I get a lot of questions on how to properly process film yourself without having to pay exorbitant fees. I used to send my film off to specialty labs, only to receive back complete garbage that cost me $150.

The reason? Simple: Most specialty labs, even the ones that swear they do, don't change their chemicals on a regular basis.

Chemicals are cheap enough that you can afford to process your own film at a cost of about $2-$5 per roll, plus your personal time. And best of all, you won't be able to beat the level of quality that you'll see in your B&W negatives.

Let's step inside and start the process! 

Equipment & Chemicals 

First of all, I'm going to recommend some equipment and chemicals. By no means are these the best pieces of equipment or chemicals, but they have worked very well for me and they are relatively inexpensive.  Be forewarned: You will make some mistakes the first few times around, which is why it's important to not do this with an expensive roll of film or even a roll that is very important to you.

Another thing worth mentioning that is the most commonly asked question is: Don't I need a darkroom to develop my own film? No. Only if you want to print your negatives onto film paper will you need a darkroom, but that is outside the scope of this article. You will, however, need a dark closet, but those aren't very hard  to find or create.

This is where Arista film comes into play. Hop on over to Freestyle Photo and buy a couple of rolls of whichever B&W format you're shooting these days. At the moment, these films are $1.89 for a roll of 120 film. Not too shabby for some experimentation. On top of that, the rumor is that it's just rebranded Ilford or Foma film. I don't know about that, but I do know that it is an awesome film for the money and gives a great decayed look.

Now comes the equipment. I use B&H Photo for all my chemicals and equipment because they actually have some of the best prices and selection. (I get no kickbacks for these recommendations, BTW, so feel free to shop elsewhere).

First, you will need a universal development tank and a film reel. I like Paterson tanks. They last forever and are inexpensive. I use a plastic tank, but some people like metal tanks. Here's one that will develop 35mm, 126, 127, 120, or 220 rolls. Link This tank is light proof and will allow you to develop in the comfort of your kitchen in full light.

Second, you will need a squeegee. This is used to remove any excess liquids from the negatives once you're done with the development process and go to the final drying stage. Link

Third, you will need dryer clips. This consists of two metal clips that have hooks to clip into each end of the negative strip so that you can hang the negatives out to dry and it will keep the roll from curling up. Link

Fourth, you will need 5 chemical containers to hold your mixed chemicals so that they can stay stored if you don't use them all at once. Link

Fifth, you will need the chemicals: Developer, Stop Bath , Fixer, Hypo-Clearing Agent and Photo-Flo. I recommend Kodak D76 developer due to its fine grain, low cost, and the fact that it's almost universally accepted by film manufacturers. Try getting D76 in powder form as you will be able to store it for longer periods of time. As for the stop bath and fixer, I've always used Ilford brand because it's never let me down and once again, it's relatively inexpensive. Hypo-Clearing Agent is necessary to prevent browning of your negatives down the road. Photo-Flo is made by Kodak and is essentially mineral water with detergent in it to reduce water stains and streaks on the negatives.

And finally, but not the least, you will need a plastic graduate to measure out your chemicals. Link

If you want, you can also buy a digital temperature gauge to ensure that your water for the final washing process is 68 degrees Fahrenheit. Link  

How Often Do I Replace My Chemicals?

That's an excellent question. You don't want to mix up a batch of 4 gallons of chemicals and use them all on 1 roll of film. That's wasteful. Rather, it's best practice to use your chemicals within a 3-6 month period. This all depends on how you store your chemicals and what the manufacturer proscribes on their product labels. D76 Developer will last for about 3 months in a light and airtight container before losing potency. An example of chemical replenishment would be to not re-use chemicals on more than 4 rolls, but that's just me being on the safe side. 

The Development Process

So now that we've gotten the money part out of the way, let's do a very quick, unscientific breakdown of the actual film development process. First, you want to make sure that you've got all of your chemicals mixed ahead of time(I'll let you read the labels on each bottle and figure this part out) and lined up in this specific order:

Developer, Stop Bath, Fixer, Wash w/ Water, Photo-Flo

Pre-Step: Go find a dark closet that has no light whatsoever and practice loading your film on to the reel. Don't worry, you won't get it right the first time. Just start practicing with a roll in the light with your eyes closed until you get it right a few times. Then go into the closet and practice again until you get it right. Once you feel comfortable with this process, you're ready to load your film on to the reel and close the lid on the development tank and begin the process.

Step 1: Develop the film. You're basically activating the silver halide crystals that were exposed during the photographic process in the camera. The development time is dependent upon the speed and make of the film as well as the developer. For specific development times, visit DigitalTruth.com's Massive Dev Chart. I recommend that you agitate the developer tank for 10 seconds every 60 seconds of the process by inverting the tank 5 times.

Step 2: Stop the developer for 30-60 seconds. This is where the stop bath comes in.

Step 3: Fix the film and harden the emulsion on the negatives for 2-5 minutes. This is where the, you guessed it, fixer comes in. Agitate the tank for 10 seconds every 60 seconds.

Step 4: Wash the film in water for about 60 seconds and then add your hypo-clearing agent and agitate for 1-2 minutes. This will remove any excess chemicals from the negatives and prevents browning in the future. At this point, your film development tank is ready to be opened and exposed to light and sit under running water at 68 degrees Fahrenheit.

Step 5: Wash the film for 10 minutes and remove all the chemicals. 

Step 6: Use Photo-Flo for 60 seconds to remove water streaks.

Step 7: Squeegee the film.

Step 8: Attach drying clips and hang your film out to dry for at least 1 hour, preferably 2 hours.

Step 9: Scan or print your negatives.

Total Time Per Roll: Approximately 45 minutes. If you buy a larger film development tank, you can process multiple rolls at once, thereby decreasing your time.

Getting Your Negatives Into A Useable Format

So now you have these beautiful negatives, but what do you do to them now? Well, you have 2 options: Scan them or print them. I won't get into the process of printing them because as I said before, that's outside the scope of this article.

As for scanning, I highly, and I mean highly recommend the Epson Perfection V700 scanner. All of the film images on this site came from that specific scanner and I absolutely love it. Now, it's not cheap. It's about $500, but it's well worth it. It will handle anything from 35mm to Medium Format to Large Format 4x5. Link 

The V700 also has the ICE Technology that reduces scratches in case you have some old negatives that are scratched.