Starting out in film developing

[ChrisCummins]

Finally, good news!

I received all my required chemicals on friday, and eagerly mixed up the diafine to get started. I must say, I don't think photography has ever given me so much satisfaction as when I was sat in my tiny cramped uni bathroom surrounded by funny smelling chemicals, unravelling my first processed roll of 35mm film! 🙂

It's still very early days yet - my method is pretty sloppy, my developing tanks leak, and my flatmates are getting annoyed about the bathroom always being busy - but I'm having a blast!

I'll try and get some pics up ASAP. I'm still working my way through the 20 or so rolls of film that I've accumulated.

One of the unexpected side effects of developing my own film is that it's really increased my enthusiasm for actually taking photos, and tied the whole experience together. In the last 3 days I've gone through 6 rolls of film, just really experimenting and trying to push myself outside of my comfort zone. Tomorrow I'm going to order myself a new developing tank, another liter fixer and about 40 more rolls of film!

Regards
Chris

 

[ibcrewin]

Awesome! That's really encouraging for the future of film!

 

[ChrisPlatt]

If you like developing negatives suggest you find a nearby darkroom and try traditional wet printing...

Chris

 

[Gevan]

thanks, very cool....
The only is can't do is give you an agitation buzz...
and add the Photo Flo and wash steps..
But, to have the presets already programed for any developer/film combo is really cool.

...done. Now available programmed agitations notifocation.

 

[ChrisCummins]

So it's now been about 3 weeks and I've been getting more comfortable with the developing process. At the minute I stick solely to Diafine developer with an Ilford wash system. Can anyone recommend a bargain fixer for use with this? I use Ilford Rapid Fix which does the job well but I get through it very quickly and it is the second most costly thing (after film).

I have also bought myself a new camera, a Nikon 35mm point and shoot with a 35 /2.8 lens. It's so much fun to use - all I have to do is compose and shoot, and combined with 40 rolls of Rollei RPX 400, I have been going out into the streets and starting to shoot 'street'. Here's scans of some of the negs.

Regards
Chris

 

[dfoo]

How do you manage to go through fixer quickly? You can reuse fixer again and again. For me 2L of mixed fix does 50 rolls of film (which is what the Ilford documentation says).

 

[ibcrewin]

get the hypocheck drops. Fixer goes a long way.

 

[ChrisCummins]

ha, that'll be why then! I always assumed fixer was one shot. I didn't see anything in the literature to imply it was reusable. Next you'll be telling me that film is reusable... 😀

So how many times can you recycle Ilford Rapid Fix, and when do you know it's exhausted?

Regards
Chris

 

[dfoo]

Read the documentation. http://www.ilfordphoto.com/Webfiles/2006130218312091.pdf

For a 1+4 dilution of 1L of fix, capacity without replenishment is stated as:

General purpose film 1+4 24x135–36

Hence I generally do 50 in 2L of fix. To test, put a clip of undeveloped film in the fix. Measure the clear time at the start. As you reach capacity the clear time will double. Then throw it out.

 

[ChrisCummins]

Hey, thanks for the link. I did the reading about fixer and have started doing the clearing test. Curiously it only takes 1 min to clear a leader, and I've been fixing for 5 min. Is there any harm in over-fixing? I'm also thinking about using the two-bath fixer method, it seems very sensible.

A thought on my new 3 reel paterson multi-tank, is there any harm in using 1 ltr of solution when developing three reels rather than the recommended 670ml? Since 2x 120 films takes 1ltr, it would make it easier for me if I could just reuse the same solutions for developing both types of film.

Regards
Chris