We'd love to hear if this video helped you to try processing your own black and white film. You can also share your results with us on Instagram or Twitter where we are @ilfordphoto. As well as some of the other great videos in this playlist. ('Making a basic contact sheet' and 'Making your first black and white print' to name just a couple). We also have a beginners guide to film photography th-cam.com/play/PLarwq93oldzTPKIn4-RMP6w9_khSkuD-I.html as well as some more inspirational content in our ILFORD inspires playlist.
@@archiesacay1901 The Ilfotec DD-X devleoper should be used as a one shot developer for the highest image quality,. It can be used more than once if timings are adjusted. If you have a look at the technical data sheet on ilfordphoto.com then all of the information is there www.ilfordphoto.com/amfile/file/download/file/581/product/545/
I have been using this video to develop my 35mm HP5+, my question is I am getting an old 120 folder camera ... is DD-X still a good developer for B/W 120? How will the process be different for 120 film.
After getting into shooting film recently, I took the leap and bought all the developing equipment. I followed these instructions to the letter and was delighted when I opened up the tank to see 36 well-developed exposures - seriously chuffed! Thanks so much for a brilliant, clear, concise how-to video! Not only that, but you've created something that's modern and slick, and really enjoyable to watch!
That's fantastic to hear Niall. Hopefully you've done it a few times since too. Please share some of your images with us on our social channels, we'd love to see them. (We're @ilfordphoto on Twitter and Instagram)
@@Ilfordphoto if the person wore a pair of white gloves and put the stuff more delicately and did all the process on a dinner table with a fireplace in the background then yeah xD.
Niall McCauley; Thanks mate. You jolted me to recall my first roll of film, bloody magic moment of truth when i examined the wet film dripping into the bath. Did you make a contact sheet?
My favorite part, absolutely, is the little double-tab he gives the tank when he puts it down after agitating, with no explanation. He may not even realize he's doing it. Only the cool kids know, it's to dislodge any air bubbles that the film may have picked up during agitation.
It’s been 25 years since I last developed my own film. I’m taking the plunge back into film and this is a great refresher course...I can smell the chemicals through the screen!
We love hearing this - enjoy getting back into black and white film developing, and please, if you are on social media, share some images with us. We are @ilfordphoto on IG/Twitter and Facebook
Could do all of this with my eyes closed 20 years ago. Now, found a few rolls of film from the past and need to remember the steps ) Thanks for a nice video!
@@Ilfordphoto thank you and your team for the video, whole process doesn't seem that scary as it was before. and thanks that we still have these beautiful rolls of film from Ilford.
After more than 20 years of digital, which has been a fascinating journey, its a relief to see a resurgence in film. This is real photography. If we lose it, we lose the soul of what photography is. Patience. Time. Creativity.
Blah blah blah. Unless you drive a horse drawn carriage I won't believe you. "Real photography"nothing is real in photography. Just say you prefer film and that's it.
I remember doing this with my father in the late sixties and early seventies. I don't think anything has changed in developing and printing film, except the materials. It's a lot of fun. You take more pride in what you've done.
You should have another go at it! There's lots of information on www.ilfordphoto.com and it's easy to ghet hold of film. I bet you even have a film camera lurking somewhere :)
Yess, we did it back in school days. Decades ago. Omg. Now I am going to start my own developement, at least in Germany I get the feeling, it gets harder to find someone, that does a good job in it. Esp.: as I like to do bw-slides, Ilford, do you have vids on this theme, or should I look for Adox? Andreas
i have developed 15+ rolls of 36mm b+w films using this video as a guide. I started using the ilford simplicity kit but I have now switched the developer over to rodinal because of longer storage life. I still use ilford fixer and stop bath. Thanks for putting this video up. Your simplicity kit really made the process very simple!
Thank you so much for this. My first roll is now hanging in the shower drying! It was so exciting. I thought all was lost as I messed up the last part of loading the spool, but I only spoiled 8 out of 36 exposures :)
I have been doing Wet-Plate photography in Silver Nitrate on glass. I've been looking to move forward in time from the 1850's to film photography. Thank you for the clear and concise information.
Love this and so helpful. As I have made the transition back to film, this is the next stage. Looking forward to making my own prints and processing. Thank you for creating this series.
Brilliant. We're hearing more and more often how people are enjoying coming back to shooting film or are now shooting it alongside digital. It's fantastic to hear how many are also trying their hand at developing it themselves too. Please let us know how you get on.
@@jeg569 You can find some cheaper or even free enlargers around. Or there may be a community darkroom near you? Keep checking here as we are starting to populate it with community darkrooms www.ilfordphoto.com/storelocator
@@Ilfordphoto I enjoyed dark room printing way more than developing. The hardest part in the whole process for me was extracting the film from the 35mm cassette and properly loading it into the spiral in the dark!
@@parthasur6018 There is definitely a knack in loading the spiral! I love darkroom printing too. Hours can go past without me realising it. We've been enjoying seeing lots of new darkrooms pop up over the last couple of years, maybe there's one near you?
Thanks to your video and your chemicals, on Saturday I developed my first roll of B&W film, they all came out great, can’t wait to get the scans back. Ilford inspiration 📷🎞🧪👍
Thank you so much for making this video. It is extremely helpful. I have developed two rolls of hp5 in my kitchen following these instructions. Both have came out great. The way you lay out the steps in such a simple and straightforward way without any unnecessary dialog makes this video very easy to follow. I pause and play back certain parts of this video while I'm developing my film to make sure I'm doing it right. I also used this video when ordering my supplies. The way that you show exactly what is needed is really helpful.
That's fantastic to hear Bret. This is what we were hoping when we made these videos. Have you tried any of our other black and white films yet or are you sticking with HP5 for now?
@@Ilfordphoto So far I have been sticking with HP5. I actually bought 52 rolls of HP5 with the goal of shooting one roll per week. HP5 seems like it will meet my needs really well. It seems like a really flexible film. I shot my first roll at ISO 400 and my second at ISO 1600. Both came out great. I think I might also want to pick up a couple rolls of Panf ISO 50. It looks like it might be good for landscapes when I'm on a tripod and also portraits with studio strobes.
@@BretMiller Cool. Yes, HP5 pushes and pulls really well. I've shot it at 200 and 1600. PANF is beautiful for bright sunny work in the studio or outside and the FP4 is pretty nice too if you want little more speed
Excellent video. Thanks. I have been developing for over a year now, and it is good to see my technique is broadly similar. 4 main differences though. 1. I use a changing tent. Just 1 less thing to worry about. 2. I've always pulled the film totally out of the cassette, just seems less fiddly to load onto the reel. 3. I've always started the clock after I've poured the chemicals into the tank, and stopped it and at the right time (not 15 seconds earlier) and then poured it out. That means they are in chemicals much longer, though I've not noticed any problems with the negs. 4. I live in a hard water area and use distilled water for the rinse.
Ive probably developed 100k rolls of film at this point both for myself and others. Its muscle memory at this point, and I still have my Kindermann tank and Hewes reels and I think these Ilford videos have inspired me enough to use up that 2.3km of bulk Pan F I have left...
The method advised to me in the 70s was to avoid losing the leader as this simplifies film transfer to reel in the dark. It can usually be felt leaving the take up spool on manual rewind cameras so leader still exposed. If then cut off leader it only needs an inch or so to load past the ratchet in the Paterson spool which can be done in daylight. Then move to changing bag with scissors and allow ratchet to readily pull film out of the unopened cassette. Then just snip end. Have never lost the first exposure doing it this way.
@@Jay-jb2vr yes, But I also have Autism, and hence the white writing on a white background is harder for me to see (contrast and glare{from the video lighting}), also watching the writing AND the live action simultaneously is difficult, as this takes a lot of attention and a lot of information at once can overwhelm our brains, too much choice at what to look at, let alone concentrate ones limited attention on and it is even harder, the more complex the task we are learning, or the more detailed the information, steps, body Language of the demonstrator,etc. (we do things line by line, looking, understanding, then looking again- as if we think too much we have a meltdown , like a computer, it can't do too much, if it tries, it 're-boots'), also in my childhood I had seizures (due to heat, and sometimes flashing lights),so the oscilating timer in the left corner is distracting in this regard too.
Such a reasonable wash technique I feel like everyone else calls for 20+ minutes of continuous flow - lol where am I going to find that much distilled H2O at 20C?? Anyways, love this video so much it has been my starting point for developing so many different rolls of film. Thank you Ilford!
Great video but missing some important info for absolute beginners - no mention of changing bags which most people are going to want to use as finding a light-tight room is almost impossible. Popping off the end of the film canister really is not necessary as it is far simpler to get a film leader finder and just pull it out plus you can do this in the light and preload your spirals. Also it would be great to see the results of the development eg some actual scans or prints of the photos that we watched getting developed.
Thanks for your feedback. Changing bags are always an option, although not as simple to use for an absolute beginner. It is fairly easy to black out a small room with card and tape, (there is a video on out stream showing how to do this), but we understand that not everybody has this space available. Using a film retriever instead of removing the cap is another way of doing it, which works perfectly well. We do have another video coming shortly on making your first print which shows the next steps.
Fantastic thanks - that all sounds great. I think mentioning the change bag along with the blacking out a room would be ideal as most people I would say would go for a simple bag rather than having to black out an entire room with card and tape. I'm guessing it depends alot on where you live too and styles of houses (in the north of Australia where I live rooms are big and lots of light) - a changing works everywhere....although a bit of a pain to use. Anyway it's fantastic to see these tutorials online from Ilford and hopefully get more and more people to try the process - thanks! Can't wait to see the prints too.
Most people have a bathroom they can easily convert to a darkroom by blacking out any windows (usually small) and making a simple light trap for any vents. It's much easier to work in a larger space than one of those changing bags.
I do have a totally light sealed room, which I use for darkroom printing. However, I much prefer loading my film in a bag, whether it’s muscle memory or something else I find the bad much easier. But I take the spool out of the canister to load it as I find it much easier to guide the film that way. Many of these things are personal preference, the important point is that it should be loaded in total darkness and the film is not touched.
I used to develop and print my own stuff in both colour and monochrome right up until the 90's. Sometimes I would spend a whole evening just to get one print I was satisfied with. I am so glad I don't have to do all that stuff any more.
a "what happened here" video series would be great. All of us happen to encouter some things we can't say where the error could have come from. e.g sprocket hole blacking out after aggressive agitation or unfixed negative spots.
Little trick : when you pour out the chemicals out of the tank, keep your finger over the edge to keep the cover in place. I've had the cover fall out a couple of times before fixing ... i know, i know
I like ilfords chemicals they work consistently even on Kodak black and white films. I use them for my HP5 and my Tmax film stocks. Love your products.
Very helpful for this returning film shooter. Has Ilford ever considered commissioning a simple to use, high quality and not-too-expensive film scanner w/ software? Probably, Ilford would rather sell darkroom supplies only for wet prints, but these days, it seems like the hybrid approach to film photography is gaining popularity. (Shoot on film, develop the film oneself, scan to computer and maybe print later.)
Thanks for this informative video! I have 2 questions: How do you get the right temperature for your chemicals? I learned there are heating devices for colour film development but how do you cool them down? I have an apartment on the top floor and it gets easily up to 30°C in summer time. Sure I can do a water bath to cool down the chemicals but as soon as I pour them into the development tank they will heat up. And the other question: When you are re-using your chemicals - how do you know when your chemicals are exhausted and have to be replaced? Especially when you don't have a high throughput of film rolls per week/month. Cheers, Chris
We dod publish times for processing at higher temperatures and these as well as info on how long the chemistry lasts can all be found on the relevant technical data sheets on www.ilfordphoto.com/technical-downloads/technical-data-sheets/
looking back at this makes me miss doing photography. i really want to get back in it bc i miss the process of actually developing the pictures yourself
THIS IS BRILLIANT! Just invested in some film cameras and im super excited to start developing my film again.. been 20 years since i did it in college! Tho the process with that tank seems a lot easier now! Cant wait to get stuck in! thanks again.. the process is the same for 120 film too i assume?
Hi Gareth. It's so good to hear that you are going to go back to processing your own black and white film. The process is exactly the same for 120, with a couple of small changes (obvioulsy you don't ned to remove the flm form the cassette and you would need a larger developing tank and a higher voilume of chemistry). Good luck and please let us know how you go on.
I've just bought the B/W film development starter kit, and developed my first roll of HP5... beside the awful quality of the Paterson plastic moulds (the Squeegee that I had to buy separately almost seemed split in half and almost all the Becher had really sharp or chipped edges, only the tank is decently refined) it was a very very fun thing to do! The only problem now is that the labs near me ask for more than I pad the roll and the chemicals to scan the film 😂but it's still an extremely fun thing to do! Too bad the "Simplicity" pack is way too expensive to be worth it, so I have to pile up a few rolls and then buy bigger bottles of chemicals so they don't expire...
I've been taking pictures on film for ten years. My favorite Ilford films are classic HP5+, PAN 100, PAN 50, less often Delta. I've never used film squeegee for fear of scratching. The problem is not the device itself, but the way it is stored and maintained. Too much risk for me. I always poured a softening solution over the hanging film at the end and there was no question of any stains or scratches on the film.
The film squeegee has definitely proved to be controversial! We knew that this one was brand new and so there wasn't a risk of scratching, but have heard a lot of people say that they prefer to use their fingers.
I'm definitely in the 'no squeegee' or 'fingers' camp when it comes to film processing. I learnt to process film in high school and the method I was taught was to leave the film to dry naturally with the final drying aid chemical, that being Kodaks' Photo Flo on the film whilst it dries. Once the film had dried, we used the Anti-static cloth on the film before we slipped it into negative preservers.
want a simpler way? measure the temperature of standing water in your house, it's 21C in my house consistently (the basement might slightly colder), I let my water rest the night before development and never use a thermometer, I do all my times for 21C all the time, never check for temps anymore. Do not bother with stop bath, use water instead, same good. The only two things that need to be timed are developer and fixer, everything else just do it by feel. The stop water bath by feel, the final rinse by feel. Never use the vinyl squeege, use a sponge squeege instead and ALWAYS wet the squeege with the same soupy mix you used for final rinse before scrubbing the film. It will prevent any marks on the film once dried.
When I was in school, they taught us how to build a "Home made" Contact Printer, and thus make up our own contact sheet! Maybe another video is in order!
One lesson I have learned is never add the ilfotol to the developing tank! This builds up on spirals and makes them jam. I now transfer the film to another container for this step.
In chemistry it's considered safest to add the chemical to the water, rather than water to the chemical. You're less likely to splash concentrate that way.
The video is aimed at beginners we was felt that showing it this way round was less confusing to make up to a final volume than to measure out the water and chemicals separately.
well, water first is also “bartender’s rule”: mixing cheap first reduces the risk of having to toss expensive mixes if you make a mistake in the process.
personally, I like the agitation /mixing that occurs with adding water 2nd. we are splitting hairs. I like the simplicity shown in the video. Artist are inherently aware and cognizant of details, so much so that some are actually OCD. I understand some of the critical posts. I hope there is some value added for some beginners, rather than confusion. Thank you for the upload. I love the simplicity. Haven't thought of leaving the film in the canister as the film gets wound onto the reel. I'll have to try that. as long a the soft felt that the film will be rubbing against is clean, no scratches should be happening.
You will notice when pouring out the developer from the tank it will have a purple color, that is normal, it is from the coating on the back of the film washing off in the developer.
Favorited! Can the developer, stop bath and fixer be stored in separate bottles after they are used? If so, how can you tell when it is time to dispose?
Great . If you have a look on ilfordphoto.com then all the storage instructions and info is on the individual product pages and in technical downloads.
Back in the day all I ever used was Kodak D-76 and water for a stop bath and Ilford fixer. Squeegy the film with my fingers when it would come out of the wash after development. Hang it up to dry. My problem is sourcing an affordable supply of B&W developer.
Nice intro video. I see even Ilford Photo recognizes the value of a Kodak Process Thermometer, Type 3 -- but I don't recommend using it to mix chemicals.
Very cool, back in the day I professionally processed and printed black/white, color negative and E6 transparency film in formats from 35mm, 120/220, 4x5 & 8x10. brings back memories and now I have to resist wanting to shoot some film! I always preferred Stainless Steel reels as we could dry them quicker to get more film loaded.
One thing to mension is that if you have a leader retriever tool and are careful to leave like 1cm of film stickning out when you cut the film off you can reuse the cassette if you ever decide to start bulk loading film. There are a few other ways to do this if you don't have a retriever. If you have a manual camera with a little crank to rewind the film you can be careful and listen, stop rewinding when you hear the film slip off the takeup spool. (Warning do not open the camera in direct sunlight after this since the leader will still be stickning out, if you are in sunlight open it with your shadow over the camera. Then put the film in the little plastic canister it came in to protect it from light.) Also you can take an old piece of film and wet the end turn the knob on the film cassette until it clicks, insert the film wet side down, slowly turn a bit more to make sure it gets pulled in and yank it out, usually the leader will come with it. (Beware that you need to wait for the film and cassette to dry before developing (unless you use a steel reel.) I have also heard that there may be some problems with light tightnes if the felt gets wet so experiment at your own risk if you want to bulk roll after doing this.)
After working for 25 years as a college photographic lecturer at various colleges and seeing many different forms of practice to develop black & white film. May I advise on the best method I have so far encounted? If you develop film at 1:1 in D76 or other developer, can I suggest the following method of preparation? Assuming you’re using tap water as part of your developing solution and not distilled or deionized water, this method is fairly easy. To make a 1:1 developing solution for one 35mm film, you will need 150ml of water mixed with 150ml of developer = 300ml (I know it says 290ml on the tank, but 300ml and its division by ½ to 150ml is easier to remember). This mixture of developer and water should ideally be at a temperature of 68F/20C. Pour 150ml of developer into a measuring jug and measure its temperature. If it is under or over 68F/20C, make a separate jug of water to compensate for the difference. Example if the developer temperature is 18C, make the water to 22C, before adding 150ml of developer. To get the water at the required temperature, put a thermometer in the empty jug and add hot and cold, either from two separate taps or a mixer tap. Don’t worry about the quantity as you can let the excess flow over the edge, just concentrate on getting the temperature you require, in this case 22c.Then pour out the excess to leave 150ml and add the developer, thus achieving a developer solution at 68f/20c. And never ever, ever use a squeegee.
Thanks for the comment. We realise that other people have their own methods. Our chemicals are designed to get the best out of our films and this is the method that our technical team advise.
Excellent video and nice background music! Recently started to use film photography again after close to 16 years. But now that studios that develop are quite rare to find, I've to do the developing process myself. It's quite interesting and fun as I learned through. Have only shot color and used only the C-41 till now. Recently tried BW films too. Watched this video to get an idea of the process and what chemicals to order. I've one question. Is the function of Ilford Universal Wash aid same as the wetting agent?
Great to hear that you're having another go at flim photography after a break. There is a differnce between the Washaid and wetting agent. Wetting agent is used for film to reduce drying marks, where as Washaid is a hypo eliminator so speeds up the washing process of primarily Fibre based papers but can also be used with film to reduce wash times.
@@Ilfordphoto this video did seem to offer a very minimal wash time. over time, I wonder what condition the negatives will remain in... (in terms of deterioration)
@@Garacha222 We developed this wash method to use the minimal amount of water whilst ensuring that all residual chemicals were removed to ensure the longevity of the images. www.ilfordphoto.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Reducing-Wash-Water.pdf
Make sure for when you pour in each chemical into the container, you rinse out the remaining chemical that could be inside. This can effect the way your film turns out
I use a film leader retriever instead of break open the cartridge to get the header, also can do it by inserting a short length of film into the cartridge, this is the traditional way to do it inside a light tight bag.
Which chemicals are reusable and how long can you use them? I know it's best to use fresh chemicals for each roll of film, but i'd be good to know. The amounts of chemicals depend on the size of the developing tank and number of rolls right? If i use a bigger tank to process 3 films at the same time, let's say, all amounts would be triple, right?
Any tips on reducing film curl while the film dries? I have been processing film since the 90's however I always seem to have it curl which didnt matter so much when using an enlarger but does make a difference when using a scanner as the film fails to lay flat it its holder.
Which film are you using? Ours are generally less curly than some other brands. Adding humidity whilst drying will help. So biol a kettle or turn on the shower:)
@@Ilfordphoto I tend to stick to HP5 however the film's I processed during the first lockdown had been exposed several decades ago. I think it probably is the humidity.
Hi Luke. Although we know that many people choose to pre wash their film we advise against it as we have found that it can lead to uneven development. As for the negative. It's quite subjective as to what makes a good negative as much of it is down to personal taste and style. However as a general rule a negative should show good contrast with well defined highlights and shadow detail.
@@Ilfordphoto Could that be why I've sometimes seen striping in the centre of the film where the film slightly curves? These are not droplet marks, just stripes that go from frame to frame and more on one end of the film than the other. These look also different from airport X-ray damage.
@@pioni2 Hi Toni we'd need to see the film to be sure. If you have any issue you can always use the contact form on www.ilfordphoto.com to get in touch with our tech team and they will be able to help.
Very informative video. Wouldn't it be preferable to mix your chemicals after loading the film around the spiral rather than beforehand? When mixing chemicals at the start of the process (as shown in this video) there could be a chance that the temperature of the chemicals may have shifted during the time it took to load the film fully into the spiral. Then again, I'm certainly no expert. It's been over 20 years since Ive done film developing.
We always mix them before hand but our temperatures don't fluctuate hugely. If you are somewhere very cold, or hot, we'd recommend keeping the mixed chemical containers in a 'bath' of warm or cold water to keep the temperature consistent.
Its usually a case of incresing the temperature or the times. The film/developer will have a chart showing the development times for a speed at a certain solution temperature. If you want to push ISO 400 film to 800 then simply develop as if it were an 800 ISO film. You can also shoot the film at ISO 800 and develop as ISO 400.
So when you put the developer into the water and mix it, is that the only time it must remain 68deg. F? Or does it have to stay at 68deg F until you pour it in and have it remain at that temp?
@@Ilfordphoto Any tips on how to accomplish that? Should I run the sink and fill it up to the correct tempurature? or should I quickly pour in the developer as soon as I mix it?
We used a water bath to keep chemicals & dev tank at 20 degrees, also pre-warmed tank & film with 20 degree water. This vid & other tube ones do not show this. Can it safely be omitted? Obviously 20 degree liquid will drop a few degrees when first poured into dev tank and then loose heat over time. I did developing & printing at school & teacher was most fussy about keeping chemicals at 20 degrees for the entire process. Continued into my late teens & now want to have another go at developing film. Is there an easy substitute for the wetting agent? Posting liquids is expensive to buying powdered chemicals. Do you know what Ilford film turns green when developing? I cannot remember which one it was or why it was green. Thanks :o)
We recommend keeping the chemisty at 20 degrees whenever you can. We often find that this isn't far off the temperature that we get form the taps, but this often differs depending on where you are. A water bath or bain marie is perfect for helping maintain the correct temperature. As for wetting agent, have you seen the Simplicity sachets? They only contain 25ml so are much easier to ship. I'm not sure about green film. Some have a slight purple hue due to the sensitising layer, but with sufficient washing this is normally not visible.
@@Ilfordphoto Thanks for the reply :o) I last developed film over 30 years ago and was taught to use a water bath, however, watching all these tubers, they mix the chemicals using warm water to 20 degrees & that is that. No pre-warming of the film & tank & no water bath to maintain the temperature. Pouring 20 degree developer straight into the tank is going to drop a degree or so immediately? As for green film, I cannot remember much about it, but know the negatives were green when processed & they were meant to be. Sure it would have been Ilford as that is all I used, from Mr Cad in Croydon, Long since gone, I loved that warehouse in Windmill Road.
You make squeegeeing film look so effortless. Maybe it's just C-41 process film that's like this, but the squeegees simply won't glide down the film, even if they're soaked in the final rinse agent.
This was a brand new squeegee which always helps, but i've never had any problems. We know that it's a controversial piece of kit and many people prefer to use their fingers, but as log as it's kept clean then we like it!
Hello, what I don't understand is that during the first part of the development it says "add developer agitate for 10 continuous seconds and repeat the process every minute for the duration of the development" how long would that be? 8 minutes? How do i figure out how long it should be? thnx
Hi Giulia. That will depend on which film and developer you are using. Details of how long our ILFORD black and white films take to develop can be found on the film developing chart www.ilfordphoto.com/amfile/file/download/file/1953/product/1650/
@@giuliabondi3179 Hi Guilia. You can reuse the stop and the fixer. ( You can also reuse the developer i the same session, but you have to allow for this by increasing development time and expect a small loss in quality). the best place to see all the information on storing and using our chemicals is on the technical data sheets which are attached to each of our product pages on ilfordphoto.com
Excellent video. I'm ready to embark on my first attempt and had a thought that threw me off. I see the film emulsion is facing outward. Is it that way with all film and are there cameras that wind the film the other way...so that you're having to wind the film against the curve so to speak? I hope that made sense. Regardless, thank you for the simple, clear instructions.
Oh noes! Not muh silver! Seriously though, it's mostly harmless, just be aware that it can interact with your metal pipes and leave a silver lining on them as the silver comes out of solution. In my company we have a discolored drain hole from the silver tarnishing on the drain hole.@denny11lane
Complete darkness, so either a changing bag or blacked out room. The only exception to this is if you are using our Ortho film which can be processed under a red safelight
Technically if you used a film that is insensitive to ir and used a ir light that might work. But you would need to make sure the light comming out the back doesn't escape
@@Ilfordphoto A lot of other sources say "quarter turn, flip, quarter turn, flip" , that's what I meant. I guess, as long as every side and every part of the film has continuous contact with the fluid.…
great video, but, as of 2022 there is such a thing as a 'lab box' which does 90% of step 3, the loading, for you, and the 35 mm (135) module even has a film cutter included, so amateurs don't run the risk of cutting themselves with the scissors; would this be a good alternate way of processing your rolls?, esp. while learning?; and could an update of this video, with ones suggested opinion about these systems be done, even for obscure stock like Slide film, or other types of film, as this just covers a basic B&W film.
does the ~1500ml rinse water need to be disposed of as hazardous waste or does it go down the drain? the video mentions the water will contain chemical residue.
Just started shooting film again 10 years. I found a great Canon AE-1 Program and was going to get the HP5 but was told it cost more to develop and that the XP2 was better so that's whats in my camera now. I was about 17 shots in when I noticed the aperture blades was stuck and needed to be cleaned.. so I did that and so far so good. So I do want to ask about the XP2 film and it's pushing capabilities and does it have it.. or is 400 ISO its limit.
If you are using the larger 600ml tank which fits both rolls in together then yes you need to double your volume. Otherwise develop one after the other and compensate for thereduction in developer activity. More detailed information is available on the technical data sheets attached to each product such as this one for DD-X www.ilfordphoto.com/amfile/file/download/file/1950/product/545/
@@Ilfordphoto Back in the day we used a product called photo flow and it really helped to eliminate water drops drying on the film. Have no idea if it is still avaialble
We'd love to hear if this video helped you to try processing your own black and white film. You can also share your results with us on Instagram or Twitter where we are @ilfordphoto. As well as some of the other great videos in this playlist. ('Making a basic contact sheet' and 'Making your first black and white print' to name just a couple). We also have a beginners guide to film photography th-cam.com/play/PLarwq93oldzTPKIn4-RMP6w9_khSkuD-I.html as well as some more inspirational content in our ILFORD inspires playlist.
Can you reuse the chemicals - developer & stop bath - that you poured out of the developing tank into the cylinder?
@@archiesacay1901 The Ilfotec DD-X devleoper should be used as a one shot developer for the highest image quality,. It can be used more than once if timings are adjusted. If you have a look at the technical data sheet on ilfordphoto.com then all of the information is there www.ilfordphoto.com/amfile/file/download/file/581/product/545/
I have been using this video to develop my 35mm HP5+, my question is I am getting an old 120 folder camera ... is DD-X still a good developer for B/W 120? How will the process be different for 120 film.
What are the advantages of DD-X over ID-11?
@@Only_Fools_and_Audits The main advantage is convenience.Some people prefer a liquid to mixing powders.
After getting into shooting film recently, I took the leap and bought all the developing equipment. I followed these instructions to the letter and was delighted when I opened up the tank to see 36 well-developed exposures - seriously chuffed! Thanks so much for a brilliant, clear, concise how-to video! Not only that, but you've created something that's modern and slick, and really enjoyable to watch!
That's fantastic to hear Niall. Hopefully you've done it a few times since too. Please share some of your images with us on our social channels, we'd love to see them. (We're @ilfordphoto on Twitter and Instagram)
@@Ilfordphoto profesional, admirable, fancy, exquisite vídeo, thank you
@@bryanotero123 Thanks Brian. Not sure about fancy though!
@@Ilfordphoto if the person wore a pair of white gloves and put the stuff more delicately and did all the process on a dinner table with a fireplace in the background then yeah xD.
Niall McCauley; Thanks mate. You jolted me to recall my first roll of film, bloody magic moment of truth when i examined the wet film dripping into the bath. Did you make a contact sheet?
My favorite part, absolutely, is the little double-tab he gives the tank when he puts it down after agitating, with no explanation. He may not even realize he's doing it. Only the cool kids know, it's to dislodge any air bubbles that the film may have picked up during agitation.
It's also a nod to the processing demons, Order and Chaos, who inhabits every creative space. The repeated tap keeps the spirits at bay. True fact!
I didn't notice this until you pointed it out Mark!
I wanna be a cool kid too!
You've never asked them their gender, but already labelled them as "he". Why are you so toxic ?
It’s been 25 years since I last developed my own film. I’m taking the plunge back into film and this is a great refresher course...I can smell the chemicals through the screen!
We love hearing this - enjoy getting back into black and white film developing, and please, if you are on social media, share some images with us. We are @ilfordphoto on IG/Twitter and Facebook
Could do all of this with my eyes closed 20 years ago. Now, found a few rolls of film from the past and need to remember the steps ) Thanks for a nice video!
Muscle memory definitely helps, it becomes second nature after a while:)
@@Ilfordphoto thank you and your team for the video, whole process doesn't seem that scary as it was before. and thanks that we still have these beautiful rolls of film from Ilford.
After more than 20 years of digital, which has been a fascinating journey, its a relief to see a resurgence in film. This is real photography. If we lose it, we lose the soul of what photography is. Patience. Time. Creativity.
Blah blah blah. Unless you drive a horse drawn carriage I won't believe you. "Real photography"nothing is real in photography. Just say you prefer film and that's it.
I used this kit and video today to develop my first ever roll of 35mm film and I couldn't be happier with the results!
That's fantastic to hear! Please share you results with us on IG @ilfordphoto
I remember doing this with my father in the late sixties and early seventies. I don't think anything has changed in developing and printing film, except the materials. It's a lot of fun. You take more pride in what you've done.
You should have another go at it! There's lots of information on www.ilfordphoto.com and it's easy to ghet hold of film. I bet you even have a film camera lurking somewhere :)
Don't forget, if you run out of STOP you can use regular white vinegar. Of course it needs to be diluted with water to the proper strength.
Yess, we did it back in school days. Decades ago. Omg. Now I am going to start my own developement, at least in Germany I get the feeling, it gets harder to find someone, that does a good job in it. Esp.: as I like to do bw-slides, Ilford, do you have vids on this theme, or should I look for Adox? Andreas
Thanks a lot. I’ve developed 6 rolls with ilfosol 3 and HP5. It is absolutely amazing and very easy. Can’t recommend enough for anyone starting out!
Great video, I'm in my 60s and haven't processed film since the early '80s. What a great refresher. Thanks!
i have developed 15+ rolls of 36mm b+w films using this video as a guide. I started using the ilford simplicity kit but I have now switched the developer over to rodinal because of longer storage life. I still use ilford fixer and stop bath. Thanks for putting this video up. Your simplicity kit really made the process very simple!
Glad to hear it Thomas. The Simplicity kit is a great way to get started / learn.
Thank you so much for this. My first roll is now hanging in the shower drying! It was so exciting. I thought all was lost as I messed up the last part of loading the spool, but I only spoiled 8 out of 36 exposures :)
Well done on your first roll!
This video is such zen. I've developed tons of rolls at this point but I keep watching these bc how relaxed I get lol
Great to hear that we're helping you meditate Dylan!
I have been doing Wet-Plate photography in Silver Nitrate on glass. I've been looking to move forward in time from the 1850's to film photography. Thank you for the clear and concise information.
Great video. Clear, easy, no bollocks.
Love this and so helpful. As I have made the transition back to film, this is the next stage. Looking forward to making my own prints and processing. Thank you for creating this series.
Brilliant. We're hearing more and more often how people are enjoying coming back to shooting film or are now shooting it alongside digital. It's fantastic to hear how many are also trying their hand at developing it themselves too. Please let us know how you get on.
I loved doing this in my photography class at school 30 years ago and now about the plunge again.
That was absolutely fabulous, the clear instructions and the music!
Thanks you. Have you processed your fist black and white film yet?
Got my scans back after developing my B&W at home, thanks to the inspirational Ilford videos they turned out great, the home prints are beautiful.
That's amazing. Well done for taking the plunge. Next stop darkroom printing:)
ILFORD Photo an enlarger setup is very expensive.
@@jeg569 You can find some cheaper or even free enlargers around. Or there may be a community darkroom near you? Keep checking here as we are starting to populate it with community darkrooms www.ilfordphoto.com/storelocator
@@Ilfordphoto I enjoyed dark room printing way more than developing. The hardest part in the whole process for me was extracting the film from the 35mm cassette and properly loading it into the spiral in the dark!
@@parthasur6018 There is definitely a knack in loading the spiral! I love darkroom printing too. Hours can go past without me realising it. We've been enjoying seeing lots of new darkrooms pop up over the last couple of years, maybe there's one near you?
Thanks to your video and your chemicals, on Saturday I developed my first roll of B&W film, they all came out great, can’t wait to get the scans back. Ilford inspiration 📷🎞🧪👍
That's amazing to hear - well done. Hopefully it's the first of many:)
Thank you! This is the refresher I need after finding undeveloped rolls in my closet (it's been 10 years since i've done this process).
Glad you found it helpful Christine. Good luck with developing your first black and white films in 10 years!
Thank you so much for making this video. It is extremely helpful. I have developed two rolls of hp5 in my kitchen following these instructions. Both have came out great. The way you lay out the steps in such a simple and straightforward way without any unnecessary dialog makes this video very easy to follow. I pause and play back certain parts of this video while I'm developing my film to make sure I'm doing it right. I also used this video when ordering my supplies. The way that you show exactly what is needed is really helpful.
That's fantastic to hear Bret. This is what we were hoping when we made these videos. Have you tried any of our other black and white films yet or are you sticking with HP5 for now?
@@Ilfordphoto So far I have been sticking with HP5. I actually bought 52 rolls of HP5 with the goal of shooting one roll per week. HP5 seems like it will meet my needs really well. It seems like a really flexible film. I shot my first roll at ISO 400 and my second at ISO 1600. Both came out great. I think I might also want to pick up a couple rolls of Panf ISO 50. It looks like it might be good for landscapes when I'm on a tripod and also portraits with studio strobes.
@@BretMiller Cool. Yes, HP5 pushes and pulls really well. I've shot it at 200 and 1600. PANF is beautiful for bright sunny work in the studio or outside and the FP4 is pretty nice too if you want little more speed
Really well made, clear and helpful video. Worked a treat for me! Many thanks!
I HAVE MY EXAM TOMORROW AND THIS IS HELPING ME LOADS! THANK YOU SO MUCH xx
0:52 Neat reverse film trick of presenting the chemicals.
Excellent video. Thanks. I have been developing for over a year now, and it is good to see my technique is broadly similar. 4 main differences though. 1. I use a changing tent. Just 1 less thing to worry about. 2. I've always pulled the film totally out of the cassette, just seems less fiddly to load onto the reel. 3. I've always started the clock after I've poured the chemicals into the tank, and stopped it and at the right time (not 15 seconds earlier) and then poured it out. That means they are in chemicals much longer, though I've not noticed any problems with the negs. 4. I live in a hard water area and use distilled water for the rinse.
this video still helps after years os having to refer back to it. thank you!
such an amazing tutorial. Really easy to follow. Great job ILFORD
It´s been 20 year since i did this last time, but now i take more b&w photos and want to develop in my home. Nice to refresh the tecnic
Ive probably developed 100k rolls of film at this point both for myself and others. Its muscle memory at this point, and I still have my Kindermann tank and Hewes reels and I think these Ilford videos have inspired me enough to use up that 2.3km of bulk Pan F I have left...
Great video, thanks! Just developed a roll with this running alongside! Worked perfectly! 😃
ILFORD you guys rock. This is what film looks like today. It's the real deal. Cheers.
Thanks Bill. Do you shoot much film yourself?
I try to as much as I can for my personal work. The darkroom is the best place to get away from it all...
I am about to develop my first roll of film next week and have found this video extremely useful, concise and orientative. Thank you!
Let us know how you go on and if it's our film, we'd love to see some shots on our IG or Twitter stream @ilfordphoto
What was the results 10 months later?
The method advised to me in the 70s was to avoid losing the leader as this simplifies film transfer to reel in the dark. It can usually be felt leaving the take up spool on manual rewind cameras so leader still exposed. If then cut off leader it only needs an inch or so to load past the ratchet in the Paterson spool which can be done in daylight. Then move to changing bag with scissors and allow ratchet to readily pull film out of the unopened cassette. Then just snip end. Have never lost the first exposure doing it this way.
That works if you can control the rewind:)
You could understand my surprise seeing ILFORD name on youtube...it's been 30 years !!!! Great memories working with this product line.
Worked like a charm. Super easy.
Great to hear. Thanks for watching. Hopefully you'll carry on developing your own black and white film now:)
항상 응원합니다. 새해 복 많이 받으시길!
also, a list of equipment/ chemistry at the bottom of the video would be helpful.
Did you not see that in the video??
@@Jay-jb2vr YES, but it moved too quick.
@@Jay-jb2vr yes, But I also have Autism, and hence the white writing on a white background is harder for me to see (contrast and glare{from the video lighting}), also watching the writing AND the live action simultaneously is difficult, as this takes a lot of attention and a lot of information at once can overwhelm our brains, too much choice at what to look at, let alone concentrate ones limited attention on and it is even harder, the more complex the task we are learning, or the more detailed the information, steps, body Language of the demonstrator,etc. (we do things line by line, looking, understanding, then looking again- as if we think too much we have a meltdown , like a computer, it can't do too much, if it tries, it 're-boots'), also in my childhood I had seizures (due to heat, and sometimes flashing lights),so the oscilating timer in the left corner is distracting in this regard too.
What a really satisfying video! It’s like an ASMR !
Really? You're the first person to say that. Glad you enjoyed it though!
Such a reasonable wash technique I feel like everyone else calls for 20+ minutes of continuous flow - lol where am I going to find that much distilled H2O at 20C??
Anyways, love this video so much it has been my starting point for developing so many different rolls of film. Thank you Ilford!
Great video but missing some important info for absolute beginners - no mention of changing bags which most people are going to want to use as finding a light-tight room is almost impossible. Popping off the end of the film canister really is not necessary as it is far simpler to get a film leader finder and just pull it out plus you can do this in the light and preload your spirals. Also it would be great to see the results of the development eg some actual scans or prints of the photos that we watched getting developed.
Thanks for your feedback. Changing bags are always an option, although not as simple to use for an absolute beginner. It is fairly easy to black out a small room with card and tape, (there is a video on out stream showing how to do this), but we understand that not everybody has this space available. Using a film retriever instead of removing the cap is another way of doing it, which works perfectly well. We do have another video coming shortly on making your first print which shows the next steps.
Fantastic thanks - that all sounds great. I think mentioning the change bag along with the blacking out a room would be ideal as most people I would say would go for a simple bag rather than having to black out an entire room with card and tape. I'm guessing it depends alot on where you live too and styles of houses (in the north of Australia where I live rooms are big and lots of light) - a changing works everywhere....although a bit of a pain to use. Anyway it's fantastic to see these tutorials online from Ilford and hopefully get more and more people to try the process - thanks! Can't wait to see the prints too.
Most people have a bathroom they can easily convert to a darkroom by blacking out any windows (usually small) and making a simple light trap for any vents. It's much easier to work in a larger space than one of those changing bags.
I do have a totally light sealed room, which I use for darkroom printing. However, I much prefer loading my film in a bag, whether it’s muscle memory or something else I find the bad much easier. But I take the spool out of the canister to load it as I find it much easier to guide the film that way. Many of these things are personal preference, the important point is that it should be loaded in total darkness and the film is not touched.
bebox7 light tight rooms are easy nearly 12 hrs a day! (night)
The music is way too dope.
ain't it though lol!
It’s great fits the vibe of a darkroom perfectly.
It makes film look hi-tech. :)
Sound like Mirror Edge soundtrack !
That's why keyboards have a mute button.
Brings back high school memories..... damn I want to get into this again, digital has spoiled me!
You should do it!
Digital has made a lot of sloppy photographers.
That’s exactly why I’ve just bought an old Pentax MX and some film ...
@@ikonographics Great choice of a camera. I still have mine from 40 years ago. I use it with Ilford HP5 Plus.
Love the tutorial. I just one question, how do you get rid of the solutions when it's time to throw it away?
It depends where you live. We always advise contacting your local council as different areas have different rules.
I used to develop and print my own stuff in both colour and monochrome right up until the 90's. Sometimes I would spend a whole evening just to get one print I was satisfied with. I am so glad I don't have to do all that stuff any more.
This process use to gave another value to your photos. Good memories and
great moments with friends procesing Film.
Thanks for the video.
Loving these tutorials!! Damn cool!
Thanks Prem. What else other videos would you like to see?
a "what happened here" video series would be great. All of us happen to encouter some things we can't say where the error could have come from. e.g sprocket hole blacking out after aggressive agitation or unfixed negative spots.
Great idea - I'll pass it on
Little trick : when you pour out the chemicals out of the tank, keep your finger over the edge to keep the cover in place. I've had the cover fall out a couple of times before fixing ... i know, i know
Seems so easy ahah I remember doing this in high school
I like ilfords chemicals they work consistently even on Kodak black and white films. I use them for my HP5 and my Tmax film stocks. Love your products.
Very helpful for this returning film shooter.
Has Ilford ever considered commissioning a simple to use, high quality and not-too-expensive film scanner w/ software? Probably, Ilford would rather sell darkroom supplies only for wet prints, but these days, it seems like the hybrid approach to film photography is gaining popularity. (Shoot on film, develop the film oneself, scan to computer and maybe print later.)
Thanks for this informative video! I have 2 questions: How do you get the right temperature for your chemicals? I learned there are heating devices for colour film development but how do you cool them down? I have an apartment on the top floor and it gets easily up to 30°C in summer time. Sure I can do a water bath to cool down the chemicals but as soon as I pour them into the development tank they will heat up. And the other question: When you are re-using your chemicals - how do you know when your chemicals are exhausted and have to be replaced? Especially when you don't have a high throughput of film rolls per week/month.
Cheers,
Chris
We dod publish times for processing at higher temperatures and these as well as info on how long the chemistry lasts can all be found on the relevant technical data sheets on www.ilfordphoto.com/technical-downloads/technical-data-sheets/
@@Ilfordphoto or add some ice
@@Ilfordphoto does your website keep crashing , constantly having problems with it .
looking back at this makes me miss doing photography. i really want to get back in it bc i miss the process of actually developing the pictures yourself
THIS IS BRILLIANT! Just invested in some film cameras and im super excited to start developing my film again.. been 20 years since i did it in college! Tho the process with that tank seems a lot easier now! Cant wait to get stuck in! thanks again.. the process is the same for 120 film too i assume?
Hi Gareth. It's so good to hear that you are going to go back to processing your own black and white film. The process is exactly the same for 120, with a couple of small changes (obvioulsy you don't ned to remove the flm form the cassette and you would need a larger developing tank and a higher voilume of chemistry). Good luck and please let us know how you go on.
ILFORD Photo brilliant. Thanks guys will do 😊❤️
I've just bought the B/W film development starter kit, and developed my first roll of HP5... beside the awful quality of the Paterson plastic moulds (the Squeegee that I had to buy separately almost seemed split in half and almost all the Becher had really sharp or chipped edges, only the tank is decently refined) it was a very very fun thing to do! The only problem now is that the labs near me ask for more than I pad the roll and the chemicals to scan the film 😂but it's still an extremely fun thing to do! Too bad the "Simplicity" pack is way too expensive to be worth it, so I have to pile up a few rolls and then buy bigger bottles of chemicals so they don't expire...
I've been taking pictures on film for ten years. My favorite Ilford films are classic HP5+, PAN 100, PAN 50, less often Delta. I've never used film squeegee for fear of scratching. The problem is not the device itself, but the way it is stored and maintained. Too much risk for me. I always poured a softening solution over the hanging film at the end and there was no question of any stains or scratches on the film.
The film squeegee has definitely proved to be controversial! We knew that this one was brand new and so there wasn't a risk of scratching, but have heard a lot of people say that they prefer to use their fingers.
Use distilled water with the final rinse with the wetting agent. No spots.
I'm definitely in the 'no squeegee' or 'fingers' camp when it comes to film processing. I learnt to process film in high school and the method I was taught was to leave the film to dry naturally with the final drying aid chemical, that being Kodaks' Photo Flo on the film whilst it dries. Once the film had dried, we used the Anti-static cloth on the film before we slipped it into negative preservers.
want a simpler way? measure the temperature of standing water in your house, it's 21C in my house consistently (the basement might slightly colder), I let my water rest the night before development and never use a thermometer, I do all my times for 21C all the time, never check for temps anymore. Do not bother with stop bath, use water instead, same good. The only two things that need to be timed are developer and fixer, everything else just do it by feel. The stop water bath by feel, the final rinse by feel. Never use the vinyl squeege, use a sponge squeege instead and ALWAYS wet the squeege with the same soupy mix you used for final rinse before scrubbing the film. It will prevent any marks on the film once dried.
TCP...........Great but we don't all live in your house.....
Harry Stevens i said " temperature in your house" this might work or not
it's always good to hear other ways of doing this. thanks for the tips.
Explain "do it by feel"
Yep I agree 100% and have been it exactly this way for a long time now. It makes the whole process easier and automatic. Though I do use stop
When I was in school, they taught us how to build a "Home made" Contact Printer, and thus make up our own contact sheet!
Maybe another video is in order!
You volunteering??
One lesson I have learned is never add the ilfotol to the developing tank! This builds up on spirals and makes them jam. I now transfer the film to another container for this step.
so you remove the film from the spiral before introducing whetting agent?
In chemistry it's considered safest to add the chemical to the water, rather than water to the chemical. You're less likely to splash concentrate that way.
The video is aimed at beginners we was felt that showing it this way round was less confusing to make up to a final volume than to measure out the water and chemicals separately.
well, water first is also “bartender’s rule”: mixing cheap first reduces the risk of having to toss expensive mixes if you make a mistake in the process.
personally, I like the agitation /mixing that occurs with adding water 2nd. we are splitting hairs. I like the simplicity shown in the video. Artist are inherently aware and cognizant of details, so much so that some are actually OCD. I understand some of the critical posts. I hope there is some value added for some beginners, rather than confusion.
Thank you for the upload. I love the simplicity. Haven't thought of leaving the film in the canister as the film gets wound onto the reel. I'll have to try that. as long a the soft felt that the film will be rubbing against is clean, no scratches should be happening.
You will notice when pouring out the developer from the tank it will have a purple color, that is normal, it is from the coating on the back of the film washing off in the developer.
Ilford is on TH-cam. I subscribed just by respect
Favorited!
Can the developer, stop bath and fixer be stored in separate bottles after they are used? If so, how can you tell when it is time to dispose?
Great . If you have a look on ilfordphoto.com then all the storage instructions and info is on the individual product pages and in technical downloads.
By the way, are these measures per tank or per roll?
Back in the day all I ever used was Kodak D-76 and water for a stop bath and Ilford fixer. Squeegy the film with my fingers when it would come out of the wash after development. Hang it up to dry. My problem is sourcing an affordable supply of B&W developer.
music is matches with the video I watch all the video was great and go good knowledge. Thank you
Nice intro video. I see even Ilford Photo recognizes the value of a Kodak Process Thermometer, Type 3 -- but I don't recommend using it to mix chemicals.
Very cool, back in the day I professionally processed and printed black/white, color negative and E6 transparency film in formats from 35mm, 120/220, 4x5 & 8x10. brings back memories and now I have to resist wanting to shoot some film! I always preferred Stainless Steel reels as we could dry them quicker to get more film loaded.
One thing to mension is that if you have a leader retriever tool and are careful to leave like 1cm of film stickning out when you cut the film off you can reuse the cassette if you ever decide to start bulk loading film. There are a few other ways to do this if you don't have a retriever.
If you have a manual camera with a little crank to rewind the film you can be careful and listen, stop rewinding when you hear the film slip off the takeup spool. (Warning do not open the camera in direct sunlight after this since the leader will still be stickning out, if you are in sunlight open it with your shadow over the camera. Then put the film in the little plastic canister it came in to protect it from light.)
Also you can take an old piece of film and wet the end turn the knob on the film cassette until it clicks, insert the film wet side down, slowly turn a bit more to make sure it gets pulled in and yank it out, usually the leader will come with it. (Beware that you need to wait for the film and cassette to dry before developing (unless you use a steel reel.) I have also heard that there may be some problems with light tightnes if the felt gets wet so experiment at your own risk if you want to bulk roll after doing this.)
I've seen people retrieve with a piece of film before but have never managed it myself
After working for 25 years as a college photographic lecturer at various colleges and seeing many different forms of practice to develop black & white film. May I advise on the best method I have so far encounted?
If you develop film at 1:1 in D76 or other developer, can I suggest the following method of preparation?
Assuming you’re using tap water as part of your developing solution and not distilled or
deionized water, this method is fairly easy.
To make a 1:1 developing solution for one 35mm film, you will need 150ml of water
mixed with 150ml of developer = 300ml (I know it says 290ml on the tank, but 300ml
and its division by ½ to 150ml is easier to remember). This mixture of developer and
water should ideally be at a temperature of 68F/20C.
Pour 150ml of developer into a measuring jug and measure its temperature. If it is
under or over 68F/20C, make a separate jug of water to compensate for the difference. Example if the developer temperature is 18C, make the water to 22C, before adding 150ml of developer. To get the water at the required temperature, put a thermometer in the empty jug and add hot and cold, either from two separate taps or a mixer tap. Don’t worry about the quantity as you can let the excess flow over the edge, just concentrate on getting the temperature you require, in this case 22c.Then pour out the excess to leave 150ml and add the developer, thus achieving a developer solution at 68f/20c.
And never ever, ever use a squeegee.
Thanks for the comment. We realise that other people have their own methods. Our chemicals are designed to get the best out of our films and this is the method that our technical team advise.
really good video there, nice job
The music sounds like it came from Mirror’s Edge. I love it.
Thanks hopefully you enjoyed the video too;)
ILFORD Photo Like always :)
Excellent video and nice background music! Recently started to use film photography again after close to 16 years. But now that studios that develop are quite rare to find, I've to do the developing process myself. It's quite interesting and fun as I learned through. Have only shot color and used only the C-41 till now. Recently tried BW films too. Watched this video to get an idea of the process and what chemicals to order. I've one question. Is the function of Ilford Universal Wash aid same as the wetting agent?
Great to hear that you're having another go at flim photography after a break. There is a differnce between the Washaid and wetting agent. Wetting agent is used for film to reduce drying marks, where as Washaid is a hypo eliminator so speeds up the washing process of primarily Fibre based papers but can also be used with film to reduce wash times.
@@Ilfordphoto this video did seem to offer a very minimal wash time. over time, I wonder what condition the negatives will remain in... (in terms of deterioration)
@@Garacha222 We developed this wash method to use the minimal amount of water whilst ensuring that all residual chemicals were removed to ensure the longevity of the images. www.ilfordphoto.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Reducing-Wash-Water.pdf
Make sure for when you pour in each chemical into the container, you rinse out the remaining chemical that could be inside. This can effect the way your film turns out
Great Video
I use a film leader retriever instead of break open the cartridge to get the header, also can do it by inserting a short length of film into the cartridge, this is the traditional way to do it inside a light tight bag.
Which chemicals are reusable and how long can you use them?
I know it's best to use fresh chemicals for each roll of film, but i'd be good to know.
The amounts of chemicals depend on the size of the developing tank and number of rolls right?
If i use a bigger tank to process 3 films at the same time, let's say, all amounts would be triple, right?
Great overview!
This video is so dope!
Thanks Andrew - Do you process your own film?
ILFORD Photo I just take my film to a local camera shop. But I’ve been wanting to start to develop my own B&W
Wonderful. Thank you.
Any tips on reducing film curl while the film dries?
I have been processing film since the 90's however I always seem to have it curl which didnt matter so much when using an enlarger but does make a difference when using a scanner as the film fails to lay flat it its holder.
Which film are you using? Ours are generally less curly than some other brands. Adding humidity whilst drying will help. So biol a kettle or turn on the shower:)
@@Ilfordphoto I tend to stick to HP5 however the film's I processed during the first lockdown had been exposed several decades ago. I think it probably is the humidity.
Great video, is it necessary to pre-wash the film? and how do you assess the quality of the negative i.e. when its too light or too dark?
Hi Luke. Although we know that many people choose to pre wash their film we advise against it as we have found that it can lead to uneven development. As for the negative. It's quite subjective as to what makes a good negative as much of it is down to personal taste and style. However as a general rule a negative should show good contrast with well defined highlights and shadow detail.
@@Ilfordphoto Could that be why I've sometimes seen striping in the centre of the film where the film slightly curves? These are not droplet marks, just stripes that go from frame to frame and more on one end of the film than the other. These look also different from airport X-ray damage.
@@pioni2 Hi Toni we'd need to see the film to be sure. If you have any issue you can always use the contact form on www.ilfordphoto.com to get in touch with our tech team and they will be able to help.
@@Ilfordphoto The last time this happened I was developing Delta 400. I'll find a good scanned example frame and contact you. Thanks!
@@pioni2 I would suggest that maybe you did not have enough agitation over the development time and of fixing.
Excellent!
Thank you. Let us know if you have a go yourself
Muy bueno !! Muchas gracias me ayudo mucho !!!
Very informative video. Wouldn't it be preferable to mix your chemicals after loading the film around the spiral rather than beforehand? When mixing chemicals at the start of the process (as shown in this video) there could be a chance that the temperature of the chemicals may have shifted during the time it took to load the film fully into the spiral. Then again, I'm certainly no expert. It's been over 20 years since Ive done film developing.
We always mix them before hand but our temperatures don't fluctuate hugely. If you are somewhere very cold, or hot, we'd recommend keeping the mixed chemical containers in a 'bath' of warm or cold water to keep the temperature consistent.
this is good. do you have any videos on how to push +1 +2 +3 with your chemicals? thanks
Its usually a case of incresing the temperature or the times. The film/developer will have a chart showing the development times for a speed at a certain solution temperature. If you want to push ISO 400 film to 800 then simply develop as if it were an 800 ISO film. You can also shoot the film at ISO 800 and develop as ISO 400.
So when you put the developer into the water and mix it, is that the only time it must remain 68deg. F? Or does it have to stay at 68deg F until you pour it in and have it remain at that temp?
Hi Adrian, Your chemistry should remain as close to this temperature as possible throughout the development.
@@Ilfordphoto Any tips on how to accomplish that? Should I run the sink and fill it up to the correct tempurature? or should I quickly pour in the developer as soon as I mix it?
We used a water bath to keep chemicals & dev tank at 20 degrees, also pre-warmed tank & film with 20 degree water. This vid & other tube ones do not show this. Can it safely be omitted? Obviously 20 degree liquid will drop a few degrees when first poured into dev tank and then loose heat over time.
I did developing & printing at school & teacher was most fussy about keeping chemicals at 20 degrees for the entire process. Continued into my late teens & now want to have another go at developing film.
Is there an easy substitute for the wetting agent? Posting liquids is expensive to buying powdered chemicals.
Do you know what Ilford film turns green when developing? I cannot remember which one it was or why it was green.
Thanks :o)
We recommend keeping the chemisty at 20 degrees whenever you can. We often find that this isn't far off the temperature that we get form the taps, but this often differs depending on where you are. A water bath or bain marie is perfect for helping maintain the correct temperature.
As for wetting agent, have you seen the Simplicity sachets? They only contain 25ml so are much easier to ship. I'm not sure about green film. Some have a slight purple hue due to the sensitising layer, but with sufficient washing this is normally not visible.
@@Ilfordphoto Thanks for the reply :o) I last developed film over 30 years ago and was taught to use a water bath, however, watching all these tubers, they mix the chemicals using warm water to 20 degrees & that is that. No pre-warming of the film & tank & no water bath to maintain the temperature. Pouring 20 degree developer straight into the tank is going to drop a degree or so immediately?
As for green film, I cannot remember much about it, but know the negatives were green when processed & they were meant to be. Sure it would have been Ilford as that is all I used, from Mr Cad in Croydon, Long since gone, I loved that warehouse in Windmill Road.
@@wibbley1 Pretty sure Mr Cad still trade, just from Pimlico now:)
You make squeegeeing film look so effortless. Maybe it's just C-41 process film that's like this, but the squeegees simply won't glide down the film, even if they're soaked in the final rinse agent.
This was a brand new squeegee which always helps, but i've never had any problems. We know that it's a controversial piece of kit and many people prefer to use their fingers, but as log as it's kept clean then we like it!
@@Ilfordphoto Got any brand recommendations? My AP squeegees just aren't cutting it.
awesome upload!
Hello, what I don't understand is that during the first part of the development it says "add developer agitate for 10 continuous seconds and repeat the process every minute for the duration of the development" how long would that be? 8 minutes? How do i figure out how long it should be? thnx
Hi Giulia. That will depend on which film and developer you are using. Details of how long our ILFORD black and white films take to develop can be found on the film developing chart www.ilfordphoto.com/amfile/file/download/file/1953/product/1650/
@@Ilfordphoto thank you, also one more question, can only the fixer be reused for more developments and if so for how many times?
@@giuliabondi3179 Hi Guilia. You can reuse the stop and the fixer. ( You can also reuse the developer i the same session, but you have to allow for this by increasing development time and expect a small loss in quality). the best place to see all the information on storing and using our chemicals is on the technical data sheets which are attached to each of our product pages on ilfordphoto.com
Excellent video. I'm ready to embark on my first attempt and had a thought that threw me off. I see the film emulsion is facing outward. Is it that way with all film and are there cameras that wind the film the other way...so that you're having to wind the film against the curve so to speak?
I hope that made sense. Regardless, thank you for the simple, clear instructions.
Can you dispose of the chemicals by throwing them down the drain? Or do you have to bring them to the local recycling center?
Oh noes! Not muh silver! Seriously though, it's mostly harmless, just be aware that it can interact with your metal pipes and leave a silver lining on them as the silver comes out of solution. In my company we have a discolored drain hole from the silver tarnishing on the drain hole.@denny11lane
When loading the film into the spiral does it have to complete darkness or can a safe light be used?
Complete darkness, so either a changing bag or blacked out room. The only exception to this is if you are using our Ortho film which can be processed under a red safelight
@@Ilfordphoto night vision goggles ? lol
Technically if you used a film that is insensitive to ir and used a ir light that might work. But you would need to make sure the light comming out the back doesn't escape
So, the quarter turns are not necessary when rocking the container to distribute the liquids?
We recommend agitation as it lead to a more even development of the film
@@Ilfordphoto A lot of other sources say "quarter turn, flip, quarter turn, flip" , that's what I meant. I guess, as long as every side and every part of the film has continuous contact with the fluid.…
great video, but, as of 2022 there is such a thing as a 'lab box' which does 90% of step 3, the loading, for you, and the 35 mm (135) module even has a film cutter included, so amateurs don't run the risk of cutting themselves with the scissors; would this be a good alternate way of processing your rolls?, esp. while learning?; and could an update of this video, with ones suggested opinion about these systems be done, even for obscure stock like Slide film, or other types of film, as this just covers a basic B&W film.
This is interesting and not as complicated as I thought
Are you going to have a go? There is plenty of additional helpful information on our website too. www.ilfordphoto.com/beginners-guide-processing-film/
does the ~1500ml rinse water need to be disposed of as hazardous waste or does it go down the drain? the video mentions the water will contain chemical residue.
The rinse water is fine to go down the drain as the levels are so minute
@@Ilfordphoto thank you!
Just started shooting film again 10 years. I found a great Canon AE-1 Program and was going to get the HP5 but was told it cost more to develop and that the XP2 was better so that's whats in my camera now. I was about 17 shots in when I noticed the aperture blades was stuck and needed to be cleaned.. so I did that and so far so good. So I do want to ask about the XP2 film and it's pushing capabilities and does it have it.. or is 400 ISO its limit.
I am developing two rolls of 35mm. Do I need to double the volume? and can the Developer and stop bath be saved for future use? Thanks
If you are using the larger 600ml tank which fits both rolls in together then yes you need to double your volume. Otherwise develop one after the other and compensate for thereduction in developer activity. More detailed information is available on the technical data sheets attached to each product such as this one for DD-X www.ilfordphoto.com/amfile/file/download/file/1950/product/545/
QUESTION: Is it required that I use a wetting agent? Will my results be better, worse, or same?
Hi Maurcell. You can skip using the wetting agent and many do. We prefer to use it reduces the risk of drying marks on your film
i appreciate it! *heart emoji*
@@Ilfordphoto Back in the day we used a product called photo flow and it really helped to eliminate water drops drying on the film. Have no idea if it is still avaialble
Just add a drop of dish washing liquid in the last rince bath.