Creating a home darkroom?

Noah_

Noah_

Suspended / Banned
Messages
1,038
Name
Ashly
Edit My Images
No
During a photography course in high school I had my first introduction to black & white film/darkroom work, however it was a limited darkroom & we developed our films using black changing bags & developing tanks {etc}. After going to college to study traditional photography for two years & having regular access to a darkroom, I've found I miss working with film & I've been considering developing my black & white film at home for a little while. I was just wondering if I could get some advice on the best dev chemicals to use & where to buy them for the most reasonable costs? I guess a little check list from someone more experienced than me would be much appreciated as altho I'm familiar with the techniques & processes, I've never had to purchase these things before. I'll be processing Ilford HP5 film only. Cheers in advance.
 
What were you using at college? If there was nothing wrong with what you were using there, I would say just purchase those chemicals again. If you aren't 100% sure what it was, just Google Image the product name to find pictures of the bottles each developer and fixer come in.
 
TheBigYin said:
ILFORD PDF has a list of instructions and the kit list.
Click to expand...

Thank you, I'll have a read of that Ilford PDF & the thread.


freecom2 said:
What were you using at college? If there was nothing wrong with what you were using there, I would say just purchase those chemicals again. If you aren't 100% sure what it was, just Google Image the product name to find pictures of the bottles each developer and fixer come in.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately I haven't the faintest idea which chemicals we used at college, we did it in a specific processing room with no light using specialist tanks & it was replenished every ten develops by the lecturers only due to health & safety. I suppose I could get in contact with my past lecturer & enquire about which chemicals they used tho, thank you for the suggestion.
 
IamAshlyRose said:
it was replenished every ten develops by the lecturers only due to health & safety.
Click to expand...

I really despair.. how will people learn to do things safely for themselves if colleges take this sort of attitude? It assumes that film developing is a novelty and of no practical use to a practicing or professional photographer :bang:
 
Ag photographic and no doubt others do starter developing kits with all the stuff you need.
 
I too think it's terrible - and also slightly silly, given that GCSE Sciences probably deal with more noxious chemicals than most heavily diluted B&W developers (XTOL is made from a derivative of Vitamin C!).

I'll add that I use:
Dev - Kodak T-Max Developer
Stop - Tap water
Fix - Ilford Rapid Fixer
Wetting agent - FotoSpeed RA50 (the hard water of London makes drying marks a common occurrence unless some sort of wetting agent is used)

But there are a vast range of chemicals for each category, all of which will do the job adequately. Decide whether you want a liquid or powder developer (although I'm guessing you'll probably want a liquid one from experience), whether you want it one-shot or multi-use, and you can choose the remaining selections from there.
 
On the contrary my D76 houses a warning for containing cancer causing compounds...

I was recommended

Ilfosol 3 - dev
Ilfostop - you guessed it, stop
Ilford Rapid Fixer
Ilfotol - wetting agent

It works just fine, the dev is one shot so no storage or mixing hassle. I pushed HP5 to 800 iso in it and it was ok. Would have no issue with recommending the same for somebody else starting out at home.

Just bought a truck load of D76 but haven't used it yet, so far I've only used Ilfosol 3.
 
I see mention of devvin film but nothing that suggests requirement of an actual darkroom?
 
Thanks to everyone for their contributions :}

Mahoneyd187 said:
I was recommended:
Ilfosol 3
Ilfostop
Ilford Rapid Fixer
Ilfotol

It works just fine, the dev is one shot so no storage or mixing hassle. I pushed HP5 to 800 iso in it and it was ok. Would have no issue with recommending the same for somebody else starting out at home.
Click to expand...

I've worked with Ilfotol before at college, I'll most probably start with these if you've had successful results with HP5 film!
Thank you for the recommendation! Much appreciated. Where abouts would you recommend buying them from?
 
Last edited:
brianwar said:
I see mention of devvin film but nothing that suggests requirement of an actual darkroom?
Click to expand...

Because you don't need a darkroom to dev film,have you actually read the first post?
 
IamAshlyRose said:
Thanks to everyone for their contributions :}

I've worked with Ilfotol before at college, I'll most probably start with these if you've had successful results with HP5 film!
Thank you for the recommendation! Much appreciated. Where abouts would you recommend buying them from?
Click to expand...

On eBay, morrisphoto I think....or via ag photographic. Good bets :)
 
IamAshlyRose said:
Where abouts would you recommend buying them from?
Click to expand...

AGPhotographic online, or silverprint near waterloo station (they offer a student discount but im not sure how much it is)
 
It's 5% on most things, excluding film. It's the saving on delivery charges which tends to make them more competitive.
 
Thanks everyone.
Unfortunately I'm not entitled to student discount anymore but I'll give Silverprint a try since I'm not too far from there!
 
Last edited:
@brianwar I'm getting the feeling you're not writing on this thread to contribute? I apologise if the title of the thread is misleading.
 
Last edited:
It's more that the OP wants to continue the film related activities she did in the college darkroom at home - but "creating a kitchen sink darkroom" is a much less exciting thread title :)
 
freecom2 said:
It's more that the OP wants to continue the film related activities she did in the college darkroom at home - but "creating a kitchen sink darkroom" is a much less exciting thread title :)
Click to expand...

And still implies that the OP wants to create a darkroom which it seems they don't.

Anyway, OP, if you just want to dev film you don't need a darkroom, you seem to know this.
If you actually want a darkroom but think it's too much hassle to put one in at home, it isn't. I thought it would be until I actually did it but it aint.
 
@brianwar
Obviously the thread title did mislead you ~ In my head I've only ever associated processing film with a darkroom, my mistake perhaps. Hassle isn't what stops me from creating a working darkroom, lack of funds & space does. This is the closest I can get to a working darkroom in my own home. Thank you for the contribution.

freecom2 said:
It's more that the OP wants to continue the film related activities she did in the college darkroom at home - but "creating a kitchen sink darkroom" is a much less exciting thread title.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
Fair enough.

I could never have afforded the enlarger I have, I was very lucky to hear of someone giving away "an enlarger" so i said I'd take it, turned up expecting some old cheap thing and ended up with an LPL 7700.

I also got some trays and already had some others but the rest of the other stuff, safelights, tongs, chemicals, blackout blind etc has probably cost me less than £100. I did treat myself to a rather nice Durst timer but could have just as easily gone for a cheaper one or gotten by with counting!
 
freecom2 said:
It's more that the OP wants to continue the film related activities she did in the college darkroom at home - but "creating a kitchen sink darkroom" is a much less exciting thread title :)
Click to expand...

I'm afraid I've been reading this thread with exactly the same understanding as Brian, the first post read to me as a rejection of changing bags and tanks.. perhaps it would have been a less exciting title, but certainly a less confusing one :thumbs:

But I don't think it's made any difference to getting the right advice..
 
Guys, please stop coming over as a bunch of Victor Meldrew grumpy old men!!

Good luck Ashley, home developing is not that hard to get negatives, printing would be much harder and require space and more money. A scanner is a compromise that most of us use.
BTW you Flickr stream has some great shots on it.
Cheers,
Mart
 
If you could find the space for a 'proper' darkroom, now is the time to pick up darkroom equipment, as people are getting rid to go digital.
 
delete ~ multiple post.
 
Last edited:
Marvin d martian said:
Good luck Ashly, home developing is not that hard to get negatives, printing would be much harder and require space and more money. A scanner is a compromise that most of us use. BTW your Flickr stream has some great shots on it.
Click to expand...

Thank you!
A scanner is definitely going to be my compromise 'til I can afford more.
Oh & thank you for the kind words, I always think I don't update it enough haha.

john-oh said:
If you could find the space for a 'proper' darkroom, now is the time to pick up darkroom equipment, as people are getting rid to go digital.
Click to expand...

Not a bad idea! ~ can store what I need 'til I have the space to use it.
 
Last edited:
Just wondering, is Ilford ILFOTEC DD-X a recommendable developer for Ilford HP5 film?
& can it be re-used or must it be thrown away after the first process? Been reading up a
little & I'm unsure as to what the best one is for me. Thank you.
 
DD-X is an excellent developer according to reviews that I have read of it - its very fine grain and sharp but also gives excellent shadow detail and is great for pushing. It is optimised for use with tabular grain films such as the T-Max and Delta films but will also give excellent results with normal films such as HP-5+.

It is a liquid concentrate 'one shot' developer which dilutes 1+4 so its only used once and then thrown away (according to the datasheet it can be reused but with much reduced image quality.)

In comparison to most developers though its quite expensive so might I recommend trying developers such as D76 (powdered standard, widely used, excellent all around developer and quite cheap, requires storage bottles but this means you can reuse it), Rodinal (one shot liquid developer with 'biting' high sharpness but not very fine grain, lasts forever) or perhaps Ilfosol 3 or Patterson Aculux 3 (Both fine grain general purpose liquid one shot developers which are easy to use). All of these can be obtained for less than half the price of DD-X but will do the job.

I opted for Aculux 3 when I got my chemicals recently as I wanted an easy to use liquid concentrate developer and it was better value than Ilfosol 3. Am hopefully going to be doing my first film this weekend!
 
Last edited:
s162216
Thank you for the detailed reply.

Ooh, I've just found this → {Taken from here.}
"Correctly exposed negatives developed in ILFOTEC DD-X have a full range of tones, with depth in the shadows, a smooth transition through the mid-tones and bright detailed highlights. ILFOTEC DD-X is supplied as a liquid concentrate diluted 1+4 for one-shot use when the highest image quality is required. However, for greater economy it can be reused but image quality will be reduced slightly."
Click to expand...

I found the DD-X on AG Photographics & after reading up a little about it, wondered if it'd work out cheaper as it's a Litre for better quality, deeper shadows & double the 500ml in Ilfosol 3 which is around £8ish. Hmm. I've never had to purchase my own chemicals before so I'm trying to be careful that I don't end up with the wrong ones for the film I use. For the moment I think I'd rather buy the liquid developers opposed to the powder you mix yourself as I'm unfamiliar with it.

I've gone for Ilford Ilfostop, Ilford Rapid Fixer & Ilford Ilfotol for the wetting agent, it's just finding the right developer!
I was also going to ask if anyone knew where I could purchase a changing bag? Had a little look around but I'm unsure.
 
Last edited:
john-oh
Thank you for the suggestions, I'll take a look.
I'm familiar with Silverprint, I need to pop up there & have a browse I think.
 
Just to throw another spanner in the works, consider Kodak HC-110. Keeps very well, and can be used in many different dilutions. A favourite of many a famous film photographer. I underestimated shelf life to be fair, I don't dev very regularly and my bottle of Ilfosol is coming up to 6months, i.e. dead, with about 1/3 of the bottle left.

I've opted for D76 now, bought 6 or 7 sachets of it and I'll be using it as a "one shot", devving with it once and then throwing it away. 1ltr (£1.43) lasts 4 rolls if you use a 500ml tank and 1+1 dilution.
 
@Mahoneyd187
Gosh there are so many to consider o.O
Perhaps one-shot would be alright for me to process my first batch with as I don't know how regularly I'll be developing film. I can imagine it was frustrating when you realised the chemicals were dead! I have a couple of rolls to shoot at the moment & I won't develop them 'til I can do a few at once, I'll order the chemicals slightly closer to that time.

I'm using a Paterson Universal Processing Tank with two 35mm reels, do you happen to know how many ML that contains? I'm having trouble finding where the measurements are, a couple of websites don't mention it in their descriptions. Thank you.
 
About 300ml of solution for 1 35mm and 500ml for 1 120 roll, you don't have to fill it all the way to the top. Obviously double the 35mm value for 2 films.

Most 'one shot' chemicals will keep for a good year or so if kept in tightly sealed bottles.
 
@s162216
Thank you!
I couldn't spot the ML anywhere on Paterson descriptions.
 
If you're not going to be doing much film it might be best to go for Ilfotec HC because it keeps for ages. I'm using 20 year old stuff at the moment & it's coming out fine!
 
Mahoneyd187 said:
my bottle of Ilfosol is coming up to 6months, i.e. dead, with about 1/3 of the bottle left.
Click to expand...

I'm surprised by this, I didn't know Ilfosol died so quickly, wow. Rodinal is considered to be the classic long lasting liquid developer.
 
freecom2 said:
I'm surprised by this, I didn't know Ilfosol died so quickly, wow. Rodinal is considered to be the classic long lasting liquid developer.
Click to expand...

It says so on the label anyways. That, and Ilfosol S was reknowned for dying off quickly, one of the things I believe they addressed for Ilfosol 3, but still, yeah, 6months apparently. I'm not about to waste films trying to use it at the 5/6 month mark as I'm next devving when I have clients stuff to work on.

Home developing film when it's for other people is making me a little nervous to be honest, lol. Why O why did I sell my Nikon dslr, lol
 
@Joenail
I'll be shooting a fair few rolls of film over a couple of weeks & then processing them all within a week hopefully but thank you for the suggestion!
 
freecom2 said:
I'm surprised by this, I didn't know Ilfosol died so quickly, wow. Rodinal is considered to be the classic long lasting liquid developer.
Click to expand...

It isn't very long lasting at all. It will also give you no sign that its dying- it will be fine one week and then sludgy and shot the next.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top