Newbie to developing

[gotium]

I'm shooting enough film that it probably makes sense to try developing myself. Last time I developed a roll was 20 years ago (!).

I've found a helpful site with a recommended shopping list, mostly for Ilford stuff, including:
-Ilford Ilfosol S developer
-Ilford Rapid Fixer
-Rexton Hyper Wet 240 Wetting Agent

I am using TriX and PlusX.

I've seen a number of people like Rodinal.

For an absolute neophyte, any words of wisdom? Shall I just order the above, along with some buckets and a light bag, and give it a shot?

 

[payasam]

I don't see how you can call yourself "an absolute neophyte". The Ilford chemicals are good, but if you want name brand compatibility you could use the Kodak equivalents -- or else change to FP4 and HP5.

Why am I reminded of the little boy who said he wouldn't go near the water until he'd learnt how to swim?

Go for it, gotium, and good luck to you.

 

[dfoo]

Use ID11 (Ilford D76 equivalent) for Tri-X and Plus-X.

 

[fixbones]

Developing your own film is great!!!
...and the beauty is that here are so many choices and combination to choose and experiment.

I've only been developing for the past 6 months and i have souped almost 30 rolls now.
The general consensus is to start with something more mainstream - D76, Xtol, Rodinal....

I have both rodinal and D76.
I am currently experimenting with Rodinal a bit. Tried developing TriX 1600 and TriX 200 in rodinal. Lots of fun and learning i must say.

So, in terms of chemical all i have is D76, Rodinal, Ilford rapid Fixer and Kodak Photo-flo. Add a changing bag and a few others and you'd be good to go =D

 

[imokruok]

Unfortunately throwing another one in the mix here, but HC110 works well for me and it's fairly non-toxic stuff and easy to work with. Use the Ilford developing guide to start with for processing instructions, and the Massive Dev Chart to get the right developing time.

 

[dfoo]

Compared with D76 HC110 is more difficult to develop with since you have to measure out fairly small qualities of the developer, deal with more complex ratios, and to me the results are not as good anyway 🙂

 

[Roger Hicks]

Compared with D76 HC110 is more difficult to develop with since you have to measure out fairly small qualities of the developer, deal with more complex ratios, and to me the results are not as good anyway 🙂

I'm inclined to agree. The main advantages of HC110 are that it's (relatively) cheap and long-lasting. Ilfosol S is much the same, in my book. Then again, I'm no fan of Rodinal for 35mm either: low speed and big grain, though admittedly good sharpness.

Generally I'd advocate liquid concentrates as easier to use and longer-lasting, rather than ID11/D76, so my own personal recommendation is Ilford DD-X.

I also agree with those who say to Gotium: go to it. He might also find some of the bits on my site useful.

Cheers,

R.

 

[gotium]

Thanks to all who responded. I'm going to order a little collection of goodies, and will include a few of the developers. There is probably no better way of figuring out how it works than spending a few hours mixing chemicals.

 

[imokruok]

Compared with D76 HC110 is more difficult to develop with since you have to measure out fairly small qualities of the developer, deal with more complex ratios, and to me the results are not as good anyway 🙂

Well, we can debate the results. 😉 But on the measuring, all you need is a 20 mL syringe and it's no problem measuring out the 31.3 mL you need to make a liter of soup.

 

[bobby_novatron]

Way 2 go, Gotium! Congrats on your home-developing adventures.

Everyone here I'm sure has their own favourite chems and films, etc. My 2 cents: I get amazing results from Ilford DD-X. Very easy to use, always great quality developing. I use it with Kodak or Ilford films and they look fabulous.

My fav films at the moment are (in no particular order):

Kodak Tmax (100 or 400), Ilford PanF 50, and Fuji Acros 100. Tmax has very fine grain and nice balanced tones. Ilford 50 has extremely tight grain and beautiful, silky contrast. Acros has a wonderful clarity to it -- hard to describe. It just looks clean and "austere".

I'm sure you'll discover your own favourites. And that's why I think most of us do our own developing: it's the joy we find in the details, the alchemy of developing your own film...