How much does it cost?

[Lol999]

Hi all, I'm shooting B&W film and currently have it processed at a local chemist who do a fair job. However, at the rate I'm going through film I need to look for a cheaper option if possible whilst maximising quality. Say I'm shooting Tri-X or HP5 what would it cost to develop a roll at home? Is it more economical to develop more than 1 roll at a time? If Igo this route I plan to use a changing bag for loading film etc.

Cheers, Lol

 

[jlw]

IMO the real advantage of developing film yourself is that you can develop it exactly the way you want it.

That said, though, if you shoot a lot and develop it in batches, you'll find you can save quite a lot. From your use of the word "chemist" I assume you're in the U.K., and I have no idea what prices are there, but enough developer and fixer to process, say, 30 rolls probably would cost under $10 in the U.S. depending on what type of developer you like.

It gets more expensive if you only develop a roll here and a roll there, because the chemicals (especially developer) have only a limited life once mixed, and you don't get as much for your money if you're constantly having to discard expired solutions. In that case you might be better off sticking with the chemist for now.

Another thing you save by developing in batches is time: If you use a multi-roll tank, it takes little more time to develop five rolls than it does to develop one roll. If you shoot a lot this can be very significant.

 

[40oz]

The only chemical that really has a limited lifespan is the developer, and I buy D-76 1 gallon mix for ~$6US. That will do about 24 rolls diluted 1+1. A liter of Ilford Rapid Fixer (mixes to 5 liters) runs ~$8US, and I re-use it, so I buy it about half as often or less. So for processing 24 rolls, you have ~$10 in chemical costs. Where I live, I've saved money if I get only one roll from a gallon of developer. I could instead buy a liter mix of D-76 for ~$4US if I wasn't using it fast enough, which again, would let me come out farther ahead than paying for processing, even if I only got one roll before it expired.

The only thing you really save doing more than one roll in a batch is time. I use a two-roll tank, but I don't let it pile up so bad that I'd ever need to run five rolls at a time.

 

[Lol999]

It sounds like it's a lot cheaper, but i could do with a UK user giving me their breakdown. I know I can use a currency calculator, but that doesn't take into account geographic variations in material costs!

Cheers, Lol

 

[oscroft]

Hi Lol,

OK, here's a quick attempt at a calculation (If I've done any sums wrong, hopefully someone will point it out)...

I currently use HC-110 and Tetenal rapid fixer. The last HC-110 I bought cost approx £9 for a 500ml bottle of the "European" concentrate - weaker than the syrupy stuff that is sold in the US (which can also be bought here in the UK - I'll be buying it that way next). I use that at dilution H, which is 1 in 20 using the less syrupy stuff. That makes 10 litres of working solution from a 500ml bottle, and if I use 300ml per 35mm film that's 33 rolls of film. If we assume some wastage and call it 30 rolls, that's 30p per roll for developer.

Tetenal costs approx £7 per litre, which will make 5L of working solution at 1+4. It varies, but I reckon 1 litre of working solution will fix about 10 films before exhaustion, so that's 50 films per bottle - 14p per film. Actually, my 10 films per litre is probably the best I've had, so the average will be a bit less than that. So call it 20p per film, tops.

My stop bath (water) and my hypo-clear (water) are both free (well, I pay water rates, but it's not metered), and my wetting agent (diluted Fairy Liquid) is so cheap there's no need to count it.

So I reckon it costs me less than 50p per film. And that will be reduced in the future, because now that I'm really happy with it I'll be buying the super-syrupy HC-110 next time, and that's even cheaper per film.

Developing more than one roll at a time is economical in terms of time only - I still need 300ml of developer and the same of fixer per film. But the time economy is well worth it for me - unless I'm really in a hurry for some shots, I rarely develop fewer than three films at a time (though it's a trade-off against patience - I haven't managed to wait for enough films to fill my 8-reel tank yet)

 

[oscroft]

PS: I can't remember the numbers, but I did work out that using D-76 would be quite a bit cheaper than HC-110, but I haven't tried it because (apart from the fact that I love HC-110) I'd waste a lot. You really need to mix up the whole pack in one go (because different ingredients settle differently in the bag), and the shelf life once mixed isn't great - and I regularly go away for a couple of months at a time. HC-110 concentrate will last a couple of years, and being a liquid you can just measure and dilute the amount you need every time.

 

[Roger Hicks]

...or use Ilford DD-X, expensive to buy but with a very long shelf-life (over a year) and because it's a liquid concentrate you just make up what you need (=425 ml for 2x 35mm in a stainless tank -- see http://www.rogerandfrances.com/photoschool/ps how choose dev tank.html

and

http://www.rogerandfrances.com/photoschool/ps how process 35-120.html

Cheers,

R

 

[FPjohn]

If you do a great deal of images you can save on film by buying bulk rolls and loading reusable cartridges. Fixer is cheap and one-shot developers like Rodinol and HC110 are inexpensive and last forever.