Best place to get film developed in Dublin

Telchak

Started out using film recently a little, and I'd like to eventually learn how to develop when I have some more free time.

In the meantime, I was wondering where is the best place to get film developed in Dublin? I've been using the Camera Exchange, and haven't been unhappy with the results or anything, but was just wondering if anybody with more experience has an opinion on how whether anywhere else uses higher quality scans or anything


As an aside, if anybody knows any particularly good tutorials on how to develop film at home (without a darkroom) that would be much appreciated (:

DaireQuinlan

They're all much of a muchness I'd say, all of them use the same kodak or fuji minilabs that dev and scan in one pass, and way back when I was relying on shop-dev I could never find anywhere that did particularly big scans. The machines are capable of it all right, it's just that most places won't do it, interferes with their process.

That said, I dev all my stuff, colour & B&W, at home nowadays. It's cheaper ( about €1 / €2 a roll for colour ) and EVERY SINGLE OTHER PLACE I used to get stuff developed (with the exception of Gunnes which I never used, and fujicare on abbey street where I used to go for E6) used to scratch the film, or leave big fingermarks or dust on the negatives, or cut shots half way through or whatever.

That said I do have a reasonably good scanner, for 35mm anyways.

Doing film yourself at home is quick and easy. You don't need a darkroom. Just somewhere dark or a changing bag to load the reels and then everything else can be done with the lights on.

Telchak

Thought as much, figured I should ask to be sure.

Had actually noticed scratches on some of the photos I took and was wondering where they came from. Seems pretty careless

I watched an interview with a guy talking about a changing bag and it seemed pretty straightforward, was just looking for a step by step video to show me what to do first time

What kind of money are we talking about for a reasonably good one? I've seen plenty of ones in Peats and on Amazon for under €100, but the feeling I get from the reviews is just people with low expectations scanning photos they took back in pre-digital days. Don't want to spend loads of money on one, and end up being disappointed with the quality

Thanks for the reply

xshayx

DaireQuinlan wrote: »

load the reels

Thats where things tend to go pear shaped for me

Telchak

xshayx wrote: »

Thats where things tend to go pear shaped for me

I've heard it's a good idea to get a practice roll to try and try and try again in light before trying in the changing bag for real

DaireQuinlan

xshayx wrote: »

Thats where things tend to go pear shaped for me

me too. I've come close a few times to ripping half loaded film off the reel and tossing it across the room. Thankfully the sane part of my brain prevails and it gets carefully wound off and stuck into the empty tank while I go off and have a cup of coffee or something

dubtom

I've seriously questioned my decision to home develope after messing up 3 35mm rolls last weekend,using a changing bag and AP reels I still managed to scratch the film. I've since got a Kaiser film retriever, (which I haven't managed to get working yet) just so I reduce handling the film if I mess up loading. In fairness, the AP reels are a lot easier to use than the Pattersons,when you practise

thefizz

dubtom wrote: »

I've seriously questioned my decision to home develope after messing up 3 35mm rolls last weekend,using a changing bag and AP reels I still managed to scratch the film. I've since got a Kaiser film retriever, (which I haven't managed to get working yet) just so I reduce handling the film if I mess up loading. In fairness, the AP reels are a lot easier to use than the Pattersons,when you practise

Loading film onto reels is easy, I can do it with my eyes closed

Seriously though, the AP reels are way easier to use than the Paterson.

DaireQuinlan

thefizz wrote: »

Loading film onto reels is easy, I can do it with my eyes closed

Seriously though, the AP reels are way easier to use than the Paterson.

Aren't the AP reels just spanish rip-offs of the paterson ones ? I've got a couple of AP tanks & reels, I ended up taking the ball bearings out, made the going much easier. They're a few years old though so they'd started to jam. One thing I keep on meaning to try is stainless steel reels. I don't think you can use them for C-41 though so its on the long finger for now.

I gotta say though, I have one Jobo tank 35mm only that's just a piece of cake to load. It has little indentations all the way along the radius of the reel so if the film gets jammed you can normally grab it near the end and give it a bit of a wiggle and free it up.

aidanic

dubtom wrote: »

I've seriously questioned my decision to home develope after messing up 3 35mm rolls last weekend,using a changing bag and AP reels I still managed to scratch the film. I've since got a Kaiser film retriever, (which I haven't managed to get working yet) just so I reduce handling the film if I mess up loading. In fairness, the AP reels are a lot easier to use than the Pattersons,when you practise

I gave up on a changing bag two years ago, when I took up film again seriously. My bathroom has no windows, and is in the middle of the building. It's pretty much light tight. (Put a towel across the bottom of the door).

Without the (hot sweaty) restricted space of the changing bag, loading reels (I have both Paterson and AP) became much easier. With the space, I'm more comfortable, cooler and calmer. Some of my reels are 10+ years old but are still OK.

I've loaded tanks under a duvet in a hotel at night, and even that had more space than my changing bag.

You might be able to do something with a thick cardboard box, making a changing box, which has more space inside.

If you're getting scratches along the film - how are you unloading it? I have a Paterson film opener (like a beer bottle opener), and I remove the whole film in one go.

I would not like to pull the film back out through the slot - more chances of a scratch there.

Also, you might want to check your camera film transport, just in case the scratches are coming from there.

Aidan

thefizz

DaireQuinlan wrote: »

thefizz wrote: »

Loading film onto reels is easy, I can do it with my eyes closed

Seriously though, the AP reels are way easier to use than the Paterson.

Aren't the AP reels just spanish rip-offs of the paterson ones ?

No they are very different and way easier to use. The older version was not great but the current COMPACT version is far superior. Will post pic later to show what I mean.

Telchak

So, took the plunge and decided to get this...



Going to try developing a couple of rolls (badly at first, I imagine) before buying a scanner. I've been finding it hard to find out what scanners are good, as a lot of the reviews are people scanning holiday photos from the 90's and are just delighted to get them on facebook

Was thinking of something like this. Can't say I'd be able to go much higher in price. Even with this, my dad said he'd pay for half as he's like a lot of his old photos scanned.

thefizz

That reel in your pic is the AP Compact reel I sell. You can see the extra big loading guides which make loading film much easier than the paterson reels.

sineadw

Yay! Good luck telchak!

dubtom

aidanic wrote: »

I gave up on a changing bag two years ago, when I took up film again seriously. My bathroom has no windows, and is in the middle of the building. It's pretty much light tight. (Put a towel across the bottom of the door).

Without the (hot sweaty) restricted space of the changing bag, loading reels (I have both Paterson and AP) became much easier. With the space, I'm more comfortable, cooler and calmer. Some of my reels are 10+ years old but are still OK.

I've loaded tanks under a duvet in a hotel at night, and even that had more space than my changing bag.

You might be able to do something with a thick cardboard box, making a changing box, which has more space inside.

If you're getting scratches along the film - how are you unloading it? I have a Paterson film opener (like a beer bottle opener), and I remove the whole film in one go.

I would not like to pull the film back out through the slot - more chances of a scratch there.

Also, you might want to check your camera film transport, just in case the scratches are coming from there.

Aidan

Good advise Aidan, I think my problems were to do with the bag,sweaty hands and probably wet-ish reels. I did manage to load an AP reel last weekend no problem in a minute or so,that bucked the confidence. Even though I have a darkroom,I was still using the bag in case I dropped the film. Good luck to Telchak with the developing, it's only a matter of time before you get the enlarger;)

chisel

If you roll the leading edge of the film back the other way it makes life a lot easier loading it onto the reel - especially for 120 film. Also, many cameras will have an option to leave a little bit of the leader sticking out when it rewinds. This means you can start the roll onto the reel in daylight. I always do this when possible and never got a scratch. It also means you can pull out a bit of film at a time and you don't end up with an unmangeable mess of a roll.

Telchak: komplett have the Epson V500 on offer at €160 incl VAT and delivery. Its a good deal. The plustek will do higher res, but you have to scan one neg at a time. You can 12 at a time with the v500. It will also scan other film formats and prints.

Watch your agitation - be very gentle, too much will give you excessive grain. If you have a smart phone, download the darkroom timer app - very handy for the timing.

After dev and washing etc, fill your tank, add 1 drop of rinse aid and let the film sit in it for 30 secs. Use some clothes pegs or clips to hang the film to dry. Use somewhere dust free (eg run the shower for a few mins, and hang the negs in there - the moisture takes the dust down).

Good luck!!

jpb1974

When loading film onto a reel make sure the reel is bone dry, the little ball bearings are moving freely in the reel and not jammed and that your hands are bone dry.

Usually I wear powder free latex gloves when loading reels because the minute you hit panic mode your hands will begin to sweat and can cause the film to get sticky.

Personally I've stopped using a changing bag and now use a windowless walk-in wardrobe at home. Changing bags can get a bit tedious when things start going pear shaped with film not wanting to go onto the reel.

I find the AP reels much better than the Patterson's. They have a sort of a leader area built into them that really helps when getting the film onto the reel at the start.