Recommended Books For First Time Developer

K

kyler.

Established
Local time
6:39 AM
Joined
May 8, 2010
Messages
68
Hi guys,
As you might have seen from my other thread I am about to take a shot at film developing. I was wondering if you guys could recommend any books that take you through the process clearly and give good detail, etc.
Thanks,
Kyle
 
For my introductory darkroom class at the local community college, the following book was the recommended text:

Black & White Photography - A Basic Manual - Third Edition, Revised
by Henry Horenstein

Ellen
 
Can't go wrong with 'The Film Devveloping Cookbook' by Steve Anchell.
That book got me started and I am still referring to it every now and then.
 
The Kodak pdf instructions for Xtol will tell you exactly how to develop your film using that product. I'm sure most have something similar. But if you really want to understand what you're doing then while you're undertaking your first attemps and learning form the formulas and recommendations you should read THE NEGATIVE by Ansel Adams.
 
sparrow6224 said:
But if you really want to understand what you're doing then while you're undertaking your first attemps and learning form the formulas and recommendations you should read THE NEGATIVE by Ansel Adams.
Click to expand...

Great book and the first one I owned, however John Schaefer does a nice job of summarizing most of what Adams has to say, plus a whole lot more, in Basic Techniques of Photography, An Ansel Adams Guide.

Lets face it though, most books on the subject are now out of print so you're into a used book store or Amazon. Take the first of the recommended books that comes along at a good price.
 
Horenstein is a good intro book. Personally I like David Vestal, The Craft of Photography. It's out of print but you can get it for like a quarter used on Amazon. I can't stress that book enough. I got three or four books when I started, and not only was his the best, it was super cheap.

Also, Ilford and Kodak have some good PDF references that will teach you the basics of developing. The Kodak XTOL instructions has some stuff in it, but you can always refer to Kodak AJ-3. Ilford has a page on getting started too. Read through the links there.
 
Ilford Monochrome Darkroom Practice. Out of print but generally available through Amazon. Also, the Ansel Adams books The Negative and The Print. Ditto for sourcing.
 
Get the Adams Trilogy - The Camera, The Negative & The Print. Well written, lots of information & well illustrated. You can usually find the paperback edition used.
 
Tim Gray said:
Horenstein is a good intro book. Personally I like David Vestal, The Craft of Photography. It's out of print but you can get it for like a quarter used on Amazon. I can't stress that book enough. I got three or four books when I started, and not only was his the best, it was super cheap.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Not only is Vestal a good teacher but he's incredibly irreverant which makes him a lot of fun to read. I love the way he kind of dismisses the zone system in one or two sentences (even though I like the zone system).
 
Hear, hear for the Adams books. I find his photography technically stunning, but devoid of interesting ideas. But the man can describe the technical process like nobody's business. I think this is all you would need to read, but then will have fun reading the rest.
 
Apparently I am alone in finding Adams a wordy and tedious writer, much given to jargon. I'd not recommend any of his books as either entertaining or informative for the beginner, and once you're no longer a beginner there are several books that are vastly better on theory: Glafkides, Haist, Clerc...

Cheers,

R.
 
fixbones said:
Can't go wrong with 'The Film Devveloping Cookbook' by Steve Anchell.
That book got me started and I am still referring to it every now and then.
Click to expand...
I have to disagree - this book will be too complicated for a developing beginner. I know this for a fact because I did the mistake of buying it when I was just considering beginning developing my own film. This book almost scared me away from doing it. I have no doubts about the qualities of the book from an advanced user´s viewpoint, though.

What helped me begin developing film were these:
1) Different YouTube demonstrations - just do a search for "develop film".
2) The manufacturer information. See here, for instance:
http://www.ilfordphoto.com/applications/page.asp?n=9
3) C. I. Jacobson´s "Developing". Yes, it is an old book, but the descriptions of the general exposure and developing processes are unsurpassed in any other book I have seen on the subject. Just skip the chapters on films, developers and such - they are of course outdated. It can be found here, for instance:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-list...rect=true&qid=1294573193&sr=8-1&condition=all
 
Roger Hicks said:
Apparently I am alone in finding Adams a wordy and tedious writer, much given to jargon. I'd not recommend any of his books as either entertaining or informative for the beginner, and once you're no longer a beginner there are several books that are vastly better on theory: Glafkides, Haist, Clerc...
Click to expand...

You're not alone Roger; neither could I really ever follow what Adams wrote. It really slowed me down for a while while I was learning, but I readily acknowledge that everyone reads and learns differently.

Marty
 
Maybe most important book to recommend is a notebook. Keep track of when you made the various solutions (fixer, stop, developer) with relevant information like dilution etc. Next to my solutions I always take note of how many films I have developed so I can avoid exhausted fixer/developer etc.

Then I keep track per developed film of the conditions I shot it in (very contrasty or flat light, cloudy day etc etc) at what I rated the film in camera and then things like developer dilution, temperature, time, maybe even agitation schedule etc. At the bottom of the entry I will then write comments after examining the dried film like: too contrasty, did not scan well etc etc so that I can slowly figure out what the best combinations are for me.

The notebook helps you in keeping track of what you do and should allow you to faster reach the stage where you know what to do in most situations and for new situations you will have a pretty good idea about best developing approach.

If you just develop without any system and vary things like temperature and time never really keeping track of results you will spend a lot more time to get good results.

It is not a lot of work and well worth the little effort.

Personally I also did not like Adam's books, but enjoyed Anchells (once I was already more experienced), but I think you can get most information you need on the internet and here or on www.apug.org. or at Roger and Frances' website (www.rogerandfrances.com/) , modestly not mentioned in his own post ( a very useful place for information).

Welcome to the club.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Freakscene said:
You're not alone Roger; neither could I really ever follow what Adams wrote. It really slowed me down for a while while I was learning, but I readily acknowledge that everyone reads and learns differently.

Marty
Click to expand...

I also find Adams wordy and tedious (a little pompous at times to boot), but he does cover the subject more completely and accurately than most of the other books (aimed at an amateur audience), I have looked at.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom