The real cost of developing your own film?

[wibbly]

I’m a bit of a beginner in real terms when it comes to film and the technicalities of it all but I’ve been thinking about developing my own black and white film as I really want to shoot more!

Figuring out costs I’m thinking around £200 or so to get started for all the bits I need plus the chemicals, second hand scanner, etc.

It’s quite an investment given the number of rolls you can get developed for that cost, given black and white 120 film is around £6.00 for developing and the fact I’ve never done it before and not sure how I’d get on with it.

I’m trying to figure out if that’s a reasonable cost to get going really.

Any thoughts/advice gratefully received.

 

[robhooley167]

Depending on the scanner you go for, you could probably do it for cheaper.

If you put up a list of the things you think you'll need and the prices, we can try to help you rationalise what you think you need vs what you actually need.

 

[freecom2]

Buying used, and being savvy with your purchases, often means that apart from consumables like chemicals (which is an unavoidable expense), the costs can be controlled.

For instance I recently sold my film scanner for more than I paid for it 7 years ago. Film developing stuff is regularly on eBay and intermittently on local websites like Gumtree, especially if you are near a larger city.

Many developers and pretty much all fixers can be reused as well - so if you develop lots, your cost per roll only goes down as you continue to reuse. I used each batch of mixed fixer (in a 1+4 dilution - so 100ml of Ilford Rapid Fix with 400ml of water) 15-20 times. Accounting for wastage and only using each mixed batch 10 times, you'd still get 90 rolls out of a 1L bottle. I paid £11.86 for a bottle a couple of months ago - that would be 13p a roll.

 

[Fraser Euan White]

It really isn't 'worth' developing your own film! If it is economy your after send the films off to a good lab.

I develop my own film but it is for the hobby of doing it. It works out more expensive with wasted chemicals etc developing your own.

I shoot maybe one to three rolls of film a month.

 

[skysh4rk]

Any thoughts/advice gratefully received.

Be patient.

I say this because there's a lot of stuff floating around out there that people are just giving away (or at least that's my experience).

While you wait, I'd join a public darkroom. I found it a great way to learn more about film photography and to meet other people. The local darkroom I previously used had both great darkroom and lightroom equipment (e.g., Hasselblad Flextight X5 scanner, printers, etc.), which was handy.

 

[freecom2]

It really isn't 'worth' developing your own film! If it is economy your after send the films off to a good lab.

Whilst I fully recognise sporadic home B&W development is not necessarily economical, lab B&W prices are quite expensive - significantly more so than processing C-41. OP I think you have to make a decision based on your current set up - but I also echo the sentiment about it being part of the hobby; there is nothing quite like pulling a fully developed roll out of a tank (or seeing a print appear on silver nitrate paper).