Disaster_Area
Gadget Monger
I'll put my vote in for the V500... I use it to scan all my film and I've never felt "cheated" that I didnt have a more expensive model. And besides chemicals all you really need is:
1 - measuring container that measures up to 600mls
1 - two roll tank (so you can do one roll of 120 if needed)
3 - spools (2 35mm and a 120)
and that's your bare minimum kit... that's how I started out. I guesstimated temperature, I spooled in my closet with the lights off... so no need for a changing bag. I used my watch for a timer... or just counted in my head and i hung them to dry from the shower curtain rod. For chemicals if budget is tight... just get a bottle of rodinal and always develop super diluted like at 1:100 for an hour or two using stand development. The bottle will last forever and at that length of time all factors like temperature and time are pretty negligable so don't worry if you're not exact. Don't bother with a stop bath, just wrinse with water for a while and I'm going on over a year with my batch of fix and it's still going strong (about 2 rolls a week).
I've since added more to my dev kit and you can too over time. I can't say that my negatives have gotten BETTER since I've added things like a thermometer and timer etc... they've gotten more consistant maybe. But it can be a lot of fun being non-scientific about it... and actually some of my favorite negs have come from horrible horrible failures in procedure. So chear up!!! drop the $300 or so on a scanner and the rest should cost you no more than $50.
1 - measuring container that measures up to 600mls
1 - two roll tank (so you can do one roll of 120 if needed)
3 - spools (2 35mm and a 120)
and that's your bare minimum kit... that's how I started out. I guesstimated temperature, I spooled in my closet with the lights off... so no need for a changing bag. I used my watch for a timer... or just counted in my head and i hung them to dry from the shower curtain rod. For chemicals if budget is tight... just get a bottle of rodinal and always develop super diluted like at 1:100 for an hour or two using stand development. The bottle will last forever and at that length of time all factors like temperature and time are pretty negligable so don't worry if you're not exact. Don't bother with a stop bath, just wrinse with water for a while and I'm going on over a year with my batch of fix and it's still going strong (about 2 rolls a week).
I've since added more to my dev kit and you can too over time. I can't say that my negatives have gotten BETTER since I've added things like a thermometer and timer etc... they've gotten more consistant maybe. But it can be a lot of fun being non-scientific about it... and actually some of my favorite negs have come from horrible horrible failures in procedure. So chear up!!! drop the $300 or so on a scanner and the rest should cost you no more than $50.
