what are the specific steps in the process of developing black and white negatives in a dark room? please be specific and detailed!

-- Lalaine Mina (ZuKes@mailcity.com), February 17, 1999

Answers

Hi Lalaine. I will try to be as detailled as possible without writing 10 pages or so. However if you wanna learn much about it I would recommend a photo book or at least an article in a photo magazine. The very first step is to get all equipment needed to process your film. You will need a developing tank (single or multi reel depending on how many films you wish to develope at the same time) graduated measuring vessels, according to the volumes of solutions you will need and the dilutions of your chemicals. Practically, it's good to have separate measures for the developer and the fixer. Two 100ml cylinders and two 2l measures should be OK. You will need also clips, photo ( or any other good lab) thermometer, funnel bottle opener, timer and negative storage sleeves and of course chemicals. Look around, some stores offer starter kits at very attractive prices. Once you're home, find an ABSOLUTELY dark place, I mean no any light should squeeze trough the door etc. Stay there for a few minutes to allow your eyes to get used to the darkness. Next thing to do is to prepare your chemistry. Here comes the question about the choice of your film developer. If you look at this forum you will discover that it's a tricky one. However for first time trial I suggest you use a liquid concentrate developer such as Kodak T-Max or Ilford Ilfosol-S. They are easy to mix and give good results wit wide range of films. Follow the instructions to dilute the developer and bring the temerature to 20+/- 0.2-0.5 C For the same reason as above use a liquid concentrate fixer such as Ilford Hypam. Try to avoid any transfer of solution between the two and mark them clearly. Once this is done, go to your darkroom and take the tank and the film with you. Turn the lights off, use the bottle opener to open the cassete and cut the film leader off, then load the film into your reel. It's inpossible I think to teach somebdy to do it without showing, so get a piece of old film and practice first with lights on and then in darkness. In the next step, you put the loaded reel into the tank and close the lid. Now you can turn the lights on. Pour the developer into the tank as fast as you can and start the timer.Put the liquid tight cap on and tap the tank against the table to get rid of the air bubbles stuck on your film. Agitate for the first 30 s. by turning the tank upside down and back and then according to the instructions of the developer.After every agitation cycle tap the tank as before. About 15 sec. before your dev. time is up pour the developer out of the tank and quickly fill it with water at the same temperature as your developer,i.e. 20 C. Agitate for about 30 sec and discard. Pour in your fixer and agitate as before. If you use a rapid fixer, the process is complete an 3-5 min. Pour the fixer back and rinse on running water at 20+/-2C for 15-20 min agitating from time to time. Stop the water and pour into the full tank a few drops of wetting agent (Ilford Ilfotol for example) Agitate for 30 sec. and discard. Unmount your reel and carefuly hang the film to dry in a dust free place. All this are just general directions. When you progress with your work, you will find some small tricks that works best for you. If you have any specific questions, send me an e-mail and i 'll be happy to hear about the results. I remember being very exited when I process my first film about 15-16 years ago. Good luck. Evgeni.

-- Evgeni Poptoshev (evgeni.poptoshev@surfchem.kth.se), February 18, 1999.