Phantomas
Well-known
Right before starting developing my own film my lab has screwed up three rolls in the period of two months. First they developed B&W infrared in C41 and then they twice screwed rolls of Rollei Retro 400 because they were too dumb to develop such "rare" film. So I said f**k it and started developing myself.
What did I do when they screwed up? I told them they ruined my life, gave them an evil stare and asked for a free roll of film.
What did I do when they screwed up? I told them they ruined my life, gave them an evil stare and asked for a free roll of film.
douwe
Jazz and Silver
Developing yourself leaves only yourself to blame. That stops people being angry most of the time 
Seriously, it is very nice to do it yourself and with the help of rff you'll be doing well in no time. You can always send me a pm to ask questions.
Seriously, it is very nice to do it yourself and with the help of rff you'll be doing well in no time. You can always send me a pm to ask questions.
semrich
Well-known
Develop your own. You may find it is easier to accept your own mistakes than the mistakes of someone else. You might also get more enjoyment out of it.
Roberto V.
Le surrèalisme, c'est moi
One time a lab lost a roll of shots I took with my homemade panoramic camera. Needless to say I was very pissed, but due to that the project evolved into a 6x17 camera I'm making so at least something good came out of it.
Tom A
RFF Sponsor
Labs can screw up - of course, as nobody is infallible! It is however surprising how rare it is. I have rarely used labs for bl/w - but I have had films damaged with color stock. If you are shooting commercially, you do cover your a** by giving them the film in two batches - never entrusting the result of a shoot to one run.
Liability wise - they have to replace film and thats all. Makes sense as we all would claim that the fogged/black/scratched/blotched neg would have been a Pulitzer prize winning shot too!
Developing your own is convinient/fast and once you "wasted" some film on trials and errors - you got it made. You can also control the end result much better as you can correct for the light at the time of the shot by pulling/pushing, you can select a film stock tailored to the subject matter and you can fiddle with dilutions or developers to get exactly what you want. The Lab, by the nature of its business will have to develop for the majority of the rolls coming in - "averaging" the result.
Yes, you can screw up too - and probably will, but in the end it si better to do your own.
Over the years I have developed more than 30 000 rolls, but my own stuff and commercial stuff - and yes, I have made just about every mistake possible - but it doesn't happen often.
Liability wise - they have to replace film and thats all. Makes sense as we all would claim that the fogged/black/scratched/blotched neg would have been a Pulitzer prize winning shot too!
Developing your own is convinient/fast and once you "wasted" some film on trials and errors - you got it made. You can also control the end result much better as you can correct for the light at the time of the shot by pulling/pushing, you can select a film stock tailored to the subject matter and you can fiddle with dilutions or developers to get exactly what you want. The Lab, by the nature of its business will have to develop for the majority of the rolls coming in - "averaging" the result.
Yes, you can screw up too - and probably will, but in the end it si better to do your own.
Over the years I have developed more than 30 000 rolls, but my own stuff and commercial stuff - and yes, I have made just about every mistake possible - but it doesn't happen often.