Developing Film in Boiling Water

[@atticdarkroom]

Hey everybody, just letting you know that uploads will probably be a little less frequent moving forward. I'm still alive and I'll still be making videos, but it turns out that a lot of the crap I want to try takes a bunch of time to work out. Initially I just tried to half-ass it, but that just ended up with me making awful videos that will never see the light of day. So I decided to try this thing where I actually put a modicum of effort, but that comes at the cost of needing more time between uploads. This all comes at a time where I sort of ran out of easy projects to do and I've been wanting to attempt bigger and more involved projects. Hope ya'll understand and thanks for all your support.

[@jaygoldman4995]

Take your time! I want to see you use new, complex and unique methods to beat the crap out of a roll of film 👍

[@Shrek_Has_Covid19]

develop film but replace the water with apple juice

[@TheLastDacian]

Take your time, the videos are great and worth the wait!

[@abijithbadrinarayan8591]

Dude!! make a separate channel for your half-assed videos! haha i'd love to see those.

[@Shrek_Has_Covid19]

develpo film in cheese

[@dylangergutierrez]

I've read stories about newspaper photographers on deadlines developing film using hot Dektol with aggressive agitation. Allegedly the combo of very hot and very active developer with strong agitation cut development time down to 45 seconds with results good enough for the paper.

[@JURGENALDANA]

how? HOW DAFUK

[@dylangergutierrez]

@@JURGENALDANA it's like some NASCAR pit crew type shenanigans

[@pnwsnewton]

Also, on deadline, or with major breaking news, cut the fix time down to a minimum, grab the film, sponge the excess liquid off, run to the enlarger, make the print(s), and send them off to the press room. Later, when there's time, put the film back in the fixer for a normal amount of time, wash, dry, and store as normal.

[@danko6582]

Yeah, I've used warm DEKTOL. I used to use it on redscaled film. Fast. Pushed. Ugly. But if it was a 4x5 and developing for a small plate on newsprint, it'd be fine. Better than missing a deadline (worthless).

[@dylangergutierrez]

@@danko6582 Why redscaled film? Artistic effect? Was this B&W film shot through the base, or were you doing color film for true "redscale"? Also, I would imagine it was generally 35mm film that would have been used by the press, or at most 2x3 in earlier eras, for ergonomic purposes.

[@speakertomeat]

*sees the metal spool's clip and suddenly suffers from flashbacks and intense thumb pain*

[@PhilTaylorPhotog]

Many years before I became a patient professional photographer (I.e. during year 11), I had the job of school photographer. When shooting all the classes, we needed to scan the negs and get them to the school magazine graphic designer within 30 mins. I would shoot Agfa APX100, Dev in hot rodinal with continuous agitation, wash and fix for a few seconds. I’d get a reasonable result, get the scan done then watch the film fade in front of my eyes 🙂 fun times…

[@KelseySmithPhotography]

The film torturer returns with another video!!

[@username_horse]

this made me lol

[@giulio2797]

'I used rodinal for about 5 seconds'. I never thought I'd hear this. This is amazing

[@LaskyLabs]

I managed to get into a darkroom photography class, and let me tell you folks; he is NOT lying when he says that those steel reels are a headache to learn. It's gotten easier as I've gone on, but I honestly just wish we had plastic reels...

[@magnificentreality100]

the pictures have a 80s era scifi film poster feel. Makes me wanna dig the darkroom stuff out of the garage.

[@MrRom92DAW]

The madman has done it again. I love it. Another +1 for the Hewes reels. I prefer steel (personally can’t stand the plastic tanks/reels from the few times I’ve used them) and I stuck with a set of the frustrating cheap metal reels for years, before I got a nice set of Hewes... hands down one of the best purchases I’ve ever made, total gamechanger.

[@soulbound11]

It would be interesting to see a comparison between room temperature, boiling, and near freezing

[@eskikafa843]

Okay, hear me out. You should develop c-41 film in boiling coffenol and tri-chrome it while bypassing bleach.

[@wildechap]

Bruh

[@davyboyo]

Finally, someone who gets it

[@Photoarchives91]

What will be the results?

[@jaczech_2876]

@@Photoarchives91gonna look like portra

[@JensBogena]

Idk if it's maybe too boring but have you considered going the other direction with ice water? I've developed trix with hc110 at 10 degrees celsius and doubled the development time. got reeaally good negatives from it, much sharper, more details, finer tones. I'd be very curious to see the result from icy water.

[@atticdarkroom]

Yes, I've been wanting to try Coldinal for a while.

[@JensBogena]

@@atticdarkroom then you should go for it! I really don't see any drawbacks (except for longer dev times) with this method as it is very easy on the emulsion. I guess the only actual risk is underdeveloping. Cheers!

[@samuelchan699]

@@JensBogena Late chiming in :) The problem i can see with a long bath is that it the emulsion could soften so that it becomes very easily damaged, or worse, separate from the base. However i imagine that would have to be a very long soak beyond what is needed to develop an image. Not something i have tried nor ever will!

[@JensBogena]

@@samuelchan699 I think it's negligible I guess because the water is cold. 1hr stand dev doesn't hurt the base or emulsion either as far as I know (: however, still only one way to find out ;D

[@filmpjesman1]

You have made film suffer before, but I have never seen film suffer this badly, I love it. Keep doing it ;)

[@faraz2498]

You can switch the lights out, take the reel out the tank, pour in the water, drop the reel back in on a string, take it out after 5s and you should get more even development. You can do this for short dev times generally (ie 3-5mins), without the string since the temps are not dangerous. Thanks for doing the crazy stuff the rest of us only think about

[@Trishlicious]

As long as the plastic of the tank and reels is ABS plastic, boiling water will not melt them. ABS is commonly used for darkroom sinks; I am looking forward to working with mine soon and I probably will have a kettle of hot water, maybe not boiling but the heat should be fine as long as you do not go above 150C degrees. Melt Temperature for ABS plastic is - 210-270°C

[@notyourtipicaltechguy6438]

So remember the 1:1 rodinal video, I believe rodinal has a higher boiling point than water :) although boiling toxic chemicals sounds like a less then ideal thing to do

[@raygoodwin2303]

Outstanding work. This has been recommended to me for ages and I finally took the plunge. You've earned yourself one extra subscriber!!

[@CyclingSteve]

This is the first video of yours I have seen, I was shaking my head in disbelief but weirdly wanted more by the end. I've now been recommended the Sprite Zero video... 👍

[@PrebleStreetRecords]

Ugh, the clip steel reels are the worst for 35mm. At my old darkroom we had only one of the Hewes reels with the sprocket nubs, and people would literally fight over it. I got lucky a few years ago for my own darkroom, though. I was at a thrift store and in the "kitchen stuff" section were five steel tanks, including two double 35/ one 120 and a four 35/ two 120, with six Hewes reels in them (and some 120 ones that sadly have to use the clips). All for $5.

[@atticdarkroom]

Man that's a steal! I never thought about checking the kitchen section for tanks, but I'll definitely take a peek the next time I got thrifting. Thanks!

[@YourBoyRob]

dude what a great video, seriously. this is what youtube needs more of. professional quality, content for something that youre just trying doing and actually did well in personally. I dont have any suggestions, for what to try next but I do remember my grandfather had a dark room with many stories for developing film. You'll have these stories one day!

[@mintyfreshpavement]

This is only the second video of yours that I have watched, second to 50 year old Rodinal. I have already subscribed. Keep it up!

[@grejuli97]

hahahaha i love this! this is what developing is all about! i wanted to do experiments like these for a long time but i just recently started developing, so i want to learn all the basics first.

[@jamesdecross1035]

Love the effect with the tricolour images.

[@Volthan]

I'm in love with that grain/ reticulation!

[@GrandTreasureBay]

The time and effort these take.... Thank you for your dedication. These videos are 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@veronicamorgan1915]

😲 this is great! It reminded me of my first job working in a dark room of a newspaper.

[@fretlessfender]

If you want good results and still short times, try Ilford Ilfotec HC Rapid. @26C it will develop a FP4 I 45 seconds. If you raise the temp ot will be quicker...

[@Jerry10939]

I started with plastic reels but later switched to metal ones. I prefer the metal ones. I’ve used ones with no clip to hold the end of the film. It’s a matter of getting it in the middle and slowly winding it on gentle push and pulling to make sure it’s set then wind it the rest of the way. Making sure not to bend and jam it. You should have a little movement of the film while winding. If there is no movement. The film is jammed, you’ll have problems developing if you leave it that way. Unwind until you get movement again, then continue to wind. I’ve developed thousands of rolls of film in the Army.

[@jkerman5113]

I'm pretty sure the author of the subtitles actually transcribed the music correctly. Well done lol.

[@danbrit9848]

is it odd that i love the pics this experiment created more then well manicured "perfect" shots we see everyday

[@rafaelthetall]

the marks you atributted to the slow pouring was 'jumping' film: two it touches when inserting in the heel. i only use the metal type (the cheap you show) and once you get the practice is as good as the 'easy' plastic. i like them because they are smaller tro travel...

[@apostoliulian3454]

Next up, develop in near freezing water for up to 3 days :)))

[@atticdarkroom]

Coldinal is definitely on my list of things to try, although I never thought about freezing it. Hmmm...

[@vonantero9458]

@@atticdarkroom Maybe make it slightly salty so it can be liquid under the freezing point of water :P

[@BobOgden1]

Maybe isopropyl alcohol would be a good medium

[@alfepalfe]

This may sound crazy but I saw a youtube comment (on Technology connections's video about darkroom printing) that said you could feeze Tri-x in developer overnight for "a nice effect". Never tried it but if anyone would attic darkroom seem like the perfect person.

[@spiderdude2099]

Those data sheets got me so excited. Great stuff

[@georgevp]

Can recall accidentally processing b/w 4×5 in e-6 hand developing. When I turned on the light, the emulation just slid off the b/w film.

[@buyaport]

All film emulsions are based on gelatin, which you get from animal skin and bones, which explains why it does not need to suffer high temperatures. Household gelatin which you can buy in sheets to make tasty deserts, melts at about 50°C, and gets hard again when cooled down. So no wonder you see reticulation when your film is first heated up and then cooled down. Color and slide film is developed at 38°C/39°C, which is a temperature animal tissue (like your skin) is still comfortable with. Tetenal mentions a "rapid development" at a temperature of 45°C in their C-41 data sheet. I wouldn't expect acceptable results at a much higher temperature, although BW film might be a bit more (or less?) resilient than color film.

[@atticdarkroom]

Thats good to know. And I never considered trying this on color. Hmm...

[@vladimirs9214]

I was engaged in making black and white photography during the 70s and 80s. It is not clear to me how the gelatin layer did not melt at such a high temperature, especially since the film was washed in hot water. Unfortunately, I'm a bit skeptical

[@atticdarkroom]

It's always good to be skeptical, especially when it comes to things you see online. It was a surprise to me too. I expected the film to at least warp if not melt. Usually I'd say try it yourself, but the fumes were pretty bad. So you should try it if you're able to do it safely.

[@theoldfilmbloke]

'STEEL REELS YES -- I've DONE THEM too ! When I was a Part-Time Photography Tutor at Barking College East London ENGLAND in the 1980's I had to learn to use them ! If you can at all dunk the film in an OPEN tank IN THE DARK then put the lid on .

[@jennith]

Id be curious to see what results you could get with Illford XP2 in E-6. I did it once and got ehhh results, but it seemed clear there was more potential to the idea

[@atticdarkroom]

I actually tried that! kzbin.info/www/bejne/o3K5dJZ9e950opI

[@konstantingeorgiev6763]

@@atticdarkroom this comment

[@AnthonyHVids]

You are a legend. You deserve so many more subs. Keep it up man

[@arneheeringa96]

I think the reticulation is because temperature is too high.

[@joiscara7191]

My friend bought me one Hewes Reel and Steel Vintage Container for my birthday. I wasn’t familiar with Hewes until that point, and funny thing is, he didn’t know anything about film or what I used. Now, I have 4 of Hewes Reels in 135 and 2 in 120, and I go to town just as fast as Paterson Reels. 😆

[@munroco8146]

which light meter is on the left side of the exposure at 6:03?

[@atticdarkroom]

Sekonic L-558r

[@PhilJonesIII]

Processing the exposed silver at high temperature will produce 'good enough' results. The chemistry of those halides is pretty much written in stone and well controlled across all types of film. Less forgiving is the gelatin support strata that holds all those silver halides in place. Even less for colour because you have multiple layers that likely have different thermal response properties. It simply does not like sudden temperature change. I did think that raising the temperature slowly in that saucepan would have made a difference. Clearly, it didn't but, even though the water was around 100C, it's unlikely the film in the can got that high.

[@davidlewis1787]

Have you thought about doing it in a dark room and not using a tank, just drop the reel into a pan of boiling developer so it’s an instant submersion with no gradient

[@atticdarkroom]

If I had a darkroom I probably would've tried it. But I could see a couple problems: How much solution will I boil away? And how would I compensate for that? Pouring developer into boiling water did not smell good. I can't imagine what it'll be like to actively boil developer. I would need great ventilation and probably won't feel comfortable without a full face respirator. And finally, I don't trust myself with a pot of boiling water in complete darkness. I'm fairly certain I'd hurt myself. But with that said, if I could work those out I wouldn't mind trying it again.

[@davidlewis1787]

@@atticdarkroom oh I just meant bring to boil or just use boiling from kettle, heat off but drop straight in… love your content , you have a great mind

[@darcangelomauro]

"I use Rodinal 1:25 at 100°C for about 5 seconds" just great

[@garyc6183]

Late to the party. Kindermann reels and the 35mm film loader are the best stainless steel way to go. I was lucky enough to find both on eBay years ago. I have the 120 version and film loader as well. On a side note, I used to do stand developing for one hour with Rodinal diluted 1-100. Just for the heck of it, I put it in the refrigerator over night to see what would happen. It worked fine as well. I room temperature stand developed C-41 with good results as well. I quit shooting and developing film many years ago but I kept my Kindermann stuff, just in case I get the bug for film again.

[@jamespowers8826]

Back in the day on deadline, we used to process Tri-X in warm Dektol for 1 minute and print it wet. Grainy, but better than not making the day's print edition.

[@christopherherrick703]

ha! I learned film on steel reels. great vid, I need to look at a new approach.

[@christopherherrick703]

This maybe a strange comparison, but when brewing coffee some say it's best to brew around 200ºf... I wonder if it would make a difference if you did it just below boil, like 190ºf. but I'm just spit balling. this was a great experiment, I may need to try myself!

[@danko6582]

I used to mix my HCA fresh, with hot water to help it dissolve. I followed ALL the instructions, carefully mixing 20C developer, but it never said all parts of the process had to be at similar temperatures. The shock of the hot HCA gave me wicked reticulations!

[@paulsheridan424]

My understanding is that reticulation is (mostly) the result of the shock of very varied temps. If developing hot, consider a series of water baths going up 5 C. each bath until you reach your developer temp?

[@IanJTaylor]

When i was first getting used to using the metal reel I actually didn't use the clip and learned to put it on without it. I thought it was much easier. I did also learn to use the 120 before the 35mm so maybe that could be why. Anyway, it soon comes second nature but for ages ti would have half moon creases in the film.

[@alvaromedinagarcia]

I once developed film without a thermometer for the water, because it was missing and I was in a super hurry. I used water that was just starting to feel hot or warm to the hand, thinking that was 20ºCish. (Later I discovered that it was actually like 40ºC). I set the timer like it would be regular 20ºC. The result: cracks in the film and tiny parts of the emulsion that just dropped off.

[@abijithbadrinarayan8591]

I just realised how underrated data sheets are.

[@paulsheridan424]

Esp. Ilford's....

[@sarataylor6164]

Is the hot water disposable, or does the silver come off the negatives making it a hazardous material?

[@psirvent8]

The hot water had 1+25 Rodinal in it and personally I didn't pour my 1+100 Rodinal solution down the drain despite it being very dilute. Hope that answers your question as far as hazardous materials go.

[@rjhelms]

The names are totally eluding me, but I know that there are (or were) "tropical" developers intended for high temperatures - for environments where it's already much warmer than normal development temperatures, and one is more likely to have access to heating than cooling as a way to get a consistent temp. As I recall "high" in that case is more like 50C than 100C, but it might be a rabbit hole worth diving down.

[@atticdarkroom]

Interesting, I'll have to track that down.

[@blearmoon]

I reminds me of how I once tried to develop filmroll with freshly brewed hot nescafe :D

[@just_eirik]

Some of those first monochrome photos and the first color photos look pretty cool to me!

[@ToniGrinton]

The one with the Sx-70 was awesome!

[@Folly_Inds]

those are some nice sharp photos in the beginning

[@deemdoubleu]

Awesome, did you try milk and sugar?

[@gK-ih2ct]

The color abnormalities are awesome and artistic! Enjoyed your video

[@mikkokovasiipi]

I just found your channel and you do quite interesting stuff here. ☺️ But one thing came to my. I’ve heard somewhere that this reticulation comes from too hot fixer, not developer.

[@atticdarkroom]

I never heard of that, but it's something I never tried. Definitely worth experimenting with. Thanks!

[@MezeiEugen]

Please also make a video about what happens when you piss against the wind.

[@sbcinema]

Very interesting, next you could find out how cold the water can be (an ideal opportunity to experiment / play with liquid nitrogen)

[@matteo7867]

The plastic canister should melt at about 120 to 140 degree centigrade if i am not completely wrong. But still great video!

[@Mgooy]

I really like the trichrome ones on roll #3

[@yusufronco]

Roll #6 has an awesome look!

[@VintageTechFan]

I'm actually really surprised that the emulsion didn't wash right off.

[@danielfulop]

wait, did you develop the BW in C41 as well?

[@ahaco8734]

3:55 this is amazing

[@nickfanzo]

Araki has developed in 122 degrees f - 50c..

[@ChrisKoehn]

3:38 "So whatever I did, it didn't work." Then goes on to show cool trichromes.

[@goldenfurniture123]

it looks cool but idk anything about picture

[@adamblackman6660]

Love the hewes reels! They’re all I use for 35mm

[@mbntr2363]

But have you tried... boiling 1:1 dilution rodinal?

[@bartoszkrol8846]

Love the content, how do you think what would happend if you develop a roll, then shoot it and then fix it?

[@atticdarkroom]

It would probably have some sensitivity, so I'd imagine you'd get an image. It sounds cumbersome and probably wouldn't look good, so sounds like it's right up my alley!

[@bartoszkrol8846]

@@atticdarkroom sooo i've done it and unexposed negative came out

[@max-mr5xf]

When you put salt in the water it boils at even higher temperatures. Not sure what it does to the film though.

[@ianblackburn2645]

I have the same screwdriver kit as you I've never seen anyone else with that kit as it's so weird,

[@pawetarnawski9532]

For a moment, when you were talking about having plastic development tanks, I thought you just put the film in a pot in the darkroom and poured developer into it xdd.

[@alexanderdoerr5570]

Very cool!

[@blenderbachcgi]

So you're the one responsible for the fact that our local Walmart is out of stock on Film and Kodak Funsaver Cameras! 😀

[@cinestack]

I learned on a steel reel. Many many many sacrificed shots over the years haha

[@zsombor_99]

Or how cold can you develop film?? 🤔

[@Jerry10939]

Not sure how cold you can go but it will take forever . Do you want to sit there for 20 minutes or an hour and I’m not sure but it might not develop right. Lowest temperature and time recommend was still around 8 to 10 minutes.

[@tomkent4656]

I once boiled an egg in Hypo!

[@turdledive927]

Nah you won't melt the plastic ones I've done it lol. I dont know what plastic they use for them though.

[@badbenito]

I did this by accident with Tri-X. It was so grainy!

[@johnkaplun9619]

I think the photographer of the original Black Sabbath cover boiled the negatives to get alkinds of weird colors

[@terrylambert8149]

You are just repeating what Kodak did for the war effort. Before the war most film was developed at 68°. Kodak did research to speed up the development of reconnaissance film. They found that an increase in temperature shorten the development time significantly.

[@josephkanowitz6875]

ב''ה, if you're mixing fresh fixer each time, either this is some unnerving new chemistry or you're creating a ton of needless expense and pollution. Either you misspoke and you rushed to pour the stop bath, not fixer, or I don't know what you were thinking. Unless necessary there's no reason to rush the stop step and if air bubbles/fluid dynamics around the film are a concern, give it time even if, if memory serves, no more than a minute was needed. Tint to the negatives means underfixing and you can remove this later with more time in fixer, as would have a ND effect in an enlarger and may complicate scanning unless you wanted the "look" ... but yeah, more time in fixer will take it out even months after developing. Interesting experiment otherwise and reenactment of the engineering of fotomat equipment, press/military photography etc.

[@akimsamar]

берёшь кусочек плёнки и проявляешь на свету. Пока плёнка не потемнеет и засеки время. Это время умножь на 17,5 и подели на 60. Получишь время проявления

[@notdarai]

why

[@paolomesseca8679]

I guess you got very dark negative and with a terrible grain (almost unusable.......or not?)

[@rock-steadi-cam5058]

To be clear, you did NOT develop film with water, but with hot developer chemical. Also, stainless-steel reels are SO MUCH EASIER to use than plastic, but I guess it's an acquired skill.

[@kez963]

Try microwave? just a stupid question xP

[@kyoshiphoto4045]

When I read the title I thought this would be C41... I Was wrong.

[@MarksPhoto]

Dip & dunk... In the dark of course.

[@atticdarkroom]

Oh god, what a terribly wonderful idea.

[@MarksPhoto]

@@atticdarkroom You could do a gradual preheat in a stainless tank, maybe with one of those induction hotplates? For safety (?!) maybe you could use Ilford Ortho 80 under a safelight to keep from scalding yourself. Trichroming with Ortho might not work. Might end up with the New Lomo Purple-ish Cyan.

[@fandyus4125]

6:06 Not to be a smartypants but how about just looking what material the film is made of and looking up the melting point? Edit: It's probably gonna be way above boiling point of water though, so good luck developing your film in steam.

[@atticdarkroom]

Totally fair to ask. I know that PET has a melting point of over 200°C, but it's harder to find info about the emulsion.

[@elizabethjohnson-kueny1655]

My guess is that the gelatin that the silver grains are suspended in is denatured at that high a temperature, that might cause clumping. Kinda like curdling milk.

[@mynewcolour]

This needs a trigger warning. Getting film onto (slightly bent) steel reels lead me to the brink of a breakdown.

[@vlota]

Bit of a clickbait title there. For anyone wondering if he's discovered some amazing hitherto unknown propery of photographic film + boiling water, the title should actually be; 'Developing film in Boiling Developer Solution'

[@nmrmak]

It's one of those rare occasions where a dishonest title is actually less clickbaity than a honest one - imagine "Developing film in boiling Rodinal" 😂

[@goldenfurniture123]

cool

[@caskraker]

Go Dino!