How to Develop Film at Home: A Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners
While taking photographs on film has its own charm, developing your own film can be equally gratifying. With some basic equipment and chemicals, you can set up a darkroom at home and see your images come to life. As you get further into analog learning how to develop your own film gives you greater creative control, a connection to traditional technique, and will cut your costs significantly. Here's a step-by-step guide to help you start this rewarding journey.
Gathering Supplies
Before you start, you'll need some essential equipment and chemicals. Here's a basic list:
Developing Tank & Reels: These are light-tight containers where the film will be developed.
Chemicals: Film developer, stop bath, and fixer. There are different kinds, so research what's best for your film type.
Thermometer: Precision is essential, especially for the developer.
Measuring cylinders: To measure chemicals.
Changing Bag: Essential if you don't have a darkroom.
Timer or Stopwatch: For tracking the developing time.
Squeegee or Film Clips: For drying the film.
Water: For rinsing and diluting chemicals.
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2. Supplies Explained
Now that you have your supplies lets go into a little more detail about each item.
Developing Tank & Reels:
What They Are: A light-tight container and spools. Reels hold the film in place, ensuring it's evenly exposed to chemicals. Tanks keep the process shielded from light.
Purpose: To ensure that the film is immersed in the development chemicals in complete darkness.
Chemicals:
Developer:
What It Is: A chemical solution that reacts with the exposed film to produce a visible image. This begins the film developing process.
Purpose: Converts the latent image (invisible) captured by the film into a visible one by reducing silver halides to elemental silver.
Stop Bath:
What It Is: Typically an acidic solution (often acetic acid).
Purpose: Neutralizes the alkaline developer to stop the film development process, ensuring images don't become overdeveloped.
Fixer:
What It Is: A chemical solution, usually containing ammonium thiosulfate or sodium thiosulfate.
Purpose: Makes the image permanent by removing the remaining silver halide crystals. Without this, the latent image would continue to darken when exposed to light.
Thermometer:
What It Is: A device to measure the temperature of solutions.
Purpose: Maintaining the right temperature is crucial, especially for the developer. Even slight variations can alter developing times and image results.
Measuring Cylinders:
What They Are: Graduated containers for measuring liquids.
Purpose: Ensures accurate dilution and mixing of chemicals, crucial for consistent and optimal results.
Changing Bag:
What It Is: A light-proof bag with armholes.
Purpose: Allows you to handle and transfer film to the tank without any light exposure, especially useful if you don't have a dedicated darkroom.
Timer or Stopwatch:
What It Is: A time-measuring instrument.
Purpose: Precise timings are essential in film development; over or under-development can lead to differences in contrast and exposure on the film.
Squeegee or Film Clips:
What They Are: Tools to remove excess water and hang film.
Purpose: Prevent water spots on the developed film during drying and enable it to dry straight and uniformly.
Water:
What It Is: Distilled or deionized water.
Purpose: Used for rinsing and for creating diluted chemical solutions. Distilled or deionized water is preferred as it doesn't leave mineral deposits on the developed film.
2. Transferring Your Film
Once you have your chemicals and supplies the first step is transferring your undeveloped film onto the spool.
Inside the changing bag:
Pop open the film canister using a can opener for 35mm rolls.
Feel for the film's tapered leader, cut it straight, making it easier to thread onto the reel.
Slowly wind the film, ensuring it doesn't overlap. If you feel resistance, backtrack slightly.
Once wound, place the reel inside the tank and close the lid securely.
3. Develop film with your chemicals
Now that you have your film on your reel, it’s time to start the 35mm film developing. You need to know how long to immerse your film into these chemicals. The exact agitation and immersion times can vary based on the type of film, the specific brand of chemicals, and the desired effect. However, I'll provide a general outline for the most common practices, especially for black and white film development.
Developer:
Agitation: It's important to agitate while the developing occurs to ensure even distribution of the developer over the film and to refresh the developer in contact with the film.
Standard Practice: Initial continuous agitation for the first 30 seconds, then for 5-10 seconds at the start of every minute.
Immersion Time: Typically ranges from 5 to 15 minutes, depending on the film and developer used. Always refer to the specific film-developer combination chart or the developer's instructions. Pour out, and pour in stop bath.
Note: Over-agitation can lead to increased contrast, while under-agitation can result in uneven development.
Stop Bath:
Agitation: Continuous agitation ensures that the developer's activity is neutralized uniformly across the film.
Standard Practice: Agitate continuously for the entirety of the stop bath process.
Immersion Time: 15 to 60 seconds. Though some photographers opt for a full minute, 15-30 seconds is generally sufficient for most films when using an acidic stop bath. Pour out and pour in fixer.
Fixer:
Agitation: Similar to the developer, the fixer needs to be evenly distributed across the film to effectively "fix" or stabilize the image.
Standard Practice: Continuous agitation for the first minute, followed by 5-10 seconds of agitation at the beginning of every subsequent minute for proper film developing.
Immersion Time: Ranges between 5 to 10 minutes for most films. To test if the film is adequately fixed, you can perform a "clearing test": Remove a small piece of film and place it in a dish of the fixer. If it clears in half the intended fixer time, it's a good indicator that the fixer is still potent. Once the film is fixed your ready to wash.
Remember, always ensure that your chemicals are at the right temperature (typically around 20°C or 68°F for black and white film) and that you're following the manufacturer's recommended dilutions.
Rinsing (or Washing):
After the film has been fixed, it's essential to wash away any residual fixer. If the fixer remains on the film, it can lead to discoloration or damage over time.
Initial Rinse: Fill the tank with water at the same temperature as your chemicals (typically around 20°C or 68°F). Agitate continuously for about 1 minute, then dump the water.
Repeat Rinse: Fill the tank again, agitate for 2 minutes, and dump.
Final Rinse: Fill the tank once more, agitate for 3-5 minutes, and dump the water.
Hypo Clearing Agent (Optional): Some photographers use a hypo clearing agent after fixing and before the standard rinse. This is a solution that can reduce the washing time necessary to remove fixer from the film. If using a hypo clearing agent, immerse the film in the solution with continuous agitation for 2 minutes, then proceed with the rinsing process.
Immersion Time: In total, the washing process after fixing should typically last around 10 minutes if you're not using a hypo clearing agent, and approximately 5 minutes if you are.
Drying Your Developed Film
Carefully remove the film from the reel, ensuring not to touch the negatives.
Use a squeegee or fingers (in gloves) to remove excess water.
Hang in a dust-free, dry environment. Ideally, the film should not be exposed to rapid temperature changes.
Preserving Your Negatives
Use a soft cloth or gloves to handle negatives.
Cut them into manageable lengths (usually 5-6 frames for 35mm).
Insert into protective sleeves, ensuring they're free from dust or fingerprints.
I know even looking at a master list like this before you print can become overwhelming but I promise once you start the process you’'ll get into a stress free flow. There is nothing quite like looking at your negatives and knowing it was all your handiwork that brought these images to life. Like any craft, patience, consistency, and a thirst for learning will soon make you adept. Embrace the imperfections, relish the hands-on nature, and add this knowledge essential to your arsenal.
