How much does it cost to home process B&W ?

BADGER.BRAD

BADGER.BRAD

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Hello Everyone,

After some investigation I have worked out that drinking beer ( I'm not talking 10 pints here? even a couple) sends my blood pressure up I only ever have a couple but I've decided to cut back and never drink at home , This is both for my health but also one of my day jobs involves driving a HGV and they are getting really tight on High Blood pressure on a HGV licenses. This was costing me a fiver or a little more each day. As I really enjoy trying real ales I have decided to make a positive from it and shoot more film with the saved money. I have no equipment at the moment for processing but know it can be picked up quite cheaply ( Not sure what to do about scanning) But other than this how much does it cost in chemicals to process 35mm B&W film have you ever worked it out ?

Thanks all.
 
If you use Rodinol as a developer, the bottle will last years so the cost is literally negligible. Stop bath also lasts a very long time so the cost per film is minute. The biggest cost is fixer as this has a fairly limited shelf life - I throw away more fixer than I use (fixer oxidises to produce sodium sulphate and sulphur - I throw it away when a yellow precipitate forms). Even with throwing the fixer away, the cost per film is only pence.
 
As an example... As a returning novice , I set up with a bottle of Rodinal (or the equivalent), some (old) Agfa Fixer and a generic stop bath. The Fixer and stop is mixed in batches that are reusable until its effectiveness reduces. I use Rodinal at 1+50 so a 250ml bottle will do around 41 35mm films. Rodinal lasts a long time, not all developers last nearly as long.
Hardware: plastic measuring jugs (kitchen variety) a syringe that can measure 10ml and a thermometer, all quite cheap.
For a developing tank.... I'd ask on here if anyone could spare one.
 
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If you buy all the gear you need new, including a changing bag and chemicals, and use proper measuring graduates and suchlike, it'll probably cost you over £100 to get started. But you can buy 2nd hand, and use cheaper measuring jugs just as well. After that, the only thing you need to buy on a regular basis is developer, and even that will depend on which you choose - Rodinal or HC-110 will see you through dozens of films, where DD-X or XTOL will develop fewer and so you'll need to buy them more often.

I use Ilfotec DD-X mostly which cost around £18 for a 1l bottle but will only develop around 15-16 35mm rolls and has a shelf life of a few months once opened. Rodinal costs about the same but will develop many, many times that and will last until the heat-death of the universe. HC-110 is more expensive initially but, again, will develop lots of rolls. It really depends on the results you prefer.
 
I posted this on another thread, and it breaks down my start-up costs:

"I just started B&W home processing earlier this year and immediately regretted not having done it before. The set-up cost (in the UK) was £100 for a starter kit, £20 for a changing bag, £5 for some measuring syringes. I have been buying liquid chemicals and spend about £35 every 3 or 4 months. Now that I have a bit of experience, from taking the film out of the camera to hanging it up to dry is about 20 minutes."
 
The absolute cheapest I found for basic chemicals to get me going when I first started home developing film 3ish years ago was from Firstcall Photographic https://www.firstcall-photographic.co.uk/film-film-processing/film-processing-chemicals/c432

I bought Champion Universal film & print developer 1 litre (all current prices £10.99), Champion Amfix Fixer 1 litre (£7.49) and Champion Stopbath with indicator 1 litre (they no longer list this one but list other 500ml stopbath with indicator at £8-10). Postage is £7.99 I think.

So for under 35 quid you can get all the chems you need to have to have a go at film developing delivered to your door in a couple of days. These chems will allow you to develop many, many B&w films. You can go even cheaper if you buy smaller sizes, don't want indicator in the stopbath or try their FD10 film developer.

I've moved away from the Champion Universal developer but it does work well to get you started. The Champion Developer isn't that well supported on the Massive Dev Chart for many film types but I based/guessed dev timings on the listings for more mainstream developers and they dev'd just fine. I've still got and use my original bottles of stopbath and fixer.

Edit: @john.margetts I'll check my undiluted fixer hasn't got a yellow precipitate :)
 
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Do any of you use a digital camera for scanning ?
 
BADGER.BRAD said:
Do any of you use a digital camera for scanning ?
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I tried but the results were awful. I have two film scanners now and they both work well.
 
Same as everyone else, you can bring fixing costs down as well - I use adox powedered (makes a litre) £3/4 and will fix 10 rolls (35/120) and only have to mix what you need at a time

look up 510 pyro as well, not quite as economical (up to £1.25 a film at full strength) as rodinal but still cheap and just as good shelf life, im currently on Ilford HC and got loads left

i bought an epson 4450 off ebay for £60 and great for 35/120
 
I did look at Vuscan for Linux but their quoting £10 a month so that's out of it, but what are the requirements for a flat bed scanner for film, The last time I had a scanner was a good number of years ago ! I need to find one that will work with Linux out of the box.
 
Are your film scanners stand alone items John ?
 
I run Ubuntu Linux, but I can't manage without good old Windows, so have it on my system as a dual boot option.
Some specialised software such as my flatbed scanner, some camera software, some software for my gadgets don't have Linux compatibility, so a dual boot system is an easy option.
 
BADGER.BRAD said:
Do any of you use a digital camera for scanning ?
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I know a some people who do and get good results. It can be a bit of a faff to set up unless you have a copy stand but perfectly possible. If using a camera the other thing to consider is negative to positive conversion.
 
Cluster said:
I run Ubuntu Linux, but I can't manage without good old Windows
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I use various Debain Based systems ( I'm no expert) but haven't used Windows since the early days of XP the last time I tried I was totally lost. My switch to Linux was at the time down too cost but at that point I had quite an interest. The other problem is my equipment is really old so I'm not sure it would handle Windows.
 
BADGER.BRAD said:
I did look at Vuscan for Linux but their quoting £10 a month so that's out of it, but what are the requirements for a flat bed scanner for film, The last time I had a scanner was a good number of years ago ! I need to find one that will work with Linux out of the box.
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They have a perpetual licence for £90 which seems steep but if this is something you will do regularly it will pay for itself in no time compared to lab scans
 
acrobatic_Citron said:
They have a perpetual licence for £90 which seems steep but if this is something you will do regularly it will pay for itself in no time compared to lab scans
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I thought that was the year... certainly I paid £75 and got a years worth of free updates, but I can't update any further without paying again
 
VirtualAdept said:
I thought that was the year... certainly I paid £75 and got a years worth of free updates, but I can't update any further without paying again
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I cant see any future updates being required unless they bring out a new driver for a scanner you already have. Any security updates they should provide free of charge and if they do not take your business elsewhere
 
That's interesting. Perhaps the licensing has changed. I paid in 2003, never paid anything since, and I just tested by updating to a newer version.
 
StephenM said:
That's interesting. Perhaps the licensing has changed. I paid in 2003, never paid anything since, and I just tested by updating to a newer version.
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I'm on 9.6.47, and when I update, it tells me I my year of free updates has ended, and that I need to purchase another license to use the newer software
 
I just checked, and the terms have indeed changed. From the Hamrick site:

If you have a legacy Professional Edition License issued prior to March 31, 2021, then you have access to free updates indefintely. (sic)
 
BADGER.BRAD said:
The other problem is my equipment is really old so I'm not sure it would handle Windows.
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Well three of my computers are at least 12 years old running win 10......... and win11 (using the fiddle to get around MS system requirements). Mind you an old laptop running win 10 is so slow even my grandchildren didn't want it o_O windows seems to prefer at least 8gigs of ram.
 
Just looked and I have 8gigs of Ram ( a hand me down busted screen laptop) but still cannot bring myself to using Windows, I swore I'd never go back to it.
 
VirtualAdept said:
I thought that was the year... certainly I paid £75 and got a years worth of free updates, but I can't update any further without paying again
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You should be able to, it’s a lifetime update. Drop them an email and they should be able to help.
 
StephenM said:
I just checked, and the terms have indeed changed. From the Hamrick site:

If you have a legacy Professional Edition License issued prior to March 31, 2021, then you have access to free updates indefintely. (sic)
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Does that mean new purchases are a year only?
 
RaglanSurf said:
Does that mean new purchases are a year only?
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No. Perpetual licence, so use it forever. Only now, free updates are only for a year.

I've occasionally updated my copy, but never as often as updates appeared. I haven't needed support for other scanners or operating systems, so I'm not sure how much the difference would be to me in practice.

Edit to add:

Given the relatively low cost (compared to Silverfast) and extra functionality that Silverfast and EpsonScan lacked that really made VueScan hands down better for me, I thought that the genuine lifetime of free updates was unsustainable long term. Hats off to them for leaving it in place for as long as they did.
 
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But free updates will continue for those who bought before the rule change?
 
So it appears. My 2003 one time payment still got me the latest update yesterday. The wording however - specifically, using the word "indefinitely", which is, well, indefinite - does leave it open to being changed later.
 
Not sure of chemical costs now but I never found it expensive. I'd buy a large packet of ID11, make that up (a few quid) and it lasted ages, months and I used shed loads of BW film. You can use some developers neat or diluted depending on developer and results wanted. Obviously it takes longer diluted, but this has advantages if your not in a rush.
I've still got all my darkroom kit here, if I'm honest I cant see me using it again, as fun as "paddling" in chemicals is I just dont have time to play.
 
I've been using HC-110 which is brilliant. Seems expensive at first, but I only use 6 m per film, so the litre at about £30 will do over 160 films. Not sure when I last bought a bottle of Ilford Rapid Fixer but it's certainly years (you can re-use your mixed until a "leader test" gives times over a couple of minutes). Only ever bought one bottle of IlfoStop. So, chemicals are cheap!
 
Even something like Ilfotec DD-X, which will only develop 10 rolls of 120 film from a 1l bottle, still works out much cheaper than lab processing. It's much more expensive than some other developers on a roll-by-roll basis, but you can buy it for arounf £18 for a 1l bottle, so it's only £1.80 per roll (plus a minimal amount for fixer and stop bath costs once you have them). Or half that if you only develop 135 film.
Once you pass the initial outlay of getting the kit and chems you need, B&W developing is very cost effective to do at home.
 
FishyFish said:
Even something like Ilfotec DD-X, which will only develop 10 rolls of 120 film from a 1l bottle, still works out much cheaper than lab processing. It's much more expensive than some other developers on a roll-by-roll basis, but you can buy it for arounf £18 for a 1l bottle, so it's only £1.80 per roll (plus a minimal amount for fixer and stop bath costs once you have them). Or half that if you only develop 135 film.
Once you pass the initial outlay of getting the kit and chems you need, B&W developing is very cost effective to do at home.
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Where are you buying it from? i see it as £28 up everywhere!
 
acrobatic_Citron said:
Where are you buying it from? i see it as £28 up everywhere!
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Ilfotec DDX

Ilfotec DDX is a superb developer from Ilford DDX. Choose from different sizes available, Ilfotec is perfect for home use. In stock with next day delivery available.
www.harrisoncameras.co.uk www.harrisoncameras.co.uk

And a search engine lists Ilford.com as selling it at rather less than ilford.co.uk which doesn't surprise me as I've bought Ilford film from B&H in the states with a total bill inc postage and taxes that saved money on the UK price.
 
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thats crazy cheap - maybe they got a massive order in before price rises or they buy an absolut ton. Process supplies down the road is £31 a bottle and always good to support local where you can. £3 a roll still much cheaper than lab dev who I find are not consistent with bnw
 
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