New to Film and Need Serious Help!!!!

[nowel_g]

Hi All,

I am new to film being primarily a DSLR user, but lately have been collecting rangefinders. I want to start developing my own B&W film. I have been shooting Kodak's BW400CN for C-41 processing which is getting expensive and don't like the color the way my only local lab processes it.

I want to start shooting true B&W and developing at home to reduce cost. I have been slowly acquiring items: developing tank w/reels, changing bag, film squeegee. Now have no clue about what chemicals to get :bang: (Developer, Fixer, PhotoFlo, Stop Bathes). I was considering D-76 as the developer since it is available in powder form which is easier for me to get in the mail as I live in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Some questions:
Which Fixer (hardener/no hardener)?
Which ones can be reused?
Do the containers have to be brown?
Where do they need to be stored (in the dark)?
How long can chemicals be stored mixed?
Stop Bath / Distillled water / filtered water / tap water?
Is PhotoFlo needed?
Any other information I might need to develop B&W film.

Thanks in advance for any and all help 🙂

 

[mathomas]

Well, you're going to get a million replies on this. I'll just say that I started with Diafine, as it's very forgiving, and I'm not sorry I did. It is shipped as a powder, and once mixed keeps essentially forever. You can use it over and over.

For fixer I use Ilford Rapid Fix. Works fine for me. I processed about 30 rolls over the course of a year, in one 1L batch (recently had my shop dispose of that batch, and mixed another). It's not a hardening fixer, BTW. Note that I shoot a lot of Efke, and haven't had any issues.

I use a water stop bath: one minute, constant agitation.

All my chems are mixed in distilled water. I use the Ilford wash protocol, usually with tap water (just to save on distilled water), and use a thermometer to estimate temps for the wash cycles. I use distilled water and LFN for the final round of washing.

Since I use distilled water that I keep on hand, and most of my chems are pre-mixed, And it's all in the basement, I don't fuss temps too much.

Hope that helps a bit.

 

[Phantomas]

Heh, I think I was asking exactly this a couple of years back. First of all, remember (this might make you suspicious first like it made me) when people tell you that film developing has a certain degree of tolerance - it's true! Developing times and temperatures can go +/- 10-15% without having detrimental effect on the result. Neither will religious agitation techniques. method and precision help of course, but don't get derailed by that at first, read all the "hard rules" with a grain of salt.
Your questions:
Fixer: whatever's available to you. Most I've used were re-usable, I go 5 rounds with mine. Just add 10% of recommended time each round. Check instructions on the fixer.
Brown containers: what the...? If there's such thing I'd live to hear it! 🙂
Storage: I assume as with most perishable products dark/cool is a recommended standard.
Diluted (or made into stock) chems can be stored just a few weeks. Powders indefinitely (or so they say). If you further dilute the stock into one-shot it's usable only within the same day.
Stop bath: DOESN'T MATTER! Or so they say. I use citric acid mix just in case, I don't trust these old geezers here and it's cheap like water when diluted.
PhotoFlo: Not needed, but helpful. A bottle will last you years anyway, so why not.
Developer: D-76 is good and universal. Very commonly used. Rodinal is also universal, economical and easy to use.


Any other information? Not really. Try it out. It will work out and then you'll start questioning yourself if you are agitating correctly and so forth 😀
I've been at it for two years myself and just came up from the kitchen with 4 fresh rolls. It works.

 

[DNG]

Here is a quick tutorial I put together for those new to B&W Film developing..

B&W Tutorial on Developing and what you need in hardware

Hope this helps

 

[mathomas]

...
Diluted (or made into stock) chems can be stored just a few weeks. Powders indefinitely (or so they say). If you further dilute the stock into one-shot it's usable only within the same day.

...

Developer: D-76 is good and universal. Very commonly used. Rodinal is also universal, economical and easy to use.

You have to be careful of generalizations ("chems can be stored just a few weeks"). Diafine keeps basically forever, powdered, or mixed. Definitely more than a year, since mine has lasted that long. My fixer lasted a very long time, too.

OP, since Phantomas mentioned it I should say I like Rodinal, too. Very easy to mix, and it's a one-shot developer. It lasts forever in concentrate form. I "graduated" from Diafine to Rodinal, and have loved doing stand development. Will try Perceptol next (on the shelf in the photo below).

Here's a picture of the entirety of my B&W development arsenal. It's not that much stuff, really:

See notes on this photo here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mathomas/5633024924/in/photostream/

 

[oftheherd]

I prefer steel tanks and reels. Others prefer plastic. Either works.

I agitate by lifting and turning the tank about 5 times (once per second) every thirty seconds of using something like D-76 1:1. After the 5 agitations, I tap gently twice on the bottom of the steel sink (should prevent bubbles forming and stopping development).

D-76 1:1, Kodak indicator stop bath (you may not be able to get it, water will work), and Kodak hardened fixer. Works for me. I also have been experimenting with Rodinal (nice), Pyro, and HC110. The Pyro seems nice, the HC110 is yet to come. Edwal FG7 isn't bad either.

If I were you, I would stay with D-76 1:1, stop bath or water, and Kodak fixer until you are comfortable with it and its results. Then you can try to experiment.

One other thing, if you haven't already, sacrifice a roll of film to practice loading on whatever reels you decide to use. It will pay off in a lot less frustration when you try it with an exposed roll.

Good luck, enjoy, and ask any questions, no matter how dumb you may be afraid they are. All of use who develop our own film were there once. Wanting to to well, but not so sure what something means until we ask. Better than screwing up film, and like I said, we were all there once. Nobody I know of was nursed on D-76, or had playpen mobiles made of stainless reels and tanks.