A Complete & Easy Guide to Develop B&W Film at Home (how I started)

In this video, I'm sharing a complete step-by-step guide for developing your black-and-white film at home. This is the exact method and tools that I started out with years ago, and it made me realise how easy the process is.

We'll develop a roll of Ilford FP4 in 120, and I'll show you all the necessary accessories you'll need, how to choose a developer and how the chemicals work, how to easily get your chemicals to temperature, a handy app that will make your life easier, and the entire developing process using a Paterson tank, including how to dry your film and dispose of the chemicals afterwards.

I hope this encourages you to try out home development!

00:00: Intro
00:45: Necessary Tools
02:05: How Development Works
02:45: Choosing Chemicals (how they differ)
03:45: My Recommendation (chemicals)
05:43: Paterson/Ilford Starter Kit (all-in-one solution)
06:33: Loading Film (overview)
08:04: How To Load 120 Film Onto A Reel
10:10: How To Load 35mm Film Onto A Reel
13:17: Mixing Chemicals (overview)
14:08: Figuring Out Chemical Volume
14:37: Chemical Dilution
15:22: Chemical Temperature
16:05: How To Easily Get Chemicals To Temperature (my process)
17:40: Figuring Out Develop Times (a must-have app)
21:10: The Developing Process (start to finish)
32:24: Chemical Disposal
33:05: Closing Thoughts

"This video is sponsored by Skillshare."

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[jw]

DD-X! The all-time easiest 2-stop push developer! Stand for 45 minutes, 3 inversions, dilution of 1:9. Works for Foma 100, 400, all the Deltas, HP5, Trix, everything I've tried. Shadows on zone 4. It'll hold the highlights too - in fact it won't hurt to do +0, +1, or +2 in the same tank.

Great stuff sir!

[hoggif]

I prefer using leader retriever over can opener and try to not get leader in the canister if possible. You can cut it in light and put the ends on the reels with lights on (I usually do multiple rolls in same time). There is about 4-6" of blank in the end to start with. Anyone unsure of loading can always try with a test roll a couple times to get hang of it.
Developing b&w is so easy probably everyone gets decent results from the first time.

[frstesiste]

I haven't developed myself in a lot of years but used to do 35mm. I prefer to leave a bit of film out of the cassette as mentioned in the video. It's just easier to get the film on to the spool when it's not dark. Usually you can feel when the film is almost into the spool and some cameras with auto rewind let you choose it as an option.
One more thing you should have when developing yourself - a dust free room for drying the film (the bathroom mentioned is often a good candidate).

[johnmcnie]

Another blessing from Lord McDougall 🙌

[dan.allen.digital]

Instead of running the shower you can also get a small garment steamer and turn it on. It will use a lot less water than running the shower for 5 or 10 minutes.

[tudorevans]

I really do miss the smell of fixer in the morning. Good vid 👍

[jeffreystulin]

That is the same process I use. Your explanation and demonstration is terrific. I practiced loading one roll of "sacrificed" film on the spools many times before I tried it with good film to be actually developed.

[tbostrowski]

Looks easy, but..loading film especially 120 can be a pain, the film can curl inwards making contact with the reel grooves difficult or impossible, therefore I keep the end of film which has paper glued onto it, on and start with that end. That provides a spine of sorts and ensures that there is enough width to make contact with the reel. Works for me. Also I keep spare reels on hand because for whatever reason, the film simply refuses to load on a particular reel and I simple swap out reels. Ive used the same bottle opener for decades to crack open 35mm cassettes and one thing you did omit in this excellent tutorial is a list of appropriate curse words when it all goes sideways. Trust me it will. 😮

[jonathanhotopf]

I thought I knew pretty much everything about developing black and white and have the massive dev app but didn’t know you could alter the temperature, well worth it for that alone!

[adamclarke]

Bonus tip: I found I have to wear gloves for loading the film. If you get sweaty/clammy hands the moisture is enough to impact how well the film goes onto the reel. Latex gloves fixed this for me.

[mikitapushnou]

Great video, thank you Kyle!
Now we need some guide how to darkroom printing 🙏

[jtamagini]

As someone that shoots 35 and wants to get into 120 as well you skipped the one part I wanted to see assuming we all knew which was prepping the film for loading onto the spool! I’ve never had to deal with removing the backing so I have no clue.

[tompoynton]

Distilled/de-ionized water is an absolute necessity where I live, Bristol water leaves spots all over my negatives if I just use tapwater

[dan.allen.digital]

Be very careful with the thermometer you choose. Some thermometers have mercury which could be very bad if you break it. The Patterson kit thermometer broke on mine after a few uses (my fault) so be very gentle with it. Great video Kyle.

[kurtkgledhill]

Great film thank you very much. Could you make a follow up to this video with the next process, scanning and post processing to the final image please?

[Benjaminjohansson]

Do you only use the chemicals once? I havent developed a ton of film but quite a few rolls when i went to photography school for a year. We had chemicals and developing stuff at school and we used the same chemicals for like 10-15 rolls i think without a problem, kodak d76. No idea if this was the correct thing to do but sure worked fine! Same with stop and fix!

[avaughn]

You can get two rolls of 120 onto a single reel! This skill needs a bit of extra practice but is totally worth it for scaling up and optimising the yield :)

[icecreamforever]

Wow.... that brings back memories! Was a big fan of Rodinal. Used to have a Durst Mod70 with Multi grade head. What do you use to print? or do you just scan?

[ianlainchbury]

Love this... it's so easy to do. I recommend Ilfosol too as it's cheap. I run at 1:14 so one 500ml bottle lasts ages... but watch how you store it. Tank can come from eBay, and rather than graduates... you can use mixing jugs from home stores for dirt cheap. As long as you can measure reasonable accurately. Also, rather than the carplan water... in the UK, look up "spotless water". It's what the window cleaners use and is purified. It's 23p a gallon! Perfect.

[Gs]

Does the same rules apply if using a rotary film processor, as the rotation is constant?