Do you develop your own B&W film?

Do you develop your own B&W film?

  • Yes - I'm still addicted

    Votes: 727 89.3%

  • No - I opt for convenience

    Votes: 87 10.7%
  • Total voters
    814
I voted "yes" but I am not "still addicted." I just started a year ago. It was the best decision about photography I ever made. I don't mean about having added control, which certainly is important: in that respect the first thing I did was ditch XTOL once I found that the insipid results from the professional lab was probably caused by their use of XTOL; I ditched it and picked up D-76 instead. The most important thing about developing yourself, though, is that it adds a dimension to your photography; suddenly you feel you produced something tangible when you hold the negatives. I become excited to scan and see my results. And it interests other people; my six year old wants to help. The next step is wet printing. I will go there.
 
traveler_101 said:
The most important thing about developing yourself, though, is that it adds a dimension to your photography; suddenly you feel you produced something tangible when you hold the negatives. I become excited to scan and see my results. And it interests other people; my six year old wants to help. The next step is wet printing. I will go there.
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Recently, I came out of my darkroom with a stunning 20x24" print from a 4x5" neg to show my wife. As it dripped water on the floor of my office, my wife sat happily at the main photo computer. On the screen it had Photo Mechanic open on a job I took a break from editing earlier that day, iTunes playing Adele, Word with a document open and Safari with three tabs open for which she was ordering a case of hard to find hair gel, paying a credit card bill and reading news headlines...

Let's just say I prefer the darkroom...😉
 
yes I do, but "still addicted" would be the wrong term with me being 24 and I'm not wasted a thought on stopping. D76 1:1 and my various films are something I dont want to miss 🙂
 
When I had gotten back into photography 5 years ago, after doing nothing since the mid-80s, I thought I would pick up a good DSLR. But after shooting for a week with a borrowed Nikon D80 I realized what was missing was the past enjoyment of developing film and making prints in the darkroom. Fortunately, this was when the big sell-off of film cameras and darkroom equipment was occurring (all I had was my Konica Auto S2 from 1970) so I picked up lots of nice equipment and am enjoying photography immensely again.
 
Started developing B&W about two years ago. its so easy even a child can do it.
For 30 (thirty) years I always excused myself that I dont want to splash around with water & chemistry and that it is to much work. Now I am angry about myself that i didnt start thirty years ago.:bang:
Greetings from snowwhite mountains
 
I wouldn't necessarily say I'm addicted to developing my own film, but I do do it. I haven't been shooting film for too long and have mostly been experimenting with different films to see which ones I like. I've come to the conclusion that Tri-X is 'my' film, so from now on I'll be able to develop much faster as I don't have to do individual (or two at a time) rolls anymore. I'm gonna buy a bigger tank (4+ rolls) so I can process much faster.
 
Since 1969.

Olympus Pen FT, Zuiko 38mm f/1.8, Tmax100 in Microdol.

Erik.

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Great photo Erik.

At my age I can remember watching Laurel & Hardy on T.V. and one scene from a comedy goes like this:

The boys only have enough money to buy one soda. Ollie says, "Stan you can drink your half first." Well, Stanley proceeded to drink the entire bottle. Ollie says, "Why did you drink the entire bottle? Didn't you know half was for me?" Stan's facial gestures and, like a little kid, shed a few tears, told the story. Stanley said, "Ollie, my half was on the bottom."

Happy Holidays!
 
yes, I develop and scan my own 35 and 120, cheaper that way
~40$ of material to develop 20+ rolls or pay 5$ per roll
$200 for a V600 scanner to scan ~66 rolls and more or pay a store $200 to scan only 66 rolls
 
I develop and print my black and white myself... It's fun.
Very meditative moments.
Would cost 10$ for dev here an even more for prints.
I leave the lab do my c41, but I only ask for the negatives and scan myself.
Print colour on our photo department giant ink jets where I study.
 
Get a Plustek, Vickko. Small, easy to use, great results. Will do negs and slides (35mm).

Ted
 
Mablo said:
Sometimes I find myself thinking what's the point to develop b&w film when C-41 development process is actually easier to do. You just need a simple wash basin for warm water bath. I could do color and b&w films in the same tank if I wanted to.
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Is C41 really that easy? Ive been intimidated by it so havent tried it yet. Can I use a b&w thermometer or must I have a special heater? How is c41 cost wise compared to b&w?
 
I can finally say 'yes'! 😀 Just started a few days ago, but I'm enjoying it very much, even first roll came out okay.
Local labs charge me $2.5 to develop one roll of 35mm BW film, don't ask me what they do for such little money. I'm not in for the economy, it's more about being able to control the results, and handling it with care, something I doubt most local labs do.
 
68degrees said:
Is C41 really that easy? Ive been intimidated by it so havent tried it yet. Can I use a b&w thermometer or must I have a special heater? How is c41 cost wise compared to b&w?
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C41 is very easy with the right equipment and chemicals. I use a Jobo CP2 processor which I would highly recommend. It handles temp and rotations and I use with Tetenal chemicals. From what I can work out temp is critical. Others would suggest that it is still easy without the Jobo, but I'm not so sure for accurate, consistent results.

It's 'easier' than B/W in respect to iso. All films regardless of iso are processed for the same time. Great for mixing different speed films in the same tank. Also dev times are shorter.

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Cheers - John
 
i just started B&W film photography and jumped into the deep end. Develop & scan film by myself as well. It's such a rewarding experience. It definitely makes me think about all the variables in photography, instead of the fast pace run 'n' gun nature of digital.
 
Just did a bunch of Tri-X in D76 1:1. All shot with an M6 and a Tri-Elmar. I doesn't get any better! Going through the negatives and will start making prints soon.
 
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