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Developing Film
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I’d like to try and develop by own b+w film. 35mm and 120. (ilford and kodak tri-x)
What exactly do I need to get started on this in a simple way ?
Thanks
MarkAll you really need is a changing bag, a tank and spirals, a thermometer, measuring jugs, timer/watch and the chemicals.
See ilfords PDF at this link; http://www.ilfordphoto.com/applications/page.asp?n=31The useful bit is towards the end.
Are you starting from scratch? I might have a few bits I can spare.
Great link !
Yep starting for scratch. Will insist on paying for any spares this time Fintan :)
Mark
You should be able to pick up the gear cheap on Ebay. Keep an eye out for the Patterson kit that has everything you will need. Best of luck. There is site called digital truth that has lots of helpful information.www.digitaltruth.com when you get going.
Well I’ve now got all the gear needed for developing the negs, except the chemicals.
As I mentioned about its B+W Ilford/Kodak tri-x that I want to try developing.
Can anyone advise me on what chemicals I’ll need ?
Thanks
MarkMark,
you now need film developer, stop bath & fixer. These are the 3 you need. Now to tell you the truth I never used stop bath. I just used the developer, then just used cold water to wash the developer out and then put the fixer in and it always worked…….in fact, that was the way I was taught to do it. I used Patterson developer and at times I used Kodak D-76 particularly with Kodak Infra-Red Film as it had weird developing methods. I used all kinds of fixer namely, Agfa, Kodak, Parrerson. A good book…if its still available…..is “Starting Photography” by Michael Langford. It gives a fairly detailed run down on film procesing with temp & times, etc…….very easy to follow. I used this book all the time when I was teaching photography for the VEC here in Galway. You are most welcome to borrow it and photocopy it if you wish but I would not like to lose the book as its part of my “library” for many, many years now.Mark
As a start i suggest you use Rodinal to develop the film, it is high acutance but not fine grained developer. I suggest it as it is clean working. It comes in liquid form and is diluted generally 1:25 or 1:50. Other powder based developers can be wasteful and troublesome for a new worker.
Agree with Gerry drop the stop bath, it stinks. Two washes with water will suffice.
Finally fixer of which any liquid brand will do.
Now the tricky bit, washing and drying. We will all have different ideas on this. 5 minutes and lots of changes while inverting the tank is a good starting point. To the final wash add wetting agent approx 3ml to 600ml water and leave stand for one minute. Move spiral gently making sure not to create to many bubbles. In the final was using distilled water will help to avoid drying marks.
In a dust free area shake the living daylights out of the spiral to remove as much water as you can. Hang to dry. Dont be tempted to look at them until they have dried you will generate dust which will stick to them. Just leave the drying area slowly to minimise dust.
Here is a book i would recommend, especially good for landscape workers. Best of luck.
If all this fail you could try coffee or vitamins as in this demonstration,
http://chromogenic.net/verba/archives/2006/02/washing_soda_developers.htmlI used to use Kodak T-max developer, diluted for one shot use- maximum consistency, batch to batch.
I hate to disagree with Gerry, but onne good reason for stop bath, apart from stopping the developing process dead, and preventing excessivly cloudy negs (sometimes), is to prevent contamination of the fixer, which can be re-used to exhaustion by extending the fix time . And a stop bath is less expensive than fix, if you’re worried about that sort of thing. The same stop can also be used for prints.
Fixer was always Hypam by Ilford. After the final wash, use a wetting agent, this helps prevent drying marks.If you’re starting from scratch, I’d recommend researching the Zone IV system, and conducting the tests to link your exposure and development and printing. Absolutely unnecessary, unless you’re naturally rigourous. And it was good enough for Ansel and his 10×8’s, so thats got to be good enough for anyone.
This is all from memory, it must be about 7 years since I developed a film, but it is the most important part of the process; I used to develop up to 7 (I think) films at a time, thats a lot of exposures to get wrong in the tank.
It would be useful if you can find someone good who is willing to demonstrate the process- nothing about it is difficult, but you do have to be organized, and once you establish a good process its important to do it consistently.
One thing which seems simple, but can have a large effect on the film is your method of agitation; too rigorous and you can get surge marks, particularly with miniature films around the sprocket holes. Do it just right and you can enhance your acutance, which is a much nicer word than sharpening, and I’m kinda jealous now that you’ll be able to use it.
Like everything else, the choice is vast, good luck with whatever you decide on-j
Eddie wrote:
Agree with Gerry drop the stop bath, it stinks. Two washes with water will suffice.
Finally fixer of which any liquid brand will do.
Now the tricky bit, washing and drying. We will all have different ideas on this. 5 minutes and lots of changes while inverting the tank is a good starting point. To the final wash add wetting agent approx 3ml to 600ml water and leave stand for one minute. Move spiral gently making sure not to create to many bubbles. In the final was using distilled water will help to avoid drying marks.
In a dust free area shake the living daylights out of the spiral to remove as much water as you can. Hang to dry. Dont be tempted to look at them until they have dried you will generate dust which will stick to them. Just leave the drying area slowly to minimise dust.
Washing & drying…..forgot that bit. In GMIT where I learned it was recommended to wash your film for up to 20 minutes if you were using a contsant (filtered) flow from the cold tap. Used to hang to dry after pulling them through a film squeegie to take off excess water. Hang dry for 24 hours to allow the emulsion to harden again…..I’m told it can be softened by the processing and easily damaged. I also remember a tip (which I was always afraid to use) about using 2 drops of washing up liquid in the final wash…….but I’m damned if I can remember what it was supposed to do……….I never used it ..LOL
I just realize ……. in my time I developed 100’s of films and now I’d have to go back to the book and fully read up on the whole thing again….LOL. In the latter days of film the lab used to use a Kodak paper that used to print colour negs as B&W and prior to that I used Ilford XP2 and XP4 which had a C41 process and then just printed my own B&W from them ……….the lazy way of doing things !
Use water for your stop bath and never use those squeegees, they will damage your film.
Peter
Eddie wrote:
Mark
You should be able to pick up the gear cheap on Ebay. Keep an eye out for the Patterson kit that has everything you will need. etc….
SpeedGraphic are selling the Paterson kit new at ?65. They describe it as everything you need besides the enlarger, chemicals and paper.
It’s not an odour problem that puts people off using stop baths but rather the risk of pin holes forming on the film. Now some will say this is rubbish but I have been told by enough photographers and also read it in numerous photography books not to use it so I never bothered with it as water works fine. I know water will not stop the development as quick as a stop bath but a few extra seconds is nothing to worry about.
Peter
Always used stop, over a 20 year period, never had a pin hole-
the odour is only really a problem with concentrated stop,
anyway, that smell, plus the smell of fixer, is the smell of photography…good thing none of you work with really bad chemicals…
use the water, it wont matter…
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