offer that. gotta buy the prints.

eventually i want to do my own b&w developing (sooner than later), but in the meantime i want to see results as i work on my composition and meterless shooting. plus, i need to do the research since i know NOTHING about it.

what do you you all do? send away? find a place that will do cd only? what would it cost to set up a simple darkroom? (i'm sure i can find the answer to that in another forum.)

$7.50 a roll adds up quickly.

thanks, bill!

 

[wlewisiii]

My local Walgreens does develope only with a CD. $5 plus tax. Some of the stores need to be convinced that the service is offered though.

William

 

[Byuphoto]

My wal mart will develop only or do a CD for 1.76/roll. Just have to put that in the specia; instructions box

 

[Poptart]

You can develop B&W yourself with vitamin C and 20 mule team borax. Plus fixer. Have fun!

 

[Skinny McGee]

This was on the forum the other day

This was on the forum the other day

I will try to post it
http://www.larryhester.com/coffee.html



I can't wait to try this out ist looks like fun... 😛

 

[JMP]

I find developing and printing my own film to be very satisfying. It also helps my technique, as I can see from the negatives and contact sheet how I'm doing with exposure. I like the control and the connection to my work the process creates.

If you want to learn the basics, you could take a non-credit photo class or look for a nearby darkroom co-operative, where they already have equipment and you can pay to use the facilities. I'm lucky to have found one in my area. By the way, here's a general list of what you should have in a darkroom, though I'm sure some get by with less: light-tight room with ventilation and running water, enlarger with easel, safelight, trays and tongs, thermometer, timekeeper (stopwatch, wall clock, or wristwatch), clothes line and clothes pins (to hang prints to dry if without a dryer), and chemicals.

 

[remrf]

You might check out Walgreens. I have a Wally world right down the street but I was not thrilled with the quality of their prints. At least in my neighborhood the Walgreens does a better job and you can just get the film developed with a cd.

To develop your film at home is not costly to get into. A tank, a thermometer and some containers for your chemicals will suffice. You could do your own developing for less that $30.00 I'm guessing. My loading room is our back bathroom. After loading the tank I work at the kitchen sink.

However a darkroom, even for just one format such as 35mm is an expense on another scale. I'm guessing you could get a 35mm enlarger , trays, a timer, safe light and a few other items for $150.00 or less if you watch ebay closely.

Then you have to have a room that can be light tight for the duration of your darkroom work.

I'm in that process right now. I have gathered almost all of the hardware (and then some!) for what I consider a well set up darkroom. I will be printing 6 different formats ( 4x5", 6x9cm,6x7cm,6x6cm,6x4.5 and 35mm) so it took me a little longer to gather the required items. I am clearing out the room to get it ready for the equiptment. In my case I will be running plumbing and setting up temp controls for a tray bath and I am looking at some nice used very long stainless steel counters and sinks.

I will be using an Omega D2 with both an incandescent and a diffusion head. And I also have a Durst 606 that is dedicated to 35mm.

A lab is a fair amount of work to keep up. But I can think of few things in life that I find more satisfying than printing my own photos. Some of my happiest hours have been spent in the darkroom with a little jazz playing softly in the background as I brought the image in my mind's eye to physical reality.

 

[JMP]

I will try to post it
http://www.larryhester.com/coffee.html



I can't wait to try this out ist looks like fun... 😛

That's really cool! As the author stated, it is somehow a good feeling when something can be done with familiar ingredients rather than seemingly magical chemicals.

For now though, I think I'll just try to get some decent results the regular way.

 

[bmattock]

Walgreens will develop your color print negs for $2 per roll if you ask for that service. Be persistant, sometimes they have to hunt for that choice in their cash register. Personally, I like to have them cut and sleeve the negs as well, but some prefer to get them back rolled up.

Then I scan them with my dedicated film scanner, a Konica Minolta Dimage Scan Dual IV. It cost me just over $300 new, but now you can get them for something closer to $200 new. It gives much better quality scans than the highest quality Walmart or Walgreens CD can possibly do.

When I have scanned my negs, if I want prints made, I can put the resulting digital files on a memory card, or a CD-ROM, or upload them to Walmart via the Internet. Printing 4x6's is something like 14 cents each, but check on that I could be wrong. It's not much, anyway, and it costs less than printing a whole roll to get the few good shots you really want printed.

I did the math and figured I covered the cost of my film scanner very quickly by not spending $6+ on each roll of film for processing & printing.

And as a bonus - scanning negs that have not been scanned or printed by Walgreens means much less scratched negs - a joy to scan yourself, as compared to the nasty dusty and scratched negs you get back from them when they print or print & scan.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

 

[Poptart]

That's really cool! As the author stated, it is somehow a good feeling when something can be done with familiar ingredients rather than seemingly magical chemicals.

For now though, I think I'll just try to get some decent results the regular way.

In fact, it is the "regular" way: Xtol developer is vitamin C-based, which I referenced when I mentioned that method. "Washing soda" is borax, btw.

 

[JoeFriday]

I used to get my film developed at Walgreens.. they did a decent job, but I found out Target will do Develop Only for something like $2.. plus they're friendly enough to me that they'll do 'one hour' service in 15 minutes, including cutting and sleeving the negs

 

[eIII]

thanks! the develop/ scanner option is definitely something i will explore very soon.

when it comes to just developing your own, is there any difference in developing b&w c41 and traditional b&w film? i have never even used the latter.

it looks like developing your own and scanning would be a HUGE money saver over time.

 

[derevaun]

I usually send the C41 stuff to York Photo ( http://yorkphoto.com ) and get 4x6" prints just to gauge which ones are "scanworthy." It's like $3.25 per roll, or $4.24 with hi-res scans online. Labs often clip the highlights and compensate the shadows for printing when they scan negs, so I prefer to scan my own when it really counts, which is really as if it counts 😀

B&W C41 can be home devved in B&W chemistry, but generally it comes out better with a true C41 process.