Developing BW at home

[CaraRose]

Hi all,

I've got an Minolta SRT-101 that I want to start shooting some black and white film with. I was curious about the option of developing the film myself and then scanning the negatives and printing digitally.

I've never developed my own film though. I was thinking I could convert a bathroom into a temporary darkroom by sealing off the windows.

Any thoughts or tips?

[Franglais]

The only thing you need a darkroom for (in your case) is to get the film out of the cartidge and into the developing tank. You don't need an entire room for that:

- There used to be specially designed changing bags where you put two hands into the bag via an elasticated opening on either side along with the film, scissors and tank and did the loading in broad daylight
- Look at your toilet. It often doesn't have any windows. Wait till dark, shut off all the room lights then go and sit on the throne for 5 minutes with the door closed. If the only thing you can see (once your eyes adapt) is a suggestion of the light coming in under the door then it may be dark enough
- Go to bed with your head under the covers and all the lights turned off. It's rather warm but I've used it in the past. Be sure you've told your fellow occupants what you're doing so they don't burst in and turn the light on

Be aware that when scanning black-and-white film you can't use fancy infra-red dust-removal hardware built into some scanners because the silver in the negative is opaque to infra-red

[CaraRose]

Dark bags, didn't even think about getting one. I used them at Osco when I helped run the one hour, before they switched to a digital film scanner and printer.

Unfortunately both our bathrooms have windows. The downstairs one is semi-opaque, but it still lets light in. I was thinking of taking 2-3 black trash bags and taping them over the window with duck tape (whether or not this would be cleared with the homeowners-- aka the parents, I don't know), to seal it off. But if dark bags aren't expensive, maybe I'll just get one of them.

Other than that... So this is my list of what I figure I'm going to need...

Tank and Reel
Developer
Stop Bath
Fixer

Am I skipping anything?

[mjs1973]

I would suggest going the route of the changing bag. It's a much simpler solution than trying to block windows every time you want to develop film. Changing bags range in price from about $13-$75 @ B&H. Here are the bags B&H has. This is the one that I have been using since 2004. I would advise going with a large bag. Something like the 27x30 bags. They will give you more working room inside of the bag.

I don't think your missing anything major. You can even skip the stop bath if you want. I have replaced the stop bath with a good water rinse. You're going to want to keep an eye on the temperature of your chemistry so you will want a thermometer. I use a meat thermometer. After fixing and washing my film, I rinse it in Hypo Clear. Not a needed step, but it help the film dry without water spots. Speaking of drying film, you will want something to hang the film with. Clothes pin will work, or you can buy special film hangers. I have some of these that came with all of the darkroom stuff I bought a while back. One of the nice things about them is that one of the is weighted, to keep the film from curling as it dries. A couple of clothes pins on the bottom will do the same thing.

You also want to think about how you're going to store your film. There are lot of companies that make pages of sleeves like this that you put in a 3-ring binder that work great. They are very inexpensive too.

[Greg McCary]

Loading the reels is the hardest part. It takes a little practice. Try it first with some old film before you try it for keeps. I have a Bessler reel that really loads easy. I think Aaron has some tips in the video section here.

[drg]

A cheap funnel if your tank and reel don't have the appropriate easy fill top. Some of the 'nice' stainless tanks are the hardest to fill without a funnel.

A measuring device so that you don't waste or use any more chemistry than is really needed, and you get enough in the tank.

The thermometer mentioned is a must, and there are pretty fancy thermometers for cooking that will tell you if the temp gets out of range with an audible beep as well as a display. The reason I mention these is that they often include a countdown timer! For $10-15 at the high end cooking supply store in the mall they have these gizmos that are perfect for film developing. A timer or watch that you can set to remind you to agitate or rinse etc, is fairly important.

A can/bottle opener to pop the top of the film canister for 135(35mm) helps. They can just be banged on hard surface, but then you get one that sticks and when it pops the film flies across the darkened room or all over the inside of the changing bag and, well a 'tool' to assist with the opening is sometimes preferable.

That's a start!

We will look forward to photos!

[giftuniq09]

Create a unique photo gift with the images you have been taking with that new digital camera or pick up the old cherished photographs from your photo albums, or the ones displayed in the frames.If you can't find that perfect one, just pick up your camera and go for it.Developing BW at home is not a difficult task need a dark room and some equipment.

Personalized Gifts

[Photopro]

It looks like others have covered almost everything you need, except maybe some containers to store the chemicals in. I know that sounds basic, but dark or amber containers are best to prolong the life of your chemicals. Photo stores sell them (or used to anyway) in various sizes.

Chemicals won't last forever. Developer will go first just from age. Air is the enemy here, so the smallest container you can get for the amount of developer you need to store is best. Stop bath and fixer mostly depend on how often you use them, not how long you have kept them.

If you buy dry chemicals and mix them, you can store the dry stuff for years. If you use liquid developer and mix from that, the same thing goes for air in the bottle. Squeeze it out if you can.

Don't skimp on the thermometer. If you want good negatives, you need to process at the correct temperature for the correct amount of time. Otherwise you risk poor contrast and several other problems. Of course, nowadays, a lot of that can easily be fixed digitally, but the old rule of thumb was - if it's not showing on the negative, there's nothing you can do to get it back.

Follow the rules on agitation. Don't overdo or underdo it as both can cause problems. Tap your tank on the table right after you fill it with developer - that will eliminate bubbles that may have formed on the film when you poured the developer in. If you use a Nikon tank, put the cap on and flip it over.

I wish you luck. I am glad to see that there are folks out there who still want to do manual developing. I did my first roll when I was 8 years old and never stopped until a few years ago when I switched to digital. I still have the darkroom though - just in case.

Doug