How many

[retrobabe]

of RF photographers here *develop* their own film, slides....?
Is the learning curve steep and investment high ?

Happy Sunday,
babe

 

[Roger Hicks]

Dear Babe,

Conventional B+W film is dead easy: http://www.rogerandfrances.com/subscription/ps how process 35-120.html (there are allied modules on developing tanks, and elsewhere on the site there is a module om choosing developers). Slides and C41 colour neg are a bit more difficult but there's a recent thread on RFF on E6 at home: try the Search facility.

Cheers,

r.

 

[Pickett Wilson]

retrobabe, just do it! It's just time and temperature. Color more critical but still just time and temperature. And Roger's website is a great resource.

 

[rxmd]

There's a bit of an investment (tank, reels, chemicals) but it's affordable. Places like Fotoimpex make it rather easy to get chemicals at affordable prices. (A bottle of Rodinal = APH09 costs 6 EUR, a bottle of fixer is in the ballpark of 5 EUR as well. A development tank with one or two reels is in the ballpark of 20-25 EUR if you buy it new. That's about the minimum initial investment.)

 

[kzim56]

I've been developing my own black and white for several years now. I enjoy the process as well as the results. I starting doing my own C-41 last fall. My color negatives are so much better, cleaner, scratch-free than I ever got from Sam's, Walgreen's, et al. Saves a lot of money and hassle, too. Check out the sites listed above. Start with B&W and go from there.

 

[retrobabe]

Thanks guys. That's what I like about it, the process. Somehow investing in the camera, the film and most importantly, the time it seems like handing over a brand new baby to someone else to nurture it ! I am heavily deep into digital and develop all my images in my digital darkroom and now would like to start my own analog darkroom, I have a perfect room for just waiting, waiting to be used. Your inputs have really given me some confidence to *just do it*.