About to buy basic dev kit

thecornflake

thecornflake

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Ok, so I'm finally going to take the plunge and buy the basic kit to start devving my own bw film. Wanted to post my list here just in case I've missed anything or there are better alternatives -

Basic AP film processing kit - http://www.ag-photographic.co.uk/ap-processing-starter-kit-2358-p.asp
Changing bag - Basically whatever one has the best reviews on Ama*on
Basic electronic timer
Developer - D76 (how far will 1 litre get me?)
Fixer - Ilford rapid fixer?
Stop - apparently plain water works ok but it's worth using a filter just in case any crap gets into it?
Wetting agent - Photo-flo
Kenro storage things for negs

I have a couple of rolls of Poundland film I managed to mess up for various reasons so I'm going to use them to practice loading the film onto the reel in the bag.
 
I put a drop of washing up liquid in the tank instead of wetting agent and I've never had a problem despite living in an area with more limescale than water coming out of the tap. :)
 
That kit looks a little dear tbh, most of it you won't need for film developing and the rest can be picked up separately cheaper elsewhere (eBay probably)

1 litre of D76 will do about 4 films 1 shot 1:1 more if dilute further or reuse. Get a bigger bag if you can, it'll save on postage later.

I don't bother with stop or a wetting agent, I never really needed them and it's just more bottles of chemicals hanging round.
 
I would go for the 1 US gallon size of D76. You won't need the trays or the print tongs in that kit if you are just developing negatives. A clock with a second hand would be just as good as a timer. You will need to agitate every minute or 30 seconds, so a basic pinger timer won't do.
 
Do use stop and wetting agent if you want to pretend you're a mad scientist while mixing chems as it helps to have more of them. I find it also helps if you develop a chuckle that turns into a proper booming laugh. Imagine Rob Brydon turning into Brian Blessed doing a full Flash Gordon, that should do the trick.
 
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I don't have a timer, just the massive dev ap on my tablet. Prop it up next to the sink and follow the tick tock.

Good luck and enjoy, its a fantastic feeling when you get your first film out of the tank.
 
Andysnap said:
I don't have a timer, just the massive dev ap on my tablet. Prop it up next to the sink and follow the tick tock
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Plus one for the app. I've only done three rolls so far, but the app makes things so much easier :)

I've been using a drop of washing up liquid in the final rinse too, and it seems OK so far. I didn't realise stop wasn't essential, but might give it a try when the bottle I've got is used up. Do you just go straight to the fixer stage, or do you still do the stop, but just with plain water?
 
Southdowns said:
Plus one for the app. I've only done three rolls so far, but the app makes things so much easier :)

I've been using a drop of washing up liquid in the final rinse too, and it seems OK so far. I didn't realise stop wasn't essential, but might give it a try when the bottle I've got is used up. Do you just go straight to the fixer stage, or do you still do the stop, but just with plain water?
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Have a look for the ilford method, basically three washes between the dev and fix stage followed by three washes after fix.
 
I would try to source from ebay.

I would go for a Paterson super system 4 tank (probably universal model) some folk swear by Jobo tanks but I've never used one.

Any other kit you should be able to pick up for a song.

Don't forget scissors and a bottle opener if you need to prise the film canister end off.
 
I presume you've already got an enlarger as you haven't mentioned it. Don't forget a darkroom safety lamp.
 
steveo_mcg said:
That kit looks a little dear tbh, most of it you won't need for film developing and the rest can be picked up separately cheaper elsewhere (eBay probably)
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I was comparing ap with patterson and the patterson kit was cheaper and didn't come with trays etc but the ap does and I've read the ap reels are easier to load. I'll shop around a bit more for the individual parts.
 
john-oh said:
Don't forget scissors and a bottle opener if you need to prise the film canister end off.
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I'd already allowed for those as I have both. So everything in the list covers what I need that I don't currently own.
 
Stuart M said:
I presume you've already got an enlarger as you haven't mentioned it. Don't forget a darkroom safety lamp.
Click to expand...

I'm only doing dev for now, and using a changing bag to load the film. Then I plan to scan the negatives (I already scan them with a V600 when they come back from the lab). Darkroom and printing is a while off yet.
 
thecornflake said:
I'm only doing dev for now, and using a changing bag to load the film. Then I plan to scan the negatives (I already scan them with a V600 when they come back from the lab). Darkroom and printing is a while off yet.
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No offence to you mate but you're missing the best part of doing it yourself. The really magical bit is watching that image slowly emerge on a sheet of 8" x 10" or whatever. Don't do half a job; go the whole hog. It'll be worth it, trust me.
 
Stuart M said:
No offence to you mate but you're missing the best part of doing it yourself. The really magical bit is watching that image slowly emerge on a sheet of 8" x 10" or whatever. Don't do half a job; go the whole hog. It'll be worth it, trust me.
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Oh, I do fully intend to get to the point where I'm doing the whole process including printing. And it probably isn't that far away. But it means setting up the spare room as a darkroom which will take a little work, plus getting an enlarger etc. So in the meantime I want to get the hang of developing which will be easy to get started with.
 
You'll need two or three jugs for the chems - mine were 69p each from Home Bargains.

You could save a lot by buying a tank (£15) and an electronic thermometer (£3) from eBay, and using clothes pegs to hang them up. I'm using the measuring cap off a bottle of medicine as my graduate.
 
abdoujaparov said:
You'll need two or three jugs for the chems - mine were 69p each from Home Bargains.

You could save a lot by buying a tank (£15) and an electronic thermometer (£3) from eBay, and using clothes pegs to hang them up. I'm using the measuring cap off a bottle of medicine as my graduate.
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I'm all for saving money but I strongly recommend buying proper film clips with spikes that pierce the film rather than clothes pegs or bulldog clips. Once you've had a film fall on the floor by slipping out of the clips you will agree with me.
 
Or the ones with the big rubber pads on them. I've never had a problem with those
 
Ok, so having done a fair bit of searching, I now have either on the way or to buy shortly -

Patterson Universal tank (a lot more available) although I am tempted by the Agfa Rondinax
Measuring jugs
Stirrer
Thermometer
Clips
Squeegee
D-76 developer
Ilford rapid fix
Some negative storage sheets
Changing bag
Going to use the app for timer etc - had a look at the lite version and it looks great.

Total spend should be around £50, depending on dev tank options. I plan to be developing Tri-X 400 as I have several rolls of it lying around.
 
@thecornflake i use ilford id 11 ,its almost identical to d76 , and i can get up to twenty 35mm films out of one litre ...
 
thecornflake said:
Ok, so having done a fair bit of searching, I now have either on the way or to buy shortly -

Patterson Universal tank (a lot more available) although I am tempted by the Agfa Rondinax
Measuring jugs
Stirrer
Thermometer
Clips
Squeegee
D-76 developer
Ilford rapid fix
Some negative storage sheets
Changing bag
Going to use the app for timer etc - had a look at the lite version and it looks great.

Total spend should be around £50, depending on dev tank options. I plan to be developing Tri-X 400 as I have several rolls of it lying around.
Click to expand...

I have a Rondinax but haven't tried it yet - looks great, but I'd recommend starting with a changing bag and a patterson tank.

I wouldn't bother with a squeegee. It can scratch the film (happened to me once) and is unnecessary.

For me the trick was to hang the negs up with a jug beneath them and pour some distilled water down each side before letting them air dry in a cupboard. No streaks, no water marks... this was after several frustrating attempts at using wetting agent and fairy liquid etc.

At the end of the day, once you get the hang of it, you'll be able to soup a roll of film in the time it takes to make a coffee. I think my record was 10 minutes from opening the canister to hanging up and rinsing, using stock concentration ID11 (same as D-76)

You may also want to get a couple of funnels to help you decant the developer back into the bottle and to keep things tidy!
 
Nice, yeah I always have my eye open for cheap B+W dev stuff.

I sold my whole box of kit a while back as I didn;t have the space in my last house. Now I've got space for a dedicated darkroom so buying it all again.

Any tips on where to get some good chemical jugs?
 
I was tempted by the Rondinax at one time, until I realised that it is necessary to agitate continuously in their tanks, which is too much of a drag. I also used a squeegee every time, until, despite being careful, I scratched the film for its whole length. The problem is that until you actually get the negatives in the scanner you don't realise that you've scratched it. When I lived in a hard water area, distilled water for the final rinse was an absolute necessity to avoid crud on the negatives. Now that I get nice soft water, piped all the way from Wales, tap water is fine.
 
NickT said:
I was tempted by the Rondinax at one time, until I realised that it is necessary to agitate continuously in their tanks, which is too much of a drag. I also used a squeegee every time, until, despite being careful, I scratched the film for its whole length. The problem is that until you actually get the negatives in the scanner you don't realise that you've scratched it. When I lived in a hard water area, distilled water for the final rinse was an absolute necessity to avoid crud on the negatives. Now that I get nice soft water, piped all the way from Wales, tap water is fine.
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Yeah, however I prefer to turn the knob for 6 mins than to spend ages in a changing bag. I'll stick on a song and do it in time with the beat :)

Here's a neg scratched by a squeegee

Pompeii by chiscocks, on Flickr

The scratch went along nearly the whole roll :(

First and last time I used one!
 
surely a scratch on a negative would leave a thin clear line on said negative ?
 
have you definitely got no room you can make dark? Loading film in a tank is fiddly enough when you have room to breath but doing it all in a bag will be a nightmare. Measuring jugs arent the most accurate if you have to do odd amounts, i got a set of digital kitchen scales that do ml which makes it a bit easier.
 
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essexash said:
have you definitely got no room you can make dark? Loading film in a tank is fiddly enough when you have room to breath but doing it all in a bag will be a nightmare. Measuring jugs arent the most accurate if you have to do odd amounts, i got a set of digital kitchen scales that do ml which makes it a bit easier.
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Don't forget that 10ml of developer will probably weigh more than 10ml of water, not really a problem if you're stand developing using a 100+1 solution but significantly different if you're using 10+1 solution
 
john-oh said:
Don't forget scissors and a bottle opener if you need to prise the film canister end off.
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It's easier to make sure you don't rewind the film all the way. Then you can cut the leader off straight and start it in the reel before putting it in the changing bag. When you get to the end, the film will tear against the slot in the cassette. No need for bottle openers or scissors.

If you have a luminous glow in the dark watch like mine, remember to take it off before you put your hands in the bag!


Steve.
 
cant say ive ever had a problem. With 400ml of liquid the difference in weight between water and chem is negligible. If your using the same measuring instrument for both though how would that take different liquid densitys into account? Youd need a differently marked jug for water, dev, fix, stop etc.
 
essexash said:
have you definitely got no room you can make dark? Loading film in a tank is fiddly enough when you have room to breath but doing it all in a bag will be a nightmare
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No it's easy as long as you don't dismantle the cassette first. Leave it in the cassette (make sure you don't wind it fully back in, otherwise you'll need to invest in a leader retriever), cut the end square, then chamfer the corners a tiny bit to 45 degrees and wind it back out through the slot on to the spiral. You can feed the first couple of inches into the spiral on a Paterson tank as far as the steel balls in daylight like this:



then put it into the changing bag.
 
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Ok, in response to some of the above -

I do have a spare room that ultimately will be darkable, however it's currently still too full of junk and I'm also quite good at procrastinating on internet forums rather than actually sorting it out.

VERY good point about glow in the dark watch!!!

Got a Patterson universal tank, Essex 35 daylight dev tank AND a Rondinax 60 (for 120 film). Will try different methods and see how I get on. I doubt any of the items, being 2nd hand already, will lose any value if I decide to sell them on.

I do plan to try and rewind with leader still out but it's easier on some cameras than others. So I also ordered a leader retriever.

I have 2 chemical measuring jugs ordered, 500ml IIRC. Do I need something smaller?

Best place to get distilled water??
 
thecornflake said:
I have 2 chemical measuring jugs ordered, 500ml IIRC. Do I need something smaller?
Click to expand...


You'll be needing to measure small volumes for mixing up the chemicals (50ml for the Ilford fix, for example, and less than that for many developers) and it's hard to do accurately in large containers. As I said above, I use a plastic medicine measure, but you can buy proper glass graduates.
 
I use a large syringe for developer, rodinal needs very precise measures. But when I was using D76 I just used a jug, a few ml isn't going to make much difference same goes for fixer.
 
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