developing film

greenspun.com : LUSENET : B&W Photo - Film & Processing : One Thread

i have been doing photography at school and i wanted to get started in my own time, and i need to know what sort of chemicals to use, and if there are any certain temperatures need for the chemicals

-- ben albrecht (cafa@aol.com), April 24, 2002

Answers

Well, Ben, you could start off using the same film, chemicals, processing times and temperatures that you use as school. You could also ask your photo teacher for suggestions.

The reason I answer this way, is you do not specify black and white, color, whether you are doing prints or transparencies or your plans for the resulting images.

This is a good forum with a lot of knowedgable people, but we need some more information if we are to give you some help.

-- Joe Lipka (joelipka@earthlink.net), April 25, 2002.


Ben,

I assume you are using black and white film. A great way to start out is by using a film developer called Diafine. It is made by Acufine. This developer is a 2 bath, which is very versatile. You develop your film for 3 minutes in the first bath, and 3 minutes in the second bath. No rinse in between. It does not matter what the temperature is, between reasonable limits. You can also develop two different rolls of film at the same time! Negatives come out great, and you don't have to worry about precise time and temperature measurements. I started using this developer when I was very young, and have recently started using it again. It is a great developer, especially if you are shooting outdoors and there is a wide range of light from dark to bright.

For stop bath, you can use an indicator stop bath, or just a water rinse. These are available from Kodak, Clayton, Nacco, and others. It will turn purple when it is exhausted.

For fixer, I recommend a rapid fix. Liquid (easy to mix) versions are available from Ilford, Clayton, Arista, Nacco, and others. Powder fixers are also available from Kodak.

You can also use a hypo clearing agent to speed the wash cycle. Try Kodak Hypo Clearing Agent, Heico Perma Wash, Zonal Pro Archival Rinse, or Orbit bath.

Once washed, dip your negatives in Kodak Photo Flo.

I hope this helps.

-- Dave Karp (davekarp@ix.netcom.com), April 25, 2002.


Moderation questions? read the FAQ