Home developing question

Fujiguy

Hi, i have started lots of pictures with my 35mm SLR, and i want to start developing myself ( VERY basic to begin with ) was wondering if anyone knows of a complete starter kit i can buy ( pref including any chemicals i need ) that allows me to develop from film or negatives?

If there is no such thing, can anyone recommend a good website/book/etc to get started with the very basics? i do not have a lot of room, but i have a walk in wardrobe that i can use at a pinch, but i think a small setup would suit best.

Thanks a million.

aidanic

Any of the Dublin shops (Camera Exchange or Conns) should be able to set you up with a "kit".

Talk to thefizz who runs the.Photoshop.ie. You might be able to get a kit made up from him.

I'd give YouTube a quick search - some useful videos there.

And practice - you'll kill a few rolls, have sticky finger prints on others, and have some successes. I learned my (poor) technique in the 80s.

If you have a changing bag, you might find it hard to load the reels. Practice with a piece of scrap film in the light first, and get yourself used to doing it. For a while I loaded my tanks in the bedroom, under the duvet with the curtains closed.

You only need the dark place to load the development tanks - everything else can be done in normal light. In my last place, I used to do the development in the kitchen sink - these days in the bath. I hang the film to dry in the shower.

You'll need to store the made up fixer over multiple developments. The developer concentrate can be stored in it's original packaging. For B&W I use a single shot developer, but store my C41/E6 chems for multiple sessions.

DaireQuinlan and some of the others around here shoot plenty of film, and always have good advice and tips.

If you're bored do a Google for "film development in coffee"...

aidanic

And just to add, I use old liquid Aerial bottles to store used chemicals, and drop them off now and again for proper disposal. Both the developer and the fixer should not be poured down the drain.

Mcofferon

aidanic wrote: »

And just to add, I use old liquid Aerial bottles to store used chemicals, and drop them off now and again for proper disposal. Both the developer and the fixer should not be poured down the drain.

Hi Aidan

Slightly off topic. I've started to home develop B&W again after years (and years!) past since my school photo club days. I'm very rusty and there seems to be conflicting info out there on the web so a couple of questions.

For the one shot rolls I've developed so far I've not used a stop bath, so obviously the fixer is not re-usable. If I did use stop what sort of life could I expect from the fixer?

Also my crude routine doesn't use a wetting agent, but Ive not really been troubled with watermarks on the film yet. Is it worth using?

Most important, where do you drop off your chemicals for disposal?

Cheers - Mike

amdgilmore

Mcofferon wrote: »

For the one shot rolls I've developed so far I've not used a stop bath, so obviously the fixer is not re-usable. If I did use stop what sort of life could I expect from the fixer?

Mixed, in a full bottle with no air at the top, they say to expect about 6 months shelflife (this is for the ilford fixer). Mine has been going strong for three months.

DaireQuinlan

amdgilmore wrote: »

Mixed, in a full bottle with no air at the top, they say to expect about 6 months shelflife (this is for the ilford fixer). Mine has been going strong for three months.

Fix is pretty easy to check as well. Get the leader off a bit of film and dip it into the fix. Check how long it takes to go completely transparent. Double that time is your recommended fix time with that solution. If it starts taking more than a few minutes to clear it's probably time to do up another batch. I've used a bottle for more than a year before it started getting to the point where it was taking about 2 or 3 minutes to clear.

thefizz

Water is fine as a stop bath, no need to use an acid stop and better off without it.

If your films are drying without any marks then no need for a wetting agent.

DaireQuinlan

thefizz wrote: »

Water is fine as a stop bath, no need to use an acid stop and better off without it.

If your films are drying without any marks then no need for a wetting agent.

I never used to get marks on my film when I lived in Ranelagh. Live in Dundrum now and despite liberal use of ilfotol I still get big chalky drying marks on my negs. Different water I guess. I'm going to start using de-ionised water I reckon to make up at least my wash and c-41 stabiliser to see if it makes any difference.

thefizz

I have only ever had drying marks when not using a wetting agent in hard water areas but using Kodak Photo-Flo always solved the problem. I have never used any other wetting agent so don't know how they compare.

DaireQuinlan

thefizz wrote: »

I have only ever had drying marks when not using a wetting agent in hard water areas but using Kodak Photo-Flo always solved the problem. I have never used any other wetting agent so don't know how they compare.

I reckon they're all much the same. I used to use washing up liquid as well years ago with no problems :-D Maybe it's time to get some new stuff though. The litre bottle of ilfotol I've had for donkeys years. Tends to last for quite a while if you're only putting 1ml or whatever into each roll :-D

thefizz

DaireQuinlan wrote: »

I reckon they're all much the same. I used to use washing up liquid as well years ago with no problems :-D Maybe it's time to get some new stuff though. The litre bottle of ilfotol I've had for donkeys years. Tends to last for quite a while if you're only putting 1ml or whatever into each roll :-D

My current bottle is about five years old, is half full and still going strong