Best darkroom film developing equipment according to redditors
We found 26 Reddit comments discussing the best darkroom film developing equipment. We ranked the 11 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
We found 26 Reddit comments discussing the best darkroom film developing equipment. We ranked the 11 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
> Also how labour intensive would the process be?
It's not much work, the equipment is cheap and it's very easy to do.
I studied photography in the '80s and most of my friends and I would develop B&W film in our apartment bathrooms. Many of us had the exact kit you linked to. Some people had the stainless steel version, I had the plastic one.
If you have a laundry room or kitchen with about 3 feet of countertop that's all you need. You don't really need a dark room either, you can load the film onto the developing reels in a dark bag.
Lightproof bag, $30 amazon Or you could use your bathroom if there’s no windows and stick a wet towel under the door.
Dev tank, $30 on ebay
You’ll need chemistry (best source, bhphoto.com) look around in your city, some photography shops stock some. Ilford, cinestill, kodak. You’ll need a developer, stop bath and a fixer. Probably the most cost consuming thing in your kit. About $60-70
a film retriever
a pair of scissors
something to hang the film up(just use a coat hanger from a hook in the ceiling or your shower frame)
PhotoFlo, you dont need it but it helps take off the water stains.
P.S. Check around for photography clubs at universities in your town. I found a club at my university and they have a darkroom and I pay $20/year for unlimited b&w dev. No supplies needed. Just time.
I got one of these at kohl's for about 20 dollars on sale http://www.amazon.com/Innovative-Technology-Negative-Slide-Converter/product-reviews/B00264GNR2?pageNumber=3
It's got a couple knocks on the reviewers, but I don't know enough about digital archiving of slides to know if the images it saves are crummy because of the machine or because the slides are damn near 40 years old. I wouldn't have paid the hundred dollars it normally was though.
I've developed around 200 rolls of film and have never set foot in a dark room. You only need darkrooms if you want to make prints. To go from undeveloped to developed negatives you only need a "daylight" tank (Paterson is a popular brand) and a Dark bag.
Here is everything you need to get started with black and white stand development:
1 reel tank
Dark bag
Church key bottle opener
Scissors with long-ish blades
Adox Rodinal
Fixer
10ml syringe - you will need this to measure rodinal and fixer accurately
generic measuring cups
Optional but nice:
Film clips - you can also substitute laundry clips or use the clips on pants hangers.
Film Squeegee - you can also just use your fingers coated in a bit of water with a drop of soap in it.
Negative Holders
The process is pretty easy.
1) shoot film and rewind entirely into cartridge
2) put tank, reel, lid, cartridge, bottle opener and scissors into bag. Shut off lights - it doesn't need to be perfectly dark, just no intense light.
3) open cartridge with bottle opener, remove film, cut off leader, spool onto reel, put reel into tank, close lid, remove everything from dark bag.
4) mix up a 1:100 solution of rodinal to water making ~300ml (3ml rodinal, 300ml of water)
5) add mixture to tank (do not remove the inner lid), agitate a few times and set a timer for 1 hour
6) during that 1 hour you should mix up a 1:9 solution of fixer (30ml fixer, 270ml water)
7) after an hour, pour out developer, fill and empty the tank with water a few times. Then fill and agitate 5 times, empty, fill and agitate 10 times, empty, fill and agitate 20 times, empty
8) add fixer solution. Agitate for 30 seconds. Then for 6 minutes agitate for 5 seconds every 30 seconds. While you do this, run your shower on its hottest setting until done (this will eliminate most airborn dust in your bathroom)
9) pour the fixer in a air tight container and store it in a dark place (you can use the same mix of fixer about 3 times, adding 2 minutes each time) and repeat the rinsing procedure from step 7
10) open the tank, hang the film somewhere in your bathroom (I usually hang mind from the shower curtain rod using coat hangers), squeegee the film off in 2-3 passes and leave it to dry
11) after 1 hour you should cut the film into strips of 6 exposures each and store in your negative holders
And there you have it, you have developed black and white film! The process is very easy and gets easier every time you do it. Stand development is also VERY economically efficient as you barely use any rodinal per roll and you can reuse the fixer. It massively raises your films apparent sharpness and contrast and can correct for missed exposures to a ridiculous degree. Also, if you want to develop multiple film speeds in one tank, it can do that!
I am happy to answer any questions ANYONE has about home film developing.
You can't go wrong with a Paterson Universal Tank, and you'll certainly be able to find them used on CL or ebay. Beyond the appropriate chemicals for whichever film you're using, you don't need much more than a film squeegee, some binder clips, and either a clothesline or some wire hangers. Sort of related, you should look into buying 35mm B&W film in bulk 100' rolls and then load your own canisters.
Printing photos takes a lot more gear, so most of the time I scan my negatives and then digital from then on.
I wouldn't recommend it, while i'm sure it could be done the results won't be that good. Save a bit of money and find a Paterson Universal tank and reel for $30 or probably less if you hunt on eBay, it will save you so much hassle and let you focus on getting the developing part right rather than worrying about having the equipment screw up your film.
As i always say with these things, when testing new equipment or techniques that could ruin your film DO NOT test them on film you have important or wanted shots on, shoot a test roll and develop that.
Black & white film is very easy to do at home. The main things you need are film tanks and reels (get the metal ones, the plastic ones suck), developer and fixer. A thermometer that can be accurate in the 20º C/68º F is also a must.
You'll need bottles and stuff, but at least initially you can use empty water jugs or something as long as they seal tight. You also need film clips, but you can probably find something laying around the house that will work.
I wouldn't bother with C-41 film these days. It's too pricey and digital is an adequate substitute.
Disregard the other commend about a "red light." Unless you're using hard to come by orthochromatic films you'll fog your film if you try to develop by inspection under a safe light. You have to load the film in total darkness. And a safe light is a distinct thing from like a red party bulb.
You might find this helpful, though it's largely about printing.
Actually one of the only pieces of advise I have for audio/vid synching is: Get/Make a clap board.
Be meticulous about writing down the correct take numbers and saving them correctly marked in your DAW. When you're editing the videos this will be a GOD SEND.
Also, I've heard people saying that just have someone clap in the video. This works - but to get it as synched as possible (always a pro synch), a clapboard works better because the white/black arrows in closed position clearly indicate when the clap is fully closed. When watching someone clap without sound it can be hard to see when their hands actually make contact.
I know this advice sounds a little silly, but trust me. A video that isn't properly audio/video synched just kills the vid.
Since you didn't specify, I'm assuming color development. You'll need the following. I've linked some items to amazon for reference, but do your own shopping as these are likely not the best prices.
Unfortunately, no. If you’re completely new to developing and haven’t yet done black and white, there’s a bit of an initial expense. I’m going to just list off everything I use for developing. It’s actually pretty compact, I’ve thrown it all in my car on impulse and developed C41 at friends’ houses a few times. I store it all in a small cooler which I also fill with water while developing. Since the developer needs to be 102°F with moderated precision for the duration of the developing time, it helps to have a larger body of water that won’t lose temperature as quickly. So first step for me is to fill this cooler slightly upwards of 102° to put the tank in while I’m not agitating. If you’ve got a cooler, great; if not:
---
---
I think that’s about it! You can definitely go cheaper if you look around. The one thing I wouldn’t cheap out on though is the tank/reels. I started with a really cheap stainless steel setup. My reels came pretty bent up and took ages to load, like half an hour at times. I’d often have film stick to itself. I tried C41 with it one time and got blix everywhere, plus it was leaking in the cooler underwater. Everyone says Patterson is the way to go, and I haven’t tried much else but it’s served me well.
For developing you don't need a darkroom, just a dark changing bag.
If you'd like to enlarge those negatives, then yeah, darkroom, enlarger, sink, etc
You can get a nice slate and a sharpie for that.
Options:
(1) Squelch.
(2) External microphone + mixer.
(3) Multiple cameras, one on the NFlightcam cable, the other using its microphone. Sync them somehow (clap your hands, or go Hollywood), mix the two audio tracks together in Final Cut Pro or Adobe Premiere or whatever you're using (the GoPro Studio software itself might be able to accomplish this, too).
Welcome to film!
Probably the easiest/cheapest thing to do starting out is get some cheap Fuji or Kodak film from your local drugstore and get it developed there or at Costco/Walmart. These places will also scan your film but don't expect much from that service, a lot of people get bummed out when the scans aren't that great but that's because those places usually just auto scan the negs (you will have to do some post processing). If you like film a decent used scanner can be had for $20-40 these days.
Long term, black and white is cheaper, but you might have to invest about $10-$100 upfront for a developing tank and chemicals off Craigs list/ebay/amazon. But then you will be shooting for about $3-$5 a roll, and it's way more fun to develop your own stuff (you don't need a darkroom, a lot of people develop film in their washrooms and about 90% of it can be done it the light).
Come check out /r/analog, there is a weekly ask anything post (might be a little late this week) where you can get tons of information, as well as see what people are doing with film. There are still a lot of people using it and we're always looking for more people!
definitely in camera (or extraction) - not developing.
grab some blackout fabric and velcro and you can make your own bag with arm holes that'll be easier to use... or just buy one. i worked in photo labs in the 90s and we used these leader cards so we never had to touch the film. you can even keep the canister attached (small piece of tape holding the lead to the card) and pull the film out as you develop. use this to get a lead to attach.
That's what a "clap board" is for but you can also just have the subject in the video clap their hands. This gives a spike on the audio that we can use to sync so the person's hand clap and the spike match up. Usually this is close enough for speech so it looks like the persons lips are moving in sync with the audio.
Clap Board: https://www.amazon.ca/Neewer-Acrylic-Plastic-Directors-Clapboard/dp/B00S4QRBZY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1459216178&sr=8-1&keywords=clap+board
Edit: If you are interested here is an explanation of the why's and how's of video / external audio sync.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZVNEo2dH9I
Yes, that's awesome, but this is more than adequate. I have one and it's pretty good. You'll also want a bag for opening the film canister and loading the tank. I think they're like $10. There are a lot of options for chemicals, you can even make your own developer out of household stuff, which is kind of fun to experiment with.
You can use a clacker old school style :D
Just do a clack at the beginning and end of your recordings and then look for the spike in the waveform whenever you go to sync up your audio. I do this whenever I record with my camcorder so I can get cleaner audio than the onboard mic. Works great!
Or if you don't want to buy a clacker... just clap your hands in front of the camera and look for the spike that way where your hands meet.
But the clacker is more fun lol.
Thank you! In particular I mean when I'm done shooting what do I physically do with the film? Do I put it in these canisters?
If there are a large number of old negatives, check out a negative and slide scanner for your computer. They're generally around $100, but this one is on sale right now.
I'd love some input on my current homemade record washing fluid dilemma! Basically multiple questions.
I've used up my record washer fluid that came with my cleaning system (VinylStyl). Now I want to make one of two cheaper, homemade record washer fluids but I don't know which one is a better idea. I also use a vinyl vac for when I don't need to do deep cleaning.
I have a VinyStyl Record spin cleaning system (basically what I think is a better spin clean) and don't want to buy the manufacturer record washer fluid again.
Option one is tergitol with distilled water. And if I do this, would buying a pint of tergitol for ~$22 be more cost effective than buying a product called tergikleen for $22 from Amazon?
Option two is making the more well known 4 part distilled water/ 1 part 99% Isop. alcohol / 0.5 % Ilford Ilfoto wetting agent for ~$23 (cheaper on B&H).
I'm leaning towards option one, with a tergikleen/distilled water setup. My further question is if tergikleen is ok to use with a plastic and goat hair brush spin system like the vinyl styl? Would it have a bad reaction in any way? Or is sticking with an alcohol washer fluid like the manufacturer gives you a better idea?
Also, the con of the tergikleen method is having to rinse in water after. So idk. Tergikleen doesn't contain alcohol (which does damage 78 RPM shellac-based records) so that's nice.
Here are the discussion sources I gathered my cleaning fluid info from: 1 . 2 . 3 . 4 . 5 .
Lastly, the prices that record cleaning companies are able to charge for their small volume cleaning fluids is a sham.
You're gonna need chemicals
Other materials:
I was able to obtain most of these except the developing tank, dark, bag, and chemicals cheaply. But the FPP does offer a full kit for sale through their store.
They also have a pretty helpful video, and there are a bunch of walkthroughs online. I'll list a couple.
The first guide has you warming your chemicals in a bath, I use a home depot bucket.
I shot film before digital. That's how they did it in my high school photo class 14 years ago. I think it was a good experience, because like you said, you can't cheat. It definitely makes you try harder and you don't know if you got the shot immediately, so you really have to set up the shot before you take it. Then you're just praying it comes out.
But there is something magical about it. The physicality of it. The fragility of your photos that could be lost in an accidental exposure to the light. The fact that you are paying so much for each shot means you value each of them so much more. This is ideal for improving your skill.
If you really intend to keep shooting film, you should try developing the film yourself. To get the full experience, as well as save money. You don't need a complicated set up if you aren't printing. And you can just scan the negatives. You'll need one of these. And some developer, stop, and fix solutions. Then you just need to make your bathroom light proof. Cover the cracks in the doors and such. You'll be walking around the house with that canister as you do other things, shaking it every few minutes. But you'll get to see those pictures come out the day you took them and you'll wonder why you paid so much for some else to do it for you.
And I'd get some black and white film. Maybe Tmax. The thing about B&W is that it makes you focus more on the basics. Texture and contrast matter that much more. When I have the time and money, I'd like to get a medium format camera and start shooting B&W film again. For me, it doesn't get much better than Nick Brandt's work with 120mm on a Pentax 67.
You don't even need a changing bag really, just a black sweatshirt or a jacket and a closet.. or just do it after the sun goes down. :)
https://www.flickr.com/groups/87245355@N00/discuss/72157625152041481/
And, I used to send my stuff out, but after paying 15 dollars each roll I realized that after like 5 rolls of film I could have just gotten all of the equipment I needed. So I hopped on craigslist and got it!
https://www.amazon.com/Paterson-Universal-tank-reels-115/dp/B0000BZMIH/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1483653601&sr=8-1&keywords=developing+tank
Dooo it. :D