If you were to process 100' at one time..

[f/stopblues]

I've been contemplating a project involving an old Bolex 16mm motion picture camera, some b&w film stock, and home processing. The spools are 100' of stock (only about 3 minutes of footage). The developing doesn't seem too hard, just a much larger version of what I do with my rolls of 36 exp still film. What would you do for a film spool though? Would you skip the reel alltogether and go for a sort of dip and dunk process? That would require a whole lot of chemistry though..

Any thoughts? 😕

 

[FrankS]

Would it be possible to cut the film into more manageble lengths after it was exposed but before it was developed?

 

[Will]

Chris,

Are you using Foma R?

I was thinking about that (processing it, not that I do it now for photography) when I was on JandC's site, can you acturally process that 8mm or 16mm at home?

Cheers




Will

 

[f/stopblues]

I guess I'm not positive if you can. I just assumed you could because I recognized some of the film stocks as Plus-X, Tri-X, etc.

Frank, that is a possibiliy but at 24 frames per second that could be a lot of splicing!

 

[Stephan]

how about using very big buckets and filling them with developer/stop bath/fixer in that order, unravel the film in the dark and dunk it in the buckets in order and voila ! 🙂

 

[taffer]

Hmmm, one (silly) option I'm thinking if I had to do that at home with what I have now.

In the darkroom, put the 100' roll out of the Bolex and into a bulk loader.

Feed around 20 rolls of 36 exp. to have all the film into easy to handle canisters that you can develope on stages.

Use your biggest tank and just process as normal, you'll lost some frames at beginning and end of each roll and you'll have to mount and stick later, but I said, it was just the first thing that crossed my mind 😛

It would be cool !

The problem with sinking it as it is into a let's say, bucket of developer is that you cannot prevent film from sticking together in some zones, developer won't reach them and you'll end with a lot of undeveloped / uncorrectly developed sections...

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

I don't want to rain on your parade, Chris, but I would stay away from it. If you read Kodak's development specs, there is a definite rate for reel processing. There are special (fast) developers for this which require replenishment at specific rates.

Either you find a dedicated movie film development set up, or send it to a place that does that sort of thing, otherwise you're going to be one very unhappy camper. Think of all the underfixed, overdeveloped, underdeveloped, overfixed areas that you'll have if you opt for the bucket idea.

I obviously don't know anything about movie film development, but I know enough about film development to know that if you don't have even coverage and consistency, it's going to be very very disappointing.

On the other hand, I'd be interested to know how you solved your problem!

 

[Poptart]

Yeah. The processor probably uses a machine much like a color print processor with timed immersion and temp control. Get a professional lab to do it. It'll be less than you think.

 

[Socke]

Fotoimpex has a processor for 8 and 16mm movie film, JandC should have it, too.

 

[JOE1951]

Hey

if your handy, you could build yourself one of these

or get a Morse G3 Tank

There are a lot of resources for Super8 processing on the internet, that also apply to 16mm like this

The best idea I've heard of is using a length of garden hose, Haven't tried it myself but it's an intriguing idea

I processed my own Super8, by the "spaghetti" technique, unravel tri-x into 2 film developing tank, do dev/stop/fix/wash, untangle and dry. Not really recommended if you want pristine results, send to a lab for that!

See avatar for my results.

 

[djon]

You should be able to find a Morse tank on the demon site. Hard to believe, but Nikor made a 16mm reel and tank as well as a stand for loading.

Use a lab. It won't break the bank.