Film Development and Scans

[ejg1890]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

For those of you who shot black and white film how or who do you send your film too for development? Looking for a company who will develop but also scan images in high quality for me to load into LightRoom.  Do any of these companies also provide printed photos in addition to the scan? Finally I assume negatives are also return to you as well.  I live in the US and prefer a developer in the US as its easier and quicker for mailings.

Thanks

Jim

[Advertisement]

The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[matted]

I’m sure there are many options in the US. All of what you are looking for is possible (develop, scan, print, return negs by mail). I am in Canada, but I have had positive experiences with these US labs:

https://northcoastphoto.com

 

https://www.dwaynesphoto.com

[madNbad]

If you are only using B&W film, it's easy enough to develop at home. A used Plustek scanner will do a good job of converting the negatives. With a little research, you would recoup the cost of sending the film out within a short period of time. D96 Monobath provides both developer and fixer, with one bottle doing about sixteen rolls. A dark bag, developing tank and thermometer and you're set. Check out the "I like Film" thread for more information.

[archive_all]

I second what @madNbadsaid. I have also heard about Nice Film Club recently, sounds like it's about $10 for dev and scanning which is very reasonable: https://nicefilmclub.com. Not sure about the quality of their scans or other details.

 

[plaidshirts]

I send mine to Dexter’s in Ventura, CA and scan them on my Coolscan 5000. They will scan for you should you wish. 

Edited February 27, 2022 by plaidshirts

[logan2z]

I'm going to put in an other vote for home developing.  I sent my film out to a lab for a long time and often encountered issues - scratched negatives, water stains and other unexplained defects.  And I was supposedly using some of the best labs in the US with dip and dunk machines.   I recently started developing at home and none of the rolls I've developed have had any of these issues. 

Developing black and white film really is quite easy and you'll save a lot of $$$ in developing and shipping costs.

Edited February 27, 2022 by logan2z

[Huss]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Home dev!  I use Cinestill Monobath - 1 reusable premixed liquid for everything - and it is so easy!  For me it works out to $1/roll to develop.  Plus no waiting on shipping, no shipping costs, no lab dev costs etc. And it is so fun/satisfying doing it yourself.

If you have a digicam, scan the film with that.  I've been doing it for years now w superb results.  Better than what I used to pay for.

Attached pic is home dev with monobath, scanned w my digicam.

 

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

[ejg1890]

Thanks all. I had thought home development would have required more equipment and investment.

Do you all have a dedicated darkroom or just use a bathroom for processing?

[Tom R]

9 minutes ago, ejg1890 said:

Thanks all. I had thought home development would have required more equipment and investment.

Do you all have a dedicated darkroom or just use a bathroom for processing?

If you have an adequate space and accommodations for a small darkroom, great! If not, purchase a "changing bag" and with a little practice with whichever developing tank you own--either metal or plastic--you'll be in a good place. An alternative might be an Ars Lab-Box, but my experience with this thing (albeit limited) is hit or miss.

[matted]

10 minutes ago, ejg1890 said:

Thanks all. I had thought home development would have required more equipment and investment.

Do you all have a dedicated darkroom or just use a bathroom for processing?

I don’t have a darkroom or a bathroom… I load in a changing tent (any closet or room that you can get 100% dark with a towel at the bottom of the door will do though) and do the rest on top of my washing machine beside the laundry sink. 

[LocalHero1953]

You don't need a darkroom for developing and scanning. I took up B&W film development and scanning in the past year after a 30+ year hiatus (so some skills, like loading a film reel in a changing bag, were already learned and ingrained). I set aside roughly two hours for developing two rolls; use the bath as my temperature controlled bath (UK tapwater is cold enough to be mixed with hot to 20degC), and have three cheap 1 litre plastic jugs for the chemicals. On top of that it is worth having large (600ml) and small (50ml) accurate measuring cylinders, a thermometer and a Paterson dark room timer (simpler than a phone app). Other than a Paterson 2-reel tank and changing bag, that is all the kit I use*.

I buy developer and fixer online, citric acid for the stop bath from the local household cleaning store, and I still seem to have an industrial-sized bottle of wetting agent from 30 years ago.

I've been looking at buying a film processor, but a device that fully manages the three principle needs - temperature control, controlled agitation, swapping chemicals in and out - is expensive. If I get a simple one that does at least the first - keeping chemicals at the right temperature - I could cut out occupying the family bath, and start doing colour development (for which temperature control is more critical).    

 

* OK, plus scissors, bottle opener, string, clothes pegs, tissues, kitchen roll, plastic spatula.......all raided from elsewhere in the house.

Edited February 27, 2022 by LocalHero1953

[RayD28]

1 hour ago, ejg1890 said:

Thanks all. I had thought home development would have required more equipment and investment.

Do you all have a dedicated darkroom or just use a bathroom for processing?

I use a changing bag.  There are several YouTube videos with excellent information.  Bag, Paterson tank and reels, four beakers, developer, stop bath, fixer, thermometer, bottle opener, small scissors with rounded tips, and extra-large paper binders clips for hanging the film to dry.  All in cost to start developing is probably around $150.  I'm certain others here have other estimates.  It's a little intimidating at first and there will be some trial and error initially but if I can do it you can, too.  

There are lots of ways to digitize but I started with a new Epson V600 for about $130 on sale.  

So all-in you can start developing and scanning at home for less than $300.  

Edited February 27, 2022 by RayD28

[madNbad]

I have a Photoflex Changing Room that I bought from a member on another forum. It pops up like a little tent and has sleeves that come up over my elbows. The developing tank is a single reel stainless steel with a Hewes reel. Mostly, I use HC-110 as a developer. The go to is dilution B (1 to 31) but lately Dilution E (1 to 47) is becoming a favorite. When I bought the bottle of HC-110, it was split into  four 250 ml brown glass bottles with stoppers from a local pharmacy. I use a syringe to draw out the proper amount of syrup and mix it with tap water at 20 degrees C. I experimented with pre was and using water as a stop bath but found both of those to be a waste of water. Indicator stop bath is inexpensive and a bottle last a long time. I use Ilford Rapid fix mixed with distilled water and stored at room temperature. I mix enough to fill a 250 ml brown glass bottle which is good for about five rolls before exhaustion. The Ilford water saving wash system works well and I have been using a modified version. Hang it in the bathroom to dry and currently it’s scanned with a Sony 90 macro mounted to a A7II and a Negative Supply carrier. When I first started, I had a Plustek 7600i that was bought used for a hundred usd. It worked well but was slow and once I started with camera scanning, like a lot of photography, the system became more complex as my knowledge grew. Our house is small with no place suitable for a traditional darkroom but I can set up at the kitchen sink, finish developing the roll in about twenty minutes. It gives me better control over how the film is handled and I find it to be an enjoyable process. 

[logan2z]

6 minutes ago, madNbad said:

I have a Photoflex Changing Room that I bought from a member on another forum. It pops up like a little tent and has sleeves that come up over my elbows. The developing tank is a single reel stainless steel with a Hewes reel. Mostly, I use HC-110 as a developer. The go to is dilution B (1 to 31) but lately Dilution E (1 to 47) is becoming a favorite. 

I use a similar setup - single (or double) Nikor steel tank and one (or two) Hewes reels.  The Hewes reels really are quite easy to load, I haven't screwed one up - yet 😉

I'm also using HC-110 with Dilution E.  Not many people seem to use E, I kind of stumbled on it since the published development times by Kodak for Dilution B and Tri-X seem to be far too short to be practical.  There are no published times for Dilution E but I'm finding the right time by experimentation. 

I treat HC-110 as a one-shot developer and mix a fresh batch for each roll.  The Ilford indicator stop bath is good for 7 days at working strength when well sealed and the Rapid Fixer lasts quite a bit longer.  I am also using the Ilford wash method.  I haven't been home developing long enough to know if it is just as good as other methods, but it is used pretty widely so I assume it is effective.

I originally thought that developing at home would be a chore, but it's actually turned out to be a lot of fun and - as you said - it gives you much control over your results.

[Huss]

7 hours ago, ejg1890 said:

Thanks all. I had thought home development would have required more equipment and investment.

Do you all have a dedicated darkroom or just use a bathroom for processing?

I use a changing bag ($30) which is really handy to have anyway if you are a film shooter - in case you have a film feeding issue and need to open your camera etc.  Then I do the rest in my kitchen. One dev tank. One beaker.  One thermometer.  One bottle of Cinestill DF96 monobath.  That's it!  Develop a roll of film in 4 minutes.

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

[a.noctilux]

Since I had a friend showing me (in 2007) I use two Rondinax 35U (a bit more on it, here is ...link to ).

or here

I call it ZEN film processor, only one film each processing, no need for having dedicated dark place, temperature master at a glance.

Genius invention from Agfa/Leitz decades ago.

[johnwolf]

7 hours ago, ejg1890 said:

Thanks all. I had thought home development would have required more equipment and investment.

Do you all have a dedicated darkroom or just use a bathroom for processing?

My "darkroom" is a little plastic tub with everything I need. I bring it into the kitchen, organize the supplies, fill the tub with water at 68 degrees and use that water for developer, stop bath, rinse, and wetting agent. 20 minutes later I leave the kitchen without a trace. I hang the film in a shower stall to dry, then put it in clear pages, snap a digital picture, and bring it into Lightroom and invert as a contact sheet. I really enjoy the whole process. The Massive Dev app is great for all your formulas and timers. 

John

 

[bdolzani]

On 2/27/2022 at 3:09 PM, johnwolf said:

My "darkroom" is a little plastic tub with everything I need. I bring it into the kitchen, organize the supplies, fill the tub with water at 68 degrees and use that water for developer, stop bath, rinse, and wetting agent. 20 minutes later I leave the kitchen without a trace. I hang the film in a shower stall to dry, then put it in clear pages, snap a digital picture, and bring it into Lightroom and invert as a contact sheet. I really enjoy the whole process. The Massive Dev app is great for all your formulas and timers. 

John

 

This pretty much describes my kitchen in-and-out as well. I use a large pitcher for my 68 degree, multi-use water. It's also the pre-rinse. I don't (or haven't yet) made contact sheets, as I always scan just about every photo from the roll anyway. Especially now with digital camera scanning, it's quicker to shoot the whole roll rather than inject my highly indecisive mind on which negs to scan and which to pass over (which would cause many hours of rumination and feelings of loss and incompletion). 

I also like HC(E), as longer dev times are generally better. 

To OP: Sending rolls out is so so expensive. Home dev especially for B&W is very satisfying! It can be a frustrating learning curve with lost rolls, etc, but well worth it. Once you get it, it's like a switch that's now on. 

Edited February 28, 2022 by bdolzani

[Advertisement]

Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[giannis]

Tbh I never dare to send B&W film out for development. Unlike C-41 and E-6 that are standardised processes very tightly controlled by machines running on "autopilot", B&W is not standardised and on top of that is done - usually - by hand. 

"Not standardised" is actually the big elephant in the room. Not all films work well with all developers, also different developers give different speeds with film (other than the box rating), and there's no way to ensure the lab is using the correct times for the film+dev combo, or have their own "regime" with divergent times. There are too many "failure points" to list, but here's a few that I've seen far too often:

1. Lab uses Rodinal for everything, for economy/ease/shelf life, resulting in thin (underexposed), contrasty negatives with huge grain for anything that isn't an ISO50 or thereabouts traditional cubic grain film
2. Lab uses incorrect times, because they put different films (that require different dev times in a given developer) in the same tank, to save money/time/workhours, resulting in subpar negatives
3. Human error is much higher than automated minilab machines. A minilab the worst it can do, is give you a hairline scratch due to dirty rollers. A human, especially one with little experience, is much more likely to mess up dilutions/times/temperatures, or even the order of chemicals (fixer first giving you a perfectly clear roll), on top of manhandling your film with regards to scratches, tears, accidental light exposure and fogging, creases, etc. .

And the list goes on. If you're hellbent on sending out for development and not giving it a try yourself, I'd suggest to find a place that does dip and dunk processing (not by hand). They usually state the developer and times they use, and use sensible general purpose developers. This is the only way to get predictable, repeatable and good results other than processing it yourself.

Edited February 28, 2022 by giannis
grammar

[Ornello]

On 2/26/2022 at 2:57 PM, ejg1890 said:

For those of you who shot black and white film how or who do you send your film too for development? Looking for a company who will develop but also scan images in high quality for me to load into LightRoom.  Do any of these companies also provide printed photos in addition to the scan? Finally I assume negatives are also return to you as well.  I live in the US and prefer a developer in the US as its easier and quicker for mailings.

Thanks

Jim

Use XP2 Super. Conventional B&W film does not scan well.

Edited February 28, 2022 by Ornello