ilovebush&blair
Well-Known Member
anyone got any links for good mail order b&w processing? good quality service prefered but value for money also important. let me know XD
anyone know of any good pro labs that process black and white film by mail order?
- Thread starter ilovebush&blair
- Start date
ilovebush&blair
Well-Known Member
yeah but i have lots that are not
You could do it yourself - you need a changing bag, tank, chemicals, negative hangers and somewhere to hang the film while it dries, but that's it.
The whole lot doesn't take up a lot of space, nor is it difficult to get your head around, nor do you need a dark room.
Prints can be done via a negative scanner -> computer->printer.
The whole lot doesn't take up a lot of space, nor is it difficult to get your head around, nor do you need a dark room.
Prints can be done via a negative scanner -> computer->printer.
ilovebush&blair
Well-Known Member
I know exactly how to do, done it many times as ive studied photography at college and university.
But im on a water meter so i cant do it myself, there is no way i can afford to have water running for hours at a time. i pretty much have everything to do it. but the water is the only problem.
But im on a water meter so i cant do it myself, there is no way i can afford to have water running for hours at a time. i pretty much have everything to do it. but the water is the only problem.
Mrs Magpie
On a bit of break...
Wha? I used to develop B&W film and print from negs in a darkroom with no running water. Just how many films are you talking? I really do not understand.
abe11825
Like to take a cement fix
not sure if they charge extra for b/w, but Snapfish is what I use. Fairly decent in pricing (at least for colour photos). IMO the quality is only as good as the photographer itself. But This service will do a good job at processing your order. Usually get my pix mailed back to me in a fortnight, but they are available online by 8 days after mailing (it's so long because of where I have to send them to... post mail sucks sometimes). The online viewing comes free with your account, and you have the option to share with friends/family. They also provide all the necessary paperwork to send them your rolls; i.e. a self addressed mailer to them, postage paid by them, as well as labels for your rolls (has your name, account email addy, and account number) to put on the roll and your mail in sheet. Mail in sheet includes what exactly you want - size of picture (3x5 etc), glossy / matte, how many rolls you are sending in, and the list goes on. Like I said, I don't know pricing for b+w, because the last time I used that kind was in college when I was processing my own via my photography class.
19sixtysix
Life as viewed from a Gay Gorbals Garret
Ilford do processing and print services
ilovebush&blair
Well-Known Member
After you have finished with the developer and the fix you need to wash the film in the dev tank for at least an hour.
How did you do it? go check your negs and prints, are they all brown now?
ilovebush&blair
Well-Known Member
one of my friends recomended me this place:
http://www.peak-imaging.com/
which i think i might use, took some films to jessops and they take 3 weeks which is way to long.
http://www.peak-imaging.com/
which i think i might use, took some films to jessops and they take 3 weeks which is way to long.
wayward bob
i ate all your bees
since i returned to developing a couple of years back i've just filled and emptied the tank 3 times with different no.s of inversions. google the ilford wash method, it's pretty widely followed.
eta: i've used peak (for colour not b&w) happily recommend them.
cybertect
It's grim up north (London)
I'll second that recommendation. I use them for process only as I scan the results, so I've not tried their printing service apart from some 120 proof sheets which were fine. 35mm and 120 b/w and C41 and E6 colour.
They're reliable and very quick - same day return on film processing, so allow 2 days for 2nd class Freepost to them and 1 day first class return. Not sure if prints add extra time.
Mrs Magpie
On a bit of break...
Just dug out some prints I did in 1986. They're fine.
Mrs Magpie
On a bit of break...
I always used Developer > Stop > Fix. Maybe it was the use of Stop.
Mrs Magpie
On a bit of break...
I haven't looked at my negs, They're in a box in the loft, but anyway I can't remember which I developed myself, and which I didn't. I did all my own prints though.
ilovebush&blair
Well-Known Member
the way i always did it at college and uni always involved wasing them under water.
Mrs Magpie
On a bit of break...
Well I washed 'em, but in a bucket of water, not running water. The darkroom was in a largeish cupboard, as it was the only lightproof space.
Vintage Paw
dead stare and computer glare
I've used them several times, they have a great rep in the amateur photog community.
ViolentPanda
Hardly getting over it.
Most pro camera shops also sell Ilford mailers (about £12) so you can post off your b&w film to their facility in Cheshire.
ViolentPanda
Hardly getting over it.
I develop all my own B&W negs (everything from bog-standard Tri-X and Ilford HP5 to Foma R100, Efke IR and Kodak HIE), don't use running water either, just the old-fashioned "fill with water and invert 5 times, drain then fill, invert 10 times, drain then fill, invert 20 times, then add final rinse with wetting agent". It works a charm and uses all of about 3 litres of water, which has already been heated to the correct temperature along with the developing chemicals in a Nova heat bath.
IMHO anyone who washes the film straight from the tap is asking for trouble, unless you've got very accurate temp control of your water supply. Most modern emulsions are a bit fussy.
ViolentPanda
Hardly getting over it.
You forgot the stop bath.
Not true. It's more convenient to just let the water run through the tank in a constant stream, but the water is barely agitated over the surface of the film: It just flows over it. Inversion is more forceful, which is why you need less time at it.
I've got negs from the 70s and 80s that were washed using the inversion process (a process that Ilford still recommend for home development of their films, btw), that are fine and dandy. The only negs that were home developed that have gone wonky were some that used an old pre-c41 colour process that had about 8 different steps.
ViolentPanda
Hardly getting over it.
Precisely. The method itself is older than Ilford films. It's the same wash method Walter Zapp recommended for washing Minox sub-miniature films, and bear in mind that Zapp didn't invent the Minox as a "spy camera", but as a portable camera for archiving documents onto film. He wouldn't have approved a method that didn't give as much permanence as possible.
ilovebush&blair
Well-Known Member
fair play I wasnt coming across as i knew everything. This is really interesting and thanks everyone for this information. I have dev tanks, thermometers, measuring jugs. all i need is the dev bag ( which can be aquired real cheep on ebay ) and some chemicals.
sounds like i can dev my own films at home. Thanks for the info everyone
I was under the impression that fresh water needed to be washed over the film to get all the chemicals out.
Mrs Magpie
On a bit of break...
Agitate in a bucket of water. Seriously, it worked for the prints I did.
wayward bob
i ate all your bees
i find it easier to load a film under the duvet in the dark, more room for manoevre than bags.
Loading film under a duvet would not be considered 'best practice' in most circumstances; there is the risk of dust. Also the possibility losing the scissors and film top remover, or even the cassette. You wouldn't want to find those items in the middle of the night by being woken up by them.
As for running water washing, this is good if you have the fancy pressure hose that fits the tank, it only needs about half and hour. The other method I have come across is "six changes of water" which of course requires inversion and agitation as mentioned in posts above.
For anyone trying home developing for the first time there are some wrinkles to follow:
Get hold of the biggest changing bag you can, if possible an old cotton one, they don't make your hands sweaty like the modern rubber lined nylon ones
Leave the film in the cassette for at least half an hour after taking it from the camera; it 'remembers' being wound inside out on the camera spool and will fight against being pushed on the spool
It is easier to cut the narrrow end off the film - (in broad daylight) if there is a bit sticking out after re-winding so as you rewind the camera count the turns, one per, exposure and slow right down near the end while listening for the noise of the film coming off the take up spool. (only possible if your camera doesn't self-rewind). Cut between the sprocket holes to avoid snagging
If you are having to cut the end off the film in the black bag, just cut across and then run a finger over the end to see if you have cut through a sprocket hole. You will feel a sharp bit of film (or perhaps two) sticking out that needs to be trimmed off or it will cause a jam in the tight part of the spiral.
The spiral must be bone dry or the film will also jam when partly loaded.
If you are in a serious hurry to get a print from your neg, you can wash it very briefly, then rinse it in methylated spirits so that it dries instantly. You can then scan/print the negative. Afterwards you need to go back and wash the film in the proper manner while your crucial photograph will have already featured on the front pages of the world's press.
As for running water washing, this is good if you have the fancy pressure hose that fits the tank, it only needs about half and hour. The other method I have come across is "six changes of water" which of course requires inversion and agitation as mentioned in posts above.
For anyone trying home developing for the first time there are some wrinkles to follow:
Get hold of the biggest changing bag you can, if possible an old cotton one, they don't make your hands sweaty like the modern rubber lined nylon ones
Leave the film in the cassette for at least half an hour after taking it from the camera; it 'remembers' being wound inside out on the camera spool and will fight against being pushed on the spool
It is easier to cut the narrrow end off the film - (in broad daylight) if there is a bit sticking out after re-winding so as you rewind the camera count the turns, one per, exposure and slow right down near the end while listening for the noise of the film coming off the take up spool. (only possible if your camera doesn't self-rewind). Cut between the sprocket holes to avoid snagging
If you are having to cut the end off the film in the black bag, just cut across and then run a finger over the end to see if you have cut through a sprocket hole. You will feel a sharp bit of film (or perhaps two) sticking out that needs to be trimmed off or it will cause a jam in the tight part of the spiral.
The spiral must be bone dry or the film will also jam when partly loaded.
If you are in a serious hurry to get a print from your neg, you can wash it very briefly, then rinse it in methylated spirits so that it dries instantly. You can then scan/print the negative. Afterwards you need to go back and wash the film in the proper manner while your crucial photograph will have already featured on the front pages of the world's press.
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