Do you develop your own B&W film?

[Vagabond]

I guess it's the smell of Stop Bath that I'm addicted to.

Tmax film with Tmax developer in a Paterson tank. What can I say, I'm lazy.

After the negs are dry, I'll scan them as JPEGs @ 72ppi. These serve as on screen proofs. If I think anything is worth it, I'll rescan as TIFFs at the highest resolution (Minolta Scan Dual III) and work on them in PhotoShop. Since the number of "keepers" is usually rather low, this saves a lot of time and disk space.

Using a changing bag along with this eliminates the need for a wet darkroom. The kitchen sink works just fine.

 

[Dougg]

Urged on by this thread, and finishing a roll of Pan-F in the M2 the other day, I broke down and cleared enough junk out of the darkroom to make room to develop the 7 accumulated films. One roll 120 HP5, three of 220 Tri-X Pro, one 35mm Tri-X and two 35mm Pan-F. Dial thermometer said the solutions were at 79 degrees so that's the temp I set the mixing faucet for rinces and washes. I had a fresh gallon mix of Diafine in distilled water waiting, and over several months I noticed that the undesolved particles in B had gradually dissolved into the mix.

I ran the three 35mm rolls in a 4-roll 32-oz Kindermann tank, and did the 120/220 two at a time in a 44-oz Kindermann tank. So I operated two tanks at the same time for the first group and then the other two 220 rolls in a second run. Handy to have the gallon kit of Diafine and gallons of Rapid Fix and Hype Clear too.

The three rolls of 220 had been shot last October, so it's been a while. All the negs look fine except a mysterious underexposure on half of one Pan-F roll shot in an Olympus Pen, exposure errors I guess. But I'm looking forward to seeing some scans!

 

[mae]

I got a camera shop to develop my b/w negs one time because it cost me a damn fortune, $21 for a roll of 24 and they wouldn't even make a contact sheet for me. Its cheaper to develop myself and I have full artistic control.

 

[sf]

I do all my own B&W, but send all the color to a lab. Of course.

When the pics REALLY matter, I don't chance it with my limited abilities, and send the B&W also to the lab.

 

[Bryce]

I do 85% home B+W, including the printing. Getting real image quality into and back out of the comuter frustrated me into it...

 

[Rayt]

I still shoot and process b/w but that may change because I really like the files from my LX-1 converted to b/w and will also get the GR-D soon.

 

[Phoenix Phil]

I develop all of my own b&w in order to control the quality and learn what controls are available to me. It is the simplest thing to do (developing film) and you can learn a lot doing your own. I didn't even need a darkroom when I first started developing my own film.

 

[stephen_lumsden]

Hi

I have never had the space to develop or print myself and the b/w group at the local camera club always seem rather coy about helping in this direction, and I reckon it would take years to get up to speed in any case, which is not very encouraging these days with the onset of digital.

So I have decided to go down the slide route with dr5.com and see how they do it. I can always scan the postives myself and they will look lovely on a projected screen. I think that way I can maintain some control without spending a fortune getting prints.

regards

Stephen

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

Ah, the double-edged sword of "digital": it is thanks to my scanner(s) that I can develop my B&W film in my hypervirtual darkroom (read: bathroom), and scan my film. No need to have a "real" printer/enlarger, sink, washer, drier, etc. When I own a place with a basement, everybody knows what will happen to it.

 

[Nachkebia]

Just got 5 pack of T-max developer with 2 packs of D-76 powder 🙂 finaly I can try something else than Ilford Ilfosol 🙂

 

[kmack]

I do all my b&w (now including LF 4x5) in the kitchen sink. A quart bottle of Clayton F76+ costs about $11 US, at 1:9 dilution that allows you to do a lot of film at 1:19 even more🙂

 

[steve garza]

t-max is great for

t-max is great for

Just got 5 pack of T-max developer with 2 packs of D-76 powder 🙂 finaly I can try something else than Ilford Ilfosol 🙂

push-processing and fine for normal development as well. I started developing this year after getting tired of putting the money out. I've not had much success with Rodinal and need to use my supply before it goes bad on me. According to the directions it's only good for 6 months after opening the container. I use a dark bag to load the film then scan my negs and send the color out. My kitchen in the guest house serves as a great workspace. Thanks for the re-modeling job Dad!! I'm toying with the idea of purchasing a rotary processor and developing my own color. I rarely have prints made and usually they're 8x10 or larger when I do. I do intend to start printing next year during a photo class at SMC. I've decided to take the inro course this year to bone up and instill a little direction in myself.

 

[nightfly]

Rodinal and need to use my supply before it goes bad on me. According to the directions it's only good for 6 months after opening the container.

I've had open bottles of Rodinal last for literally years after they were openend with no visible loss of effectiveness. Don't believe the hype.

 

[jdef]

Junkie is probably an understatement, in my case. I develop and print all of my B&W, from 35mm through 8x10. I also formulate my own developers. You can read about two of my favorites here:

http://www.digitaltruth.com/techdata/article-stainingdev.php

You can see some beautiful results from 510-Pyro in Todd Hanzelka's work. Developing film is easy, cheap, and allows total creative and quality control. The developers I've formulated are unique, and nothing like them is available commercially. By using a dilute solution, the cost of developing a roll of film can be as low as a little over one penny! The results are what matter most, and these developers deliver. Hypercat is easily among the sharpest developers ever formulated.

It doesn't take much space to develop roll film. I developed my film in a bathroom, at night, before getting my first real darkroom. The process I use for developing film requires a developer, which in my case is a highly concentrated stock solution that is diluted for one-shot use, a neutral rapid TT fixer, and a wetting agent, all of which would fit in a shoe box, with room left over for the developing tank, a graduate, and a thermometer. A digital kitchen timer that times in seconds/minutes makes a good process timer, and can be had for a few $$. Developing film is cheap and easy, and anyone can do it.

Printing, on the other hand, is much more demanding of $$ and space, and requires a more or less permanent space to be practical and enjoyable. I'm learning, with help, the ins and outs of film scanning, and hope one day to make digitally enlarged negatives for contact printing. Digital printing is also expensive, and requires a dedicated space to be practical and enjoyable, but I have very limited experience in that area.

When we grow up, we have to find something creative, and something physical to play with, or we get fat and go insane. For me, my darkroom is my creative playground, and bikes, and rivers keep me from getting too fat to fit into it.

Jay

 

[Xmas]

Unless you use chromogenic it is more convenient to dev your own especially if you have a scanner. Ive single 35mm tanks and two off 5x 35mm tanks, and clips and clothes pins for batch processing.
The supermarket processor (for chromogenic) is 1 mile walk away, and is not that cheap.
My problem is I need to refoam my Ru spy style suitcase enlarger, and I dont know what happens when my last bulb goes.
Noel

P.S. opened Rodinal lasts for decades my current bottle is from 70s, I discarded a bottle from '60 believing the hype, waaaaaaah, just replace screw cap and dont filter the residue in bottom, the residue indicates the developer will last longer, also ignore the nice black tea colour this indicates it is +6m old and becoming mature like good wine.

 

[ZorkiKat]

My problem is I need to refoam my Ru spy style suitcase enlarger, and I dont know what happens when my last bulb goes.
Noel

.

Noel

If your Russian enlarger is the same as the one I have in mind, looking for replacement bulbs aren't a trouble at all. I've used an ordinary 60W household lamp (with Edison screw) for one. Success will depend on the type of lamp used- go for the traditional pear-shaped bulbs rather than one of the fancy bell-shapes. Select one with an even frosting. Sometimes a piece of frosted glass in the filter drawer helps.

I still have a 'toy' Chinese plastic enlarger. Not too different in design from the Rus suitcase enlarger, except for being rendered in heat-absorbent(!) plastic and the lack of 'autofocus'. Though normal enlarger lenses should be used with it, its instructions mention that it can use normal 75-100W household lamps. It does.

Jay

 

[Xmas]

Jay
Thanks much appreciated I'll go to sofa refurb place for foam offcuts ASAP. Yes it has the autofocus capability, Ive always wondered why I had not seen posts on it.
Noel
P.S. I should not ask but do your cats become curious about the dismantled cameras?

 

[Stephanie Brim]

Still developing and experimenting. I love it. It's what keeps me interested in different films. "I wonder how THIS film will look in THIS developer?" Etc. I don't think I've found my perfect film/developer combination yet, but I'm close.

 

[wtl]

Still developing and experimenting. I love it. It's what keeps me interested in different films. "I wonder how THIS film will look in THIS developer?" Etc. I don't think I've found my perfect film/developer combination yet, but I'm close.

by numerous preaching of rodinal, i thought you have already nailed it. are you just moving internet knowledge from one place to the other?

 

[Crasis]

by numerous preaching of rodinal, i thought you have already nailed it. are you just moving internet knowledge from one place to the other?

I love internet knowledge. Did you know that the birth rate of elephants has tripled over the past year? 😱