Developing Your Own Film - Part 2 - Getting the Film Onto the Reel

This is probably the hardest part of the whole process and my best recommendation is to practice a few times with a throw away roll. I currently use plastic reels because I find the stainless steel reels more tedious to use. One positive thing about stainless steel reels is that they last a very long time. The plastic reels are so easy to use that I would rather buy new reels every once in a while than deal with stainless steel ones. Once you have your roll of film and the developing tank then its time to head into the dark. That's right. This whole step must be completed in total darkness. There are a few different ways to do this but this is what I do.

Before I start I lay out all the components used in order from left to right. The reel has a guide on where the film goes through and I place this towards me. The film is next to the reel, then the tank, followed by the light-proof lid. Once I'm in complete darkness I remove the seal around the film and start to roll away the paper backing. Once I find the actual film I carefully place it onto the reel and pull it through for about an inch (past the ball bearings). Once this is done you can slowly start to twist the reel. After every few turns I remove more of the paper backing and continue until I reach the end. The end of the film is taped on to the paper backing. Carefully remove the film and fold the tape over onto the film. Continue twisting the reel until the end has passed through the initial guides. I like to fold the tape onto the film because it later provides more grip for hanging the film to dry.

The key to all of this is the initial placement of the film onto the reel. If you do this correctly then the whole process should take just a few minutes.

Developing Your Own Film - Part 1 - Getting Ready

Sadly the baseball season did not end well this year. The good news is that I can get back to what this blog is about. Me and my trusty camera. I think a natural progression from shooting film is to then develop your own film. You spend a lot of time setting up your shot, making sure the composition is set, and ensuring that the lighting is perfect. So why let somebody else develop it? To me its like getting all the ingredients to bake a cake and then asking the neighbor to actually bake it. If you bake it yourself you can watch the entire process and decide if you need to shave off a few minutes, adjust the temperature, or let it bake a little longer. You can do the same with film. So where do you start?

Step 1. Materials Needed

You will need the following:
Developing tank and reels (I had to make sure my reel would fit 120mm film)
Film developer - I use Ilfosol 3
Film fixer - I use Ilford Rapid Fixer
Thermometer - Must be very accurate. Worth a trip to your photo store. (not pictured)
Beakers - I have two. A 600cc and a 50cc (For measuring smaller units).
Storage containers - I have a 1 gallon container to pour the used fixer in.
A sink - Big enough to pour water into the tank. A bathtub also works great.



Optional Materials (In my humble opinion):
Stop Bath - They sell chemicals to stop the developing process. Water works for me.
Water Bath - Once you are done washing the fixer off you can run it through a hypo-clearing agent that will help the film dry faster and have less water spots. I havent had any problems with using plain water.

Step 2. Find a darkroom.


Step 3. Ignore Step 2 and make your own!

This was my first challenge in developing my own film. I always thought that I would need to convert a room in my house into my own private darkroom. A lot of people turn their bathroom into a darkroom but this was not an option in my house. I soon realized that all I really needed was a light proof solution that would allow me to get the negative onto a reel (which then goes into a lightproof tank). Reading other options online I found that they sell special bags where you can put all your materials in, stick your hands in, and voila! Sounds easy enough but that was still outside of my budget. My solution? Hide under the bed covers. I tested this by sitting up in my bed, throwing the comforter over my head, and checking for light leaks.

Once you have your materials ready, and your comfortable darkroom all set, then its time to transfer the film from your exposed roll to the tank reel. I'll cover this process in my next post.

The Hunt for Red October

Thats right. I'm veering off topic for this month. I love October for a variety of reasons. The first reason is the seasonal change from hot and nasty summer. I get irritable when the temperature rises above 85 degrees. This has always been a problem for me since I live in California. The second reason I like the month of October is because its playoffs time. That brings me to this post.

The Angels have swept through the 2009 Division Series finally taking down Boston. I'm not as big of a baseball fan as most people so I wont turn this into a baseball blog. I'll keep this short and sweet.

For anybody watching, I'll be at game three against NYY. I'm seeing red in New York's future.

Double Exposures!

A double exposure, or mutliple exposures, is when one frame of film is exposed more than once. This technique can be used to add an object into a scene or to create a ghostly image. This is very easy to do on a camera with a manual film advance. Some of you fancy folk have cameras that automatically advance the film. I on the other hand have to remember to advance the film after each shot. Do I remember to do this? Not always. Hence this post. Some of my double exposures have come out great and some are just confusing.

Getting Back to Basics 3

A new month, a new post. I love August. Some of the best people I know where born in August. In our last Back to Basics discussion I talked about getting the right exposure. It is very important to understand how the aperture and shutter speed work in relation to each other. This is what I always had a hard time understanding so I am going to go over it again. If you meter a shot at f/8 and 1/125 you will get the same exposure on film if you shoot it at f/5.6 and 250, f/4 and 1/500, and (going the other way) f/11 and 1/60.

Whenever you adjust the shutter speed or the aperture in one direction you are either cutting the amount of light by half or doubling it. Shutter speed increases (higher numbers)...aperture opens up (lower numbers).

I hope this makes sense. Like I said, I still have a hard time with this. On my camera the dials are on the lens and it helps to remember that if I move one dial one way, then the other dial goes in the opposite direction.

Goodbye Kodachrome?

I realize it has been a while since my last post but thats how things will be around here. My digital life moves about as fast as my Ciro-Flex. My father recently told me about Kodak retiring part of their film industry. This came as no surprise but it is still sad to hear about it. You can read more more by following these links.


Kodak

L.A. Times

Selecting the Right Film

Did I just say film? Yes ladies and gents, you can still buy film. The best camera you can own wont do much if you choose the wrong film. There are three types of film; color negative, color transparency (slide), and black and white negative. Once you decide on what type of film you would like to use then you need to select the appropriate film speed. Film speed is marked in ISO (International Standards Organization) and the value assigned expresses the films sensitivity to light. "Fast" films, such as ISO 800, 1600, or 3200, are perfect for low light situations. ISO 100, or slower, is suitable for shooting with very slow shutter speeds (dont forget the tripod). Your pictures have very little grain and can be enlarged without much loss. On the other hand....faster films will have a more pronounced grain. For general purpose use (daylight without flash) I use ISO 400.

Now which brand to recommend? Maybe I'll cover that in another topic. My best suggestion is to buy a few rolls and try them yourself.