{"id":42532,"date":"2026-08-31T06:00:19","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T10:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wading-in.net\/walkabout\/?p=42532"},"modified":"2026-08-31T01:28:40","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T05:28:40","slug":"tip-jar-44-basic-film-developing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wading-in.net\/walkabout\/2026\/08\/tip-jar-44-basic-film-developing\/","title":{"rendered":"Tip Jar 44: Basic film developing"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the things that I urge any serious, or even remotely serious, photographer to try is film developing. It’s a lot easier than it seems, takes minimal equipment, and is immensely gratifying. Except, there’s a caveat to all that, or perhaps several. Monochrome<\/em> negative (print) developing is easy;<\/strong> color negative is three times as involved, and color positive (slide) more so, and I have not as yet tackled them.<\/p>\n

Also, getting a print at the end requires an enlarger, probably the most expensive bit of equipment, and the space to set it up within, and for trays, et cetera. We’ll get to this in another post. But failing that, you’d probably want a film scanner to digitize the negatives you’ve produced, a different expense. Either of these can be had for relatively low costs, especially compared to what they used to be, but it still begins to add up.<\/p>\n

Still, let’s outline the basics.<\/p>\n

Equipment for basic B&W\/monochrome negative developing.<\/strong><\/p>\n

  • Developing Tank<\/li>\n
  • Film Reel(s)<\/li>\n
  • Clothespins or clips (hanging film to dry)<\/li>\n
  • A completely light-free area (more on this below)<\/li>\n
  • High-visibility thermometer<\/li>\n<\/blockquote>\n

    \nChemicals for basic B&W\/monochrome film developing.<\/strong><\/p>\n

  • Developer<\/li>\n
  • Stop Bath<\/li>\n
  • Fixer<\/li>\n

    <\/p>\n

    Helpful additions<\/strong><\/p>\n

  • Hypo Clearing Agent<\/li>\n
  • Wetting Solution<\/li>\n<\/blockquote>\n

    A light-free area.<\/strong> There are a number of ways to accomplish this, but first, understand what you actually need. This is to get the film from the film can onto the film reel, and then insert the reel into the developing tank. The tank is light-tight, so from that point on, everything can be done in normal lighting. While you can certainly make a room (closet, bathroom, whatever) light-free, you can also use something called a changing bag, just a light-tight large bag with sleeves that you put the film can, reel, and tank into, insert your arms within, and then do the film loading. Should you want to make prints, the light-tight room becomes necessary because you’re not putting an enlarger in such a bag.<\/p>\n

    Light proofing a room isn’t hard, this can usually be done with meticulous application of weather-stripping, you just have to find all the cracks. The guide is, put a white sheet of paper on the counter or floor and remain in your sealed room for ten minutes in the dark. If you can see any leaks in that time, or see the paper, it should be better than that.<\/p>\n

    Film has to be loaded in total darkness, but this takes only a few minutes once you’re used to it. Printing can be done under an approved safelight, since print paper is far less sensitive to light, but minimizing exposure is best all around.<\/p>\n

    Loading film.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    The whole idea is, allowing chemicals to get to all surfaces of the film evenly while taking up the least amount of space. Film reels hold the film in a spiral with space between the layers. Patterson or self-loading reels are highly recommended, and can usually be found used easily. Again, all this is done in total darkness, so the best thing to do is get a couple of old rolls of film that can be trashed, and practice in daylight until you’re comfortable with what you’re doing. With a self-loading reel, insert the end of the film into the reel for several centimeters, then, ‘walk’ the film further in by grasping the sides of the reel and alternating twisting motions – a 36-exposure roll will take less than a minute. Once you hit the end of the roll, cut the film free from the film can, and walk it another couple of centimeters until the end is firmly within the reel. Place this into the developing tank, cap it properly, and you’re done – the tank can be removed from the bag and brought out into the light.<\/p>\n

    With old, wire reels, you have to pinch the sides of the film gently to bow it, making it narrower, and insert this into the reel down near the middle to clip it to the beginning of the spiral, then gently wind the film onto the spiral runners of the reel while still keeping it bowed – as it is released, it goes to full width between the runners and stays in place. This is tricky and takes practice. Once loaded, if the film is kinked or gets out of line, this can be felt by running your fingers all along the outsides of the reels, feeling for any edges of the film;<\/strong> if it is properly loaded, nothing will be sticking out of the reel sides. Then just place this in the developing tank, cap it properly, and you can do the rest in the light.<\/p>\n

    If you pinch the film too hard, or bend it while messing about (easy to do within a changing bag,) you’ll get a ‘ghost’ on the negative from the film base getting clouded at the bend\/kink. Also, if you allow the film to touch itself during the developing phase, it will have uneven patches, so loading should be done carefully.<\/p>\n

    Chemical prep.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    It’s best to have some thick opaque bottles or jugs to store the chemicals within, and know that they have a relatively short shelf life. Old chemicals will do a poorer job, or barely work at all, so it’s not a bad idea to have several rolls of film ready and develop them all at once – they can be stored in a fridge or freezer (tightly bagged against moisture) to keep the emulsion from degrading.<\/p>\n

    Mix the chemicals according to directions, and note that the best results are obtained at certain chemical temperatures. B&W is less sensitive than color film, but maintaining that temperature helps a lot – using a water bath to place the chemical jugs into works fine, just monitor the temperature. Some chemicals can be re-used (stop bath, developer to an extent,) and some can’t (most kinds of fixer, hypo-clearing agent.) Keep these in mind as you do the developing.<\/p>\n

    Let’s go!<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Developer<\/strong> removes the unexposed portions of the emulsion, leaving the exposed portions attached to the film base. The films almost always provide guidelines as to developing times, so use these – the developer is crucial, the others less so. Start your timer and pour the developer into the light-trapped fill spout of the developing tank. Gently agitate it for the first minute – don’t shake it;<\/strong> bubbles are a bad idea. Usually just swirling is fine, but some tanks have an agitator to do this with. Tap the tank firmly at the end of this agitation to dislodge any bubbles from the film surface.<\/p>\n

    Following that, agitate for about ten seconds every minute during the developing time. As the timer runs out, dump the chemicals out of the light-trapped spout back into your container and immediately go to the stop bath.<\/p>\n

    Stop bath<\/strong> neutralizes the developer and prevents any residual from continuing to act on the film emulsion. Pour this in and agitate the entire time, usually 30 seconds, no more than a minute (unless otherwise indicated.) Most stop baths available are bright orange, ‘indicator’ chemicals that will turn blue when they have been contaminated by too much developer, so when you pour it back out of the tank at the end of the cycle, do so into a container where you can examine it before putting it back into the storage jug.<\/p>\n

    Fixer<\/strong> removes any residual unexposed emulsion and locks the exposed emulsion to the film base. While under-fixing will let the negative degrade over time, over-fixing can produce a haze or color cast. Pretty much, you’ll do the same process as the developer:<\/strong> agitate one minute, then ten seconds every minute, with taps to prevent clinging bubbles.<\/p>\n

    Wash<\/strong> under running water for at least a full minute – you can do this with the lid of the tank off now, since light won’t affect the remaining processes. If you have hypo-clearing agent<\/strong>, which removes residual fixer, you would empty the tank of water and pour this in now according to directions – this greatly reduces wash time. If you do not, continue washing for five minutes.<\/p>\n

    Rinse<\/strong> out hypo-clearing agent if necessary, fill tank with water, and add a few drops of wetting solution<\/strong>. All this does is reduce the surface tension of water so it drains off the negative in sheets rather than forming drops – keeps the negative clearer. Agitate gently in this for a minute.<\/p>\n

    Take the film reel from the tank, attach the outside end of the film to a clip, and gently unwind the entire roll from the reel. This is the part where you see all the individual frames for the first time. Hang the film vertically to dry for at least a half-hour – a shower stall is usually a good place, but someplace with minimal dust so it doesn’t adhere to the wet surface.<\/p>\n

    Once dry at the bottom, you’re done! If the chemicals are already mixed, this takes about an hour all told. Now you can scan the film, or cut it into lengths to sleeve it, or go straight to the enlarger to make prints.<\/p>\n

    But a warning:<\/strong> Once you see how easy it is, and watch the photos that you not only took, but developed yourself roll off of the reel, you’re liable to be hooked. I have had darkrooms set up in four<\/em> different places that I’ve lived over the years, and other projects have prevented me from getting the fifth one set up here just yet. It’s coming.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    One of the things that I urge any serious, or even remotely serious, photographer to try is film developing. It’s a lot easier than it seems, takes minimal equipment, and is immensely gratifying. Except, there’s a caveat to all that, or perhaps several. Monochrome negative (print) developing is easy; color negative is three times as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,11],"tags":[1031,8891,5287,8886,8884,8883,8885,8888,8889,1029,8887,8890],"class_list":["post-42532","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-photo","category-reference","tag-bw","tag-changing-bag","tag-darkroom","tag-developer","tag-developing-tank","tag-film-developing","tag-film-reel","tag-fixer","tag-hypo-clearing-agent","tag-monochrome","tag-stop-bath","tag-wetting-solution"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wading-in.net\/walkabout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42532","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wading-in.net\/walkabout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wading-in.net\/walkabout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wading-in.net\/walkabout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wading-in.net\/walkabout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42532"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/wading-in.net\/walkabout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42532\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42540,"href":"https:\/\/wading-in.net\/walkabout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42532\/revisions\/42540"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wading-in.net\/walkabout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42532"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wading-in.net\/walkabout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42532"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wading-in.net\/walkabout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42532"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}