Develop black and white film yourself and save money.
After shooting that roll of black and white film, you can easily take it to any number of photo labs and pay to have someone develop it for you. Or, you with a little bit of practice and minimal investment you can develop your own film at home for a small fraction of the cost. And if, after some practice, you are good at it, you might just be able to start offering the service to other photographers in your city. While developing film is all about the amount of time it sits in the developer solution and the temperature of the solution, those variables will be different depending on the make of the film and ISO (film speed) used. Inside each box of film you can usually find the developing times. If they are not there consulting the manufacturers website will also provided you with the information.
Instructions
Develop a Roll of Film
1. Remove the film from the canister. This must be done in 100-percent darkness. At this point, any exposure to light will cause the film to "fog," making it unusable. You can use a changing bag, a special product where your arms can go inside a sealed fabric enclosure, or an interior room in your house that is completely dark. Be sure to handle the film by the edges only.
2. Load the film onto reels. After you have removed the film from the canister, it has to be loaded onto reels. This step can be a little tough to master, and should be practiced with a test roll of film in daylight before you try it with a roll you want to develop.
3. Place the reels into processing tanks and secure the lid. It is now safe to turn the lights on or remove the tank from the changing bag.
4. Pour 20 oz. of the premixed photo developer in the tank through the opening in the top of the processing tanks. The developer is mixed with water at 72 degrees. When all the developer is in the tank, gently agitate the film by rotating a quarter turn as you hold it. Agitate for 30 seconds, tap the tank on a hard surface and let it sit for 25 seconds. Agitate again for five seconds, tap again and let sit for 25 seconds. Repeat this process for the seven-minute developing time, then pour out and discard the developer.
5. Pour 20 oz. of mixed stop bath in the tank, agitate for 30 seconds, pour out and discard.
6. Pour 20 oz. of the pre-mixed fixer solution, agitate for 15 seconds and let sit for 45 seconds. This step will take four to eight minutes depending on how new the fixing solution is. If using a fresh batch of fixer solution, allow the film to fix for four minutes. Fixer can be reused for subsequent batches of film. For each subsequent use, increase the amount of time by 10 percent for each usage. Film can sit in fixing solution for a longer period of time, and it will not affect the images on the negatives. This not true in the development stage where, if film is in developer for too long or short an amount of time, the results will be significantly different.
7. Wash the film with fresh water. Now the film can be removed from the tanks and looked at under normal light. Remove the top and rinse the film in the tank by running water through the tank for five minutes. After rinsing add two drops of a wetting agent, turning the reels to ensure equal coverage.
8. Empty the water from the processing tanks and remove the reels from them. Then, by carefully pulling on the end of the film, slowly remove the film off of the reels. As you pull, the film will unwrap itself off the reel in the same manner in which you unwrap a roll of tape. Take your time, don't rush and handle film by the edges or the end (leader) only, so as not to damage the images on the film.
9. Cut the film into strips and insert into negative sleeves; that will protect the negatives while being viewed and stored.
Tags: amount time, processing tanks, black white, black white film, Develop Roll