It’s easy to develop negatives from your film camera. Unlike digital camera older film cameras produce images that many photographic artists find very pleasing.
One reason is film still has a greater dynamic range (the ability to record the varying shades of grey from pure white to absolute black) than most digital cameras. Setting your exposure on your camera to capture the most dynamic range possible takes us into the world of Ansel Adams a photographer we will talk more about later.
Besides there is something very pleasing about developing your own images at home and then scanning them into your computer and using your standard photo editing software to create an image and publish it online or send it to a printer to make your piece of artwork you can hang on your wall.
To start you’ll need some basic equipment. For 35mm or 120mm film you’ll need a light-tight developing tank. Plastic ones with plastic loading coils are easier to load but metal tanks with metal coils (which take time to learn to load correctly) are more classic.
Then you’ll need developing fluid, a stopping agent and a fixer.
To load the film on the reels and put them in the light-tight tank you’ll need either a perfectly dark room (often in the basement with a towel or blanket blocking stray light coming in from under the door or a light-tight change bag. Once the film is safely in the tank you can turn on the lights and do your developing in a bathroom or kitchen sink.
Times and temperatures are important so you’ll need a thermometer and a stopwatch (found on most smartphones) and the manufacturer’s instructions for their developer, stop and fix.
After you’ve developed and fixed your film you need to wash it for about 10 to 20 minutes and then hang it up somewhere dust-free until dry. Once dry you then scan the images into your computer. Popular scanners including the Plustek 8200i or the newer 8300 and the Epson V600.
I put all my negatives into clear sleeves for storage.
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