Poll: Do you develop yourself or send your negs off?

Poll

  • I develop myself

    Votes: 32 64.0%

  • I send my films off/Take them to highstreet store

    Votes: 18 36.0%
  • Total voters
    50
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gunnar

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So, what's the best way to go? And please put your motivation as well - e.g. you're not satisfied with quality, too expencive etc!
 
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b&w I usually develop myself, although if I'm feeling lazy or I'm pushed for time I'll send them off to The Darkroom in Cheltenham. If I've just run a cheap roll of Kodak through a camera as a test I'll use Tesco/Asda or drop them in to Jessops which is just round the corner from work.
 
cheapness and control. Deving B&W is very cheap if you do it yourself and 4x5 negs are not really possible on the high street. I also have control over what I do, I can find a combination of film and developer that gives me something that suits my style of photography (not sure ive found my style yet never mind optmised a film and developer for it :)).
 
I'd like to develop B&W myself but the combination of time and available space means it's unlikely for now so they get sent off. I try to avoid high-street development unless it's a test roll that I want a quick turnaround on as I've had some poor results previously.

I have a film scanner and am quite happy doing PP on the computer though.
 
It's all very well saying you get full control doing it yourself but it's knowledge I don't posses, and would only wreck things doing it myself!

All mine go off to various labs, Genie usually but that's only because they're cheap. If I need stuff in a hurry or I need to guarantee quality it goes to my local lab who are very very good, but expensive.
 
Alan Clogwyn said:
It's all very well saying you get full control doing it yourself but it's knowledge I don't posses, and would only wreck things doing it myself...
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Hi Alan,

It's really not all that difficult to develop black and white to an acceptable standard. In its simplest form, it's exactly the same as baking a cake insofar as you follow a recipe and enjoy the results. :)

The kit you need isn't expensive and the chemicals will last you for ages. Start by running a few cheap rolls full of unimportant subject matter and learn as you go. I only recently returned to developing my own after a 20-odd year gap and if I can do it, anyone can!

Si
 
Process and scan B&W, C41 and E6 at home - Partly because I get better results, partly because now I've made the investment in hardware, the on-going chemical costs are cheaper than commercial processing, but mainly because it's an extension of the whole taking pictures experience - it's a way to spend more time on my hobby, despite not being able to get out for as long as i'd like actually shooting.

The whole processing side of the "shooting on film" is such an intrinsic part of it for me, that to be honest, if I wasn't processing my own stuff, I think I may as well just say sod it and just shoot on digital!
 
B&W: dev & scan at home
C41: dev'd with Genie Imaging, scanned at home.

I rarely shoot any C41 so it's no big deal. Processing B&W becomes trivial once you've done a few rolls, it's just that initial learning curve, which isn't as big as it feels :)
 
Home deving is pretty damn simple, I do mine at work, but people are amazed I can shoot and dev in a lunch time if I like. C41 isn't that hard either but the chemical costs are quite a bit higher.

EDIT: also you can easily pull/push process when you get caught needing a faster film that you have etc.
 
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I'm planning on starting to dev black and white shortly as I've got all my dads old darkroom kit that he's not used since about 1988 and has pretty much nearly all I need equipment wise - now all I need to do is get some chemicals and I am pretty much ready .

(Apart from the fact that I am now back at uni in Nottingham and the stuff is at home near Bedford! I might have to wait until Christmas or until I go home next.)

At the moment I send everything away, C-41 to Club 35, E-6 to 'The Darkroom' and B&W (which I don't shoot very much but am saving up exposed rolls in the freezer to dev myself) to Ilford Lab.
 
Like Mark, I enjoy the developing as part of the whole picture-taking process. B&W is easy - I did a few rolls in ID-11 before moving to Caffenol mostly because of its one-shot nature but also because I don't need to spend money on postage and packing for the chems.
I do quite fancy having a go with one of the C41 kits..... maybe at Christmas when there's a bit more time to faff around.
 
I dev B&W at home and send off C41 and E6. However, I am rapidly going off colour film photography and once my current stock runs out will just do B&W. I like to complete the process myself and it also means that if it goes wrong then I only have myself to blame!
 
menthel said:
I dev B&W at home and send off C41 and E6. However, I am rapidly going off colour film photography and once my current stock runs out will just do B&W. I like to complete the process myself and it also means that if it goes wrong then I only have myself to blame!
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I too have been doing that, seem to get more and more distant from C41 every extra day.
 
I generally develop my own (apart from slide film - I've got a few rolls of prepaid sensia left) but I'll reconsider developing c41 myself the next time I run out of chemicals.
C41 processing is a bit uneventful, there's no real scope for experimentation and it's a bind to maintain the temperature and times - a machine can do it so much better.
B&W developing allows for more choice and variation and you can 'develop' your understanding of photography at the same time.
C41, on the other hand, is good for starting out. The kits come with precise instructions on what to do and have enough of each of the chemicals to develop 15-20 rolls. All you need to do is follow the instructions.
 
offline said:
I generally develop my own (apart from slide film - I've got a few rolls of prepaid sensia left) but I'll reconsider developing c41 myself the next time I run out of chemicals.
C41 processing is a bit uneventful, there's no real scope for experimentation and it's a bind to maintain the temperature and times - a machine can do it so much better.
B&W developing allows for more choice and variation and you can 'develop' your understanding of photography at the same time.
C41, on the other hand, is good for starting out. The kits come with precise instructions on what to do and have enough of each of the chemicals to develop 15-20 rolls. All you need to do is follow the instructions.
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On the other hand, E6 processing is similar to C41, maybe a little more involved (an extra tankful of chemicals say), and can be a complete pain in the backside to scan afterwards. But it's all worth it - every little bit of hassle, to see a roll of perfectly formed, full colour miniature stained glass windows emerge from the tank of noxious chemicals...
 
TheBigYin said:
On the other hand, E6 processing is similar to C41, maybe a little more involved (an extra tankful of chemicals say), and can be a complete pain in the backside to scan afterwards. But it's all worth it - every little bit of hassle, to see a roll of perfectly formed, full colour miniature stained glass windows emerge from the tank of noxious chemicals...
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Oh, yes I'll look forward to developing e6 when my sensia runs out. I think there'll be a greater price incentive than with c41 too!

I've just remembered that c41 Self developing is also handy for defunct film sizes (110 & 126 and cross processing). So I'll probably keep some chems at home for those occasions.
 
What do people who are developing C41 and E6 use to keep the chemicals at the right temps? And do you just keep taking the dev tank in and out of any water baths for agitation?
 
Cuchulainn said:
What do people who are developing C41 and E6 use to keep the chemicals at the right temps? And do you just keep taking the dev tank in and out of any water baths for agitation?
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A big sink full of water at 39 degrees and a kettle of recently boiled water to splash in there if the thermometer drops more than a point or two..

It only takes a couple of minutes for the first really temperature critical phases, so to be honest, I don't worry about re-dunking the tank in the tempering water - it starts off at 39 and ends up at 37 usually, and it's supposed to be 38 - it's near enough for rock and roll :lol:
 
TheBigYin said:
A big sink full of water at 39 degrees and a kettle of recently boiled water to splash in there if the thermometer drops more than a point or two..
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Tried and tested old way, we do the same thing in lab work at uni where its not worth the trouble/wait of setting up a thermostatically controlled waterbath.
 
Ahh, good stuff! Thanks!

So is it just the developing that's temperature critical or are any of the subsequent stages as bad?
 
Strappy said:
I'd like to develop B&W myself but the combination of time and available space means it's unlikely for now so they get sent off. I try to avoid high-street development unless it's a test roll that I want a quick turnaround on as I've had some poor results previously......[snip]...............
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:plusone:

only use C41 in B&W and send to PhotoExpress
3days to develop and scan to DVD works for me

HOWEVER......Mark has scanned some B&W negs of mine and the results were far superior to PhotoExpress

sorry to say I dont have the time/money to invest in a good scanner
 
Cuchulainn said:
Ahh, good stuff! Thanks!

So is it just the developing that's temperature critical or are any of the subsequent stages as bad?
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for C41 with a tetenal kit, it's something like this...

Preheat stage - 38c +- 0.5c
Colour Dev 38c +- 0.5c
Blix (bleach and fix) 38c +- 2.0c
Rinse 30c-40c
Stabiliser 20c-40c
 
Send them off as I don't have the expertise to do it myself. Would like to try but don't want to ruin a film :(
 
At the moment I'm gradually getting together some developing equipment to have a go myself. I'd just scan the negs though as I'm not interested in printing at all.
 
Dev my own , I've got a mini lab now, but used to spend many an evening winding film onto a spool in the bathroom in the dark, happy days.

Joan
 
Thanks again Mark. Those temps are definitely doable without too much fuss alright. I'm still new enough to developing that I'll got through a few more BW rolls first, but I'd definitely like to be able to do more of my 120 film myself.
 
Dev my own B&W, i think if (when?) i try some colour films i'll probably take them to somewhere for the first few goes, then soup them myself when i have enough money to get all the kit i need.
 
Just started to develope my own b&w films and haven't found it too difficult to get started and it adds a so much more satisfaction to the process of taking photos especialy when you take the film out of the tank, crack open the reel and see how the negs look as I hang them up in the drying cabinet.
 
Superewza said:
Dev my own B&W, i think if (when?) i try some colour films i'll probably take them to somewhere for the first few goes, then soup them myself when i have enough money to get all the kit i need.
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There's really not much more kit needed - a few more bottles to hold the mixed up colour chemicals, and maybe a couple of extra measuring jugs. As long as you've already got a decent thermometer, then it's all pretty much the same kit!

Hardest bit of colour processing, is being absoloutely rigorous with the timings, especially as the tetenal chemicals have a bit of a sliding time-scale - the blix takes 4 minutes for the first film, but can be upwards of 15 minutes by film 13. I plotted the times on a bit of graph paper, completed the curve, and used that to interpolate the times for each individual film - them it's just a matter of keeping a tally of how many films have gone through a particular set of chemicals. It's not rocket science, it's just being methodical, but it's the best way of ensuring a consistent colour balance. It's not as much fun as black and white, where experimentation is a bit easier, but, certainly in the case of E6 processing, the joy of seeing your slides emerge fully formed from the soup outweighs the other considerations.
 
I used to develop my own B & W when I was a kid, and it was usually FP3/4 in Microphen or Acutol IIRC, but my memory is a bit hazy here. It was quite easy, and a friend's father had a darkroom, so we used that for making prints. I never tried colour though.

Might try it again one of these days. I still have my film cameras, and found my old Patterson tank and a lot of other bits and pieces from 40 years ago, when I packed up in South Africa last year, but I threw them out. Probably a bit stupid, but I didn't think I'd ever use them again, and they shouldn't cost much to replace.
 
Develop B&W myself
used to take colour to tesco's until they stopped doing it at my local store, a shame because the quality was great.
 
TheBigYin said:
There's really not much more kit needed - a few more bottles to hold the mixed up colour chemicals, and maybe a couple of extra measuring jugs. As long as you've already got a decent thermometer, then it's all pretty much the same kit!

Hardest bit of colour processing, is being absoloutely rigorous with the timings, especially as the tetenal chemicals have a bit of a sliding time-scale - the blix takes 4 minutes for the first film, but can be upwards of 15 minutes by film 13. I plotted the times on a bit of graph paper, completed the curve, and used that to interpolate the times for each individual film - them it's just a matter of keeping a tally of how many films have gone through a particular set of chemicals. It's not rocket science, it's just being methodical, but it's the best way of ensuring a consistent colour balance. It's not as much fun as black and white, where experimentation is a bit easier, but, certainly in the case of E6 processing, the joy of seeing your slides emerge fully formed from the soup outweighs the other considerations.
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True, but when you consider the cost of the chemicals on top of that it starts to stack up. £15-£20 per dozen films if you're lucky can get rather a lot of B&W film and chemicals.
 
gunnar said:
So, what's the best way to go? And please put your motivation as well - e.g. you're not satisfied with quality, too expencive etc!
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thinking about this

you need 3 choices

do it yourself
use high street/supermarket
mail to pro lab for develop and scan/or print
 
I develop all my own apart from slide film which I hardly every shoot anyway.
 
Want to dev my own but I just don't have the time nor space to do it. I drop my rolls off at Costco, they can usually get it done within an hour or two, results are reasonable.
 
My problem is I love film but hate the processing having wearied of it years ago. Black and white processing is really a doddle - nothing to be worried about as temperature isn't so critical as with colour.

I have a Jobo processor and lift which is unused - hasn't even got wet yet - I should be ashamed of myself but it's not worth setting it up for B&W, I can hand - tank develop in that time, and it's far too convenient to send colour stuff off to the lab or drop it in at Jessops.

I need to give myself a kick up the arse.! :cuckoo:
 
I take mine to the local Kodak express whizzbang equipped photographer/camera shop in the town where I work. Mind you I've only been playing with 35mm for about 6 weeks - no more than 12 films and MF for less - first 3 films awaiting collection.

I haven't got the inclination, time or room to invest in developing my own fillum. I realise that my exposed film goes into a machine the size of a small estate car and out comes negatives and a CD and come out the way he or the machine wants them to look but, hey, I can upload them from the CD and tweak them if I really want to.

As it is I'm still learning how to use a growing collection of rangefinders, SLRs and MF cameras and I'd rather spend my time there.
 
Continuous self-development is a must for anyone who wishes to improve themself.
 
Used to develop myself until about two months ago when I sold all my 'daily' film kit in prefrence to a digital rangefinder. I have a collection of Paxette cameras and lenses which I'll never sell so I still use these but not regulary enough to warrant having all the dev kit sitting around. I also REALLY like the results from ASDA developed C41 B+W film, it's kind of pinky orange sepia colour and it looks great.

I do kind of miss the grain of a 'proper' B+W home developed neg though... but just find the digital rangefinder so much easier and it 'feels' the same as the Leica.

ped
 
Develop B&W film at home. Generally just mess about with it to be honest. There is nothing quite like hanging a film up to dry and peeking at the negs to see if it all went well.

Still trying to talk myself into a scanner, but a toilet roll and 20mm extension tube does the job well enough.

Ian.
 
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