Beginner!!! Plan to develop own film - Am I missing anything?

[ejg1890]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

After looking at the cost to develop and scan film from an outside lab I plan to bring that in house. I have never developed film myself back in the days I shot film. So I am looking to acquire a few items to get started and complete at least 1 roll of film. I plan to acquire the below items, however, is there anything I am missing:

1. Patterson Film Processing start kit (2 reel tank, 3 600ml graduates, opener, thermometer, 2 clips sets, stir, and Ilford solutions)
2. Changing bag
3. Formulary vinyl gloves
4. apron
5. 2 rolls of Holga 400 (cheap film for initial practice)

Is there anything critical that I would need for that first test on development?

Thanks

 

[250swb]

Maybe a cheap 2litre plastic jug from the supermarket so you can have all the wash water you need ready and waiting at the correct temperature (using the Ilford wash method).

Edited April 4, 2022 by 250swb

[Advertisement]

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

[Doug A]

It looks like you have it pretty well handled for the first rolls. Going forward, you can save some money by including a storage bottle for the used fixer, which can be reused.

[Ornello]

58 minutes ago, ejg1890 said:

After looking at the cost to develop and scan film from an outside lab I plan to bring that in house. I have never developed film myself back in the days I shot film. So I am looking to acquire a few items to get started and complete at least 1 roll of film. I plan to acquire the below items, however, is there anything I am missing:

1. Patterson Film Processing start kit (2 reel tank, 3 600ml graduates, opener, thermometer, 2 clips sets, stir, and Ilford solutions)
2. Changing bag
3. Formulary vinyl gloves
4. apron
5. 2 rolls of Holga 400 (cheap film for initial practice)

Is there anything critical that I would need for that first test on development?

Thanks

 

Are you talking about black & white or color?

[250swb]

21 minutes ago, Ornello said:

Are you talking about black & white or color?

I'm guessing it will be B&W given the catastrophic shortage of Ilford C-41 chemicals.

[LocalHero1953]

Depending on your developer, you may find a smaller graduated cylinder useful - I am mixing 19ml of HC-110 to 600ml, so I have a 50ml cylinder as well.

I have cheap plastic kitchen 1 litre jugs for keeping my chemicals ready for use in the bath - I just use one 600ml cylinder for mixing. It's easier to pour liquids from the tank quickly into a wide-mouth jug than a narrow-mouth cylinder or bottle. 

You can get by with a phone app for timing, but I am glad I have my Patersons dark room timer. No more using a touch screen with wet fingers, or my phone going to sleep at the wrong time.

I don't use gloves or an apron, but then I spent three years doing wet chemistry for a research degree, so perhaps I'm tidier than most.

Things you can choose not to buy because you may have them already:

• corkscrew with integrated bottle opener. Once I got used to it (and opened the canisters from the right end), I found I didn't need to buy a dedicated one.
• clothes pegs stolen from the household supply. there are plenty more where they came from.
• plastic spatula for mixing, stolen from the kitchen. It hasn't been missed.
• household cleaner citric acid bought in bulk for a stop bath. 2 teaspoonfuls to 600ml. Smells better than acetic acid.

Other things you'll need on the day: scissors for the changing bag, paper towel roll, fine paper tissues (I use them for a quick, light-touch and careful wipe of the film after hanging it up), string to hang your film from.

 

Edited April 4, 2022 by LocalHero1953

[ejg1890]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

51 minutes ago, Ornello said:

Are you talking about black & white or color?

At this point just Black & White. I will probably add color in the future. 

[johnwolf]

Ah, fun ahead. Good luck. 

I suggest you try the Massive Dev app. for your formulas, timings, and timer. A great app. for the entire workflow.

Also a small plastic tub to store you stuff, bring it to the kitchen, and bring water to 68 degrees for all your steps. You can use the tub water for stop bath, rinse, and wetting agent. And if you use liquid developer, you can also mix that from it on the spot. Mine rests nicely across half the kitchen sink.  

If you are using liquid developer, you'll need a small graduate and might need an eye dropper. I mostly do single rolls with HC-110 dilustion H. In a Patterson tank, that's as little as 5 ml chemistry. Smaller graduate = greater accuracy.  

John 

Edited April 4, 2022 by johnwolf

[250swb]

Well for the time being he's using the chemistry that comes in the kit, but HC-110 as a developer is a good way to go forward, so also a small graduate to measure it. And don't forget a bottle opener to open the film cassette, I use my Swiss Army knife, but proprietory cassette openers are available.

[ejg1890]

22 minutes ago, 250swb said:

Well for the time being he's using the chemistry that comes in the kit, but HC-110 as a developer is a good way to go forward, so also a small graduate to measure it. And don't forget a bottle opener to open the film cassette, I use my Swiss Army knife, but proprietory cassette openers are available.

However, that is just to practice on 1-2 roles of film. My BW film is HP5Plus pushed to 800. After that I plan to use HC-110.  Part of the reason for the kit is I have no idea what to use beyond the developer for:

• stop bath
• fixer agent
• Wetting agent

The only item I read on or see on YouTube is for the developing agent.  What do you all use for these other 3 agents. Currently I don’t have a clue.  Thanks

[250swb]

14 minutes ago, ejg1890 said:

However, that is just to practice on 1-2 roles of film. My BW film is HP5Plus pushed to 800. After that I plan to use HC-110.  Part of the reason for the kit is I have no idea what to use beyond the developer for:

• stop bath
• fixer agent
• Wetting agent

The only item I read on or see on YouTube is for the developing agent.  What do you all use for these other 3 agents. Currently I don’t have a clue.  Thanks

Ilford stop bath

Ilford Rapidfix

Ilford Ilfotol

Edited April 4, 2022 by 250swb

[LocalHero1953]

18 minutes ago, ejg1890 said:

However, that is just to practice on 1-2 roles of film. My BW film is HP5Plus pushed to 800. After that I plan to use HC-110.  Part of the reason for the kit is I have no idea what to use beyond the developer for:

• stop bath
• fixer agent
• Wetting agent

The only item I read on or see on YouTube is for the developing agent.  What do you all use for these other 3 agents. Currently I don’t have a clue.  Thanks

Stop bath - citric acid, as per my post

Fixer: Fomafix. Previously Ilford Rapid Fixer - I have noticed no difference except that Fomafix mixes 1+5, which is cheaper and easier to measure to 600ml than Ilford's 1+4 !

Wetting agent: an ancient bottle of Kodak Photo Flo I've had for decades (because I stopped developing film till recently)

Edited April 4, 2022 by LocalHero1953

[schmidtbaer]

Ilford has put some tutorial videos on Youtube - search for "Processing Black & White Film". They show the basic equipment which is required.

A changing bag  might not be needed, if you can find an absolute dark spot in your home.

Hint: Practice the film loading into the Patterson tank with an unused (spare) film in darkness. It takes a bit of practice and after some dry runs it will become easy.

Good luck with the first development. 

 

Edited April 4, 2022 by schmidtbaer

[earleygallery]

I use a plastic washing tub as a water bath to keep the chemicals in once prepared, and water for the initial wash, for consistency of temperature.

A folded piece of kitchen roll works better for wiping excess water off the negs than dedicated tongs which always seem to eventually end up causing scratches (fold a double piece of kitchen roll into a strip, double over into 'tongs' and run down the hangning strip of film lightly and quickly).

Take your time when processing, it's easy to pick up the wrong chemical if you rush!

[250swb]

I think if you have three 600ml graduates in the kit use a permanent marker and individually mark each for 'Dev', 'Stop', and 'Fix' and then never mix them. 

[LocalHero1953]

37 minutes ago, 250swb said:

I think if you have three 600ml graduates in the kit use a permanent marker and individually mark each for 'Dev', 'Stop', and 'Fix' and then never mix them. 

I did the same with my plastic kitchen jugs. But the big lesson I learned is that kitchen jugs are not well calibrated for volume - they are about 15% out at 600ml. I’m glad I’m not cooking with them. 

Edited April 4, 2022 by LocalHero1953

[Ornello]

6 hours ago, ejg1890 said:

After looking at the cost to develop and scan film from an outside lab I plan to bring that in house. I have never developed film myself back in the days I shot film. So I am looking to acquire a few items to get started and complete at least 1 roll of film. I plan to acquire the below items, however, is there anything I am missing:

1. Patterson Film Processing start kit (2 reel tank, 3 600ml graduates, opener, thermometer, 2 clips sets, stir, and Ilford solutions)
2. Changing bag
3. Formulary vinyl gloves
4. apron
5. 2 rolls of Holga 400 (cheap film for initial practice)

Is there anything critical that I would need for that first test on development?

Thanks

 

You should know that conventional B&W film does not scan very well, for reasons that are kind of complicated (basically, the grain is much more prominent than it would be using an enlarger). If you want to do your own film, you should be thinking about an enlarger set-up. They can be had very cheaply these days. Given all the variety of films and developers papers and enlargers, you cannot just 'develop' B&W film. You need to develop your film to suit your darkroom set-up. There is no 'universal' or 'standard' developing regimen, unlike with color films.

[Ko.Fe.]

28 minutes ago, Ornello said:

You should know that conventional B&W film does not scan very well, for reasons that are kind of complicated (basically, the grain is much more prominent than it would be using an enlarger). If you want to do your own film, you should be thinking about an enlarger set-up. They can be had very cheaply these days. Given all the variety of films and developers papers and enlargers, you cannot just 'develop' B&W film. You need to develop your film to suit your darkroom set-up. There is no 'universal' or 'standard' developing regimen, unlike with color films.

I have scanned BW negs for years. It is different from DR prints, but nothing dramatically different. Some bw negs were easy to scan than prints. 

Enlargers are cheap for obvious reasons these days. For many of us life has changed and here is no more time kill. On top of it DR paper prices are just insane now. Even for so-so Kentmere RC. Once it is good size like 8x10, it is ripoff. 

One print is from bw neg scan another is file from M-E 220.

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!

I have mix of scans prints and DR prints on the walls. No big, if any difference, especially for scan prints done in good lab.

 

[Ornello]

20 minutes ago, Ko.Fe. said:

I have scanned BW negs for years. It is different from DR prints, but nothing dramatically different. Some bw negs were easy to scan than prints. 

Enlargers are cheap for obvious reasons these days. For many of us life has changed and here is no more time kill. On top of it DR paper prices are just insane now. Even for so-so Kentmere RC. Once it is good size like 8x10, it is ripoff. 

One print is from bw neg scan another is file from M-E 220.

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!

I have mix of scans prints and DR prints on the walls. No big, if any difference, especially for scan prints done in good lab.

 

You can do it, but you can't make it look as good as a print from the negative. B&W film does not 'transmit' light the way a color film does. Color film images are made of dyes, which filter the white light and transmit certain wavelengths. B&W images are made of silver particles, which scatter light to varying degrees depending on the density. It's a totally different thing. They may 'look' the same to the eye, but they are vastly different.

[Advertisement]

Hallo,

Look here: Interesting Leica gear

[Ko.Fe.]

7 hours ago, ejg1890 said:

After looking at the cost to develop and scan film from an outside lab I plan to bring that in house. I have never developed film myself back in the days I shot film. So I am looking to acquire a few items to get started and complete at least 1 roll of film. I plan to acquire the below items, however, is there anything I am missing:

1. Patterson Film Processing start kit (2 reel tank, 3 600ml graduates, opener, thermometer, 2 clips sets, stir, and Ilford solutions)
2. Changing bag
3. Formulary vinyl gloves
4. apron
5. 2 rolls of Holga 400 (cheap film for initial practice)

Is there anything critical that I would need for that first test on development?

Thanks

 

You won't be able to practice anything by two rolls. Get used bulk loader, reusable cassettes, painting masking tape and one bulk of cheapest bw film where you are.

It is different from NA and Europe. Load 20 or less frames.

You could do everything in the bathroom, once sun is down. Just make sure no light in the bathroom and no light comes via closed door. 

Gloves not really needed with modern bw chemicals with regular skin condition. Just be careful and wash hands. 

Make sure you have photoflo or another wetting agent. Without it - nogood. 

Plastic clothes hanger and to hold developed rolls on top, and clips from another hunger for the bottom ends.

You need good timer more than thermometer. Get water canister, bottle. Store it full of water where you know room temperature. Room temperature is equal to the water in the bottle temperature. 

Epson flatbeds are not expensive. I'm finding them absolutely the best for in home scanning. Epson software is the best.

And later on you could use it for MF and darkroom prints scanning. 

This is where developing dilutions and times are:

https://www.digitaltruth.com/devchart.php

And don't be silly, if you will use regular dilution, +_30 secs doesn't mean anything. 

Make sure you know how to test fixer with film you have and one cup of photoflo in 1L of water will lasts for year of use.

Get Rocket Blower, big one. It is very important for scans.

Once negs are dry place them in the heavy book for a week, before scan:

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!

This is how smart people are avoiding newton rings. 

If you want to see neg close, use 50mm lens and turn filter side to your eye. 

Skip anything in power, use liquid developer and fixer, stop bath (this one is optional).

Write all down after each developing in the old fashion paper notebook. 

Edited April 5, 2022 by Ko.Fe.