Both ID-11 and D76 are widely regarded as industry standards and are the most accepting of a wide variety of development times and temperatures.įrom my own experience, most different types of fixer and stop bath will work similarly. Other recommended developers for beginners are Ilfotec DD-X, Ilfosol 3, or Diafine. Personally, I largely use ID-11 or D76 (they are mostly accepted as identical developers) diluted to 1+1 with Kodak Tri-X film for a trade-off between grain and acutance, and use Ilford Perceptol and Microphen at stock for slow (ISO100 or under) films or fast (ISO 800+) films, respectively. Working solutions for development: fixer (left bottle) and developer (right bottle). Diluting provides more working solution for more film, but stock can usually be re-used up to ten times with increased development time. Again, this is likely down to personal taste. To complicate things further, most fine-grain developers can be diluted at various strengths to increase sharpness, although this often comes at the cost of grain. Non-solvent developers such as Rodinal, HC-110, FX-1 and PMK (Pyro), meanwhile, give increased grain but an increase in sharpness. Solvent developers such as ID-11, D76, Perceptol, Microphen and XTOL, when mixed at stock or a weak dilution, provide fine grain and are forgiving enough to cover a wide range of exposures on a single roll of film. Deciding on which developer you use is largely a matter of personal taste and dependent on what you want out of your photographs. There are minimal differences between liquid and powder powder can be stored for longer periods and you can mix only part of the chemistry together for only as much developer as required. There are both liquid and power developers available, as well as “solvent” (fine-grain) and “non-solvent” (high-acutance) developers. Unlike with color developing (both C41 and E6), in which essentially all color developers work largely the same way, there is a myriad of developers for black and white film, and it can be difficult to decipher which one will work best for you. This is where the developing will ideally take place.
The Equipment You’ll Need for Film Developing I strongly recommend beginning home developing with black and white film rolls, especially 35mm, as it is dramatically less complicated for beginners and requires less equipment to develop. In this article, we’ll mostly be exploring the black and white process.
There are three main forms of the development process you’ll find yourself dealing with: black and white negative (black and white development process), color negative (C-41 process) and color reversal or slide film (E6 process), where the finished products are slides or diapositives.
Moreover, learning how to develop film at home by yourself will give you a better understanding of the process behind shooting analog photos. For photographers already working with film or those looking to take the leap, one of the biggest drawbacks has been dwindling film development resources worldwide.ĭevelopment equipment, however, is cheap and easily available online while there is a learning curve to developing your own film, it’s easy once you’ve mastered it. We’ve had announcements from Kodak of a reintroduction of classic stocks like T-Max 3200 and Ektachrome. The resurgent popularity of film is undeniable at this point. Few things, that is, other than the pleasure of developing film yourself. There are few more rewarding things for a photographer than eagerly receiving your work back from the lab or the drug store, only to find that your shots are exactly as you intended them. Aside from being a technological miracle in which millions upon millions of microscopic silver halide crystals somehow capture a latent image, it’s a medium that will often dramatically improve the way you take photos. No darkroom or photo lab needed.įilm is wonderful. Your ultimate visual guide to developing your own 35mm or 120 film photos at home.