How to develop black and white film step by step

[@sgit1]

That was a very enjoyable technical demonstration. I felt like you invited me to your house to show how it's done. And no ego trips.👍

[@Raychristofer]

Awesome thanks so much. I try to make the video as if I was watching it. Feel free to check out my color developing at room temp also

[@tonyb2760]

A lot of great tips. Thanks for sharing

[@Raychristofer]

Hello Tony , thanks man, I just hope I didn't leave anything out lol

[@tonyb2760]

@@Raychristofer I think you covered it well. I use a film retriever for 35mm after it has been wound all the way in and then actually start it on the spool before I put it in the bag. I think I will get one of those premium spools from Arista because that will help on my 120 rolls. Thank you

[@buggeroff9]

Very informative. Please can you now do a video on how you print your pictures.

[@Raychristofer]

Hello thanks so much. I go to the adorama website and upload my pics there and they do the printing and shipping.

[@tonyb2614]

Another great video. You sir, are a natural teacher.

[@Raychristofer]

Hello thanks Tony, I wouldn't last five minutes in a high school classroom though 😫😊

[@WRPugsley]

Indispensable video! I've dipped into home developing film recently and I wish I had had this video to start with. Great tips, good advice. Lost a few rolls to sloppy work. Best film channel on KZbin.

[@Raychristofer]

Hahaha, Hey thanks Bill really appreciate that.. Willem Verbeek and the negative feedback dudes are sending ninjas after you for that lol. yes I tried to put this video together meticulously to see if I can get it to eventually rank on Google and while there are many good film developing videos out there I know everyone has their own viewpoint and way of demonstrating it. Glad it was helpful ☺️

[@theoldcameraguy]

Super thorough and easy to understand! Sometimes I use that Incredible Hulk method to rip my cartridges open haha. Those big tabs on the Arista reels make things so much easier!

[@Raychristofer]

Hey thanks OC, good to see you here I don't think I knew you developed your own film also. Yes this video took a few days to shoot because I kept finding more nuances to include, I just kept putting back on the same shirt for continuity lol. There's so many other videos on developing I wasn't sure if it was worth making this till I realized we have our own unique viewpoints.

[@b6983832]

Looks like the Spanish made AP reels. Are they sold as Arista in the US? This company mostly rebrands products made by third parties. For instance, their film is made by Foma in the Czech Republic. For the tank, the "Old Paterson", now being made by different companies, is the best plastic tank available. It is the same model you have. The "new" (since late 1980´s) Paterson is notorious for the lid leaking, and coming off. Impossible to use with color film, where you must keep your tank in water bath in order to maintain the proper temperature. I´ve ruined too many films and batches of chemistry because of this since the early 1990´s, when I begun to develop color film. Do not buy these tanks! AP tank, or good steel tanks are also OK, but this old version of Paterson has been my choice for a long time.

[@WOLFTICKVIDEOS]

Wow another great video man. Thank you for this, I really enjoyed it.

[@Raychristofer]

Hello thanks for checking this out. I only hope its not too long to keep folks attention but I tried to cover every step. glad it helped.

[@danielawrobinson]

Perfect! However you buy one bottle or Developer and One bottle of Stop but never have to replace them, don’t pour it away or down the sink, pour it back into the bottle. Washing the film with water between each step so you’re not mixing dev and stop together. Learnt this during my degree in photography and works! Saves money, trust a struggling student on a budget haha.

[@Raychristofer]

Hello Daniel yes sir you're right . Unfortunately rodinal is one shot and has to be poured out but stop and fix last very long. Learning the hard way gets it into our thick skills better too lol

[@jakobolszewski6034]

Hi Ray, you can thread the 135 film into the developing spool out of changing bag as a first step. That saves even more time. Of course that works only with 135 film but not with 120 for obvious reasons.

[@Raychristofer]

Hello Jacob how are you? Thanks man, since I upload in this video several others have mentioned that tip also, makes it even quicker.

[@mudgie069]

Glad to see you showed you start 35mm onto a reel before putting it into a dark bag if the film isn't rewound fully into a canister. I just pull the film from the canister once it's loaded onto the reel so you don't really need a pair of scissors to cut the film from the canister. Nice video as always.

[@Raychristofer]

Hey thanks for checking this out my man, it's good to see I have viewers who know the process. one thing I realized I forgot to shoot was the part about how I make my own stop bath with water and a cap full of vinegar. When you shoot a technical video like this it's easy to leave stuff out but I put that in the description.

[@Raychristofer]

Hey I just realized what you said I actually don't put the film on the real before putting it in the dark bag because sometimes I'll try to squeeze an extra frame or two in at the beginning of the roll by shutting the door before winding on. sometimes I can get 39 shots.

[@mudgie069]

@@Raychristofer Just remember you get around 6-8" of film which has been exposed by loading the film into the camera. Normally I can put the film onto the reel (ballbearing) in around 3-4" so I've never had a problem putting the film onto a reel before putting it into the dark bag.

[@Raychristofer]

@@mudgie069 you know now that I think of it yeah it doesn't take much length to get past the bearings. That's a good point I wish I had thought about. Sometimes I would stop editing the video and wait till the next day to see if my mind came up with other ideas to include.

[@henningk6838]

One can feel your passion. Great and detailed explanation. I found some inspirations to adjust my process.

[@burstongreye7090]

Awesome job ray,stayed til the end...learned a lot..i'm looking forward to developing some b&w.

[@Raychristofer]

Thanks bro, dang you must been in the Marines to hang here till the end, hurah! lol glad it helped

[@johncarrell]

Great video Ray. I learned a lot from your video. Thanks for taking the time to make it.

[@Raychristofer]

Hello John thanks for taking the time to watch it, its the longest video Ive ever shot and edited but I know it will help new ones do great out the gate.

[@ianbutler1983]

Ray, Excellent video. I have processed hundreds of rolls of film. I practiced for a few hours and learned the knack of loading stainless reels. The only advantage I found was they can be loaded while damp. The slightest moisture on the plastic reels seems to jam the film up. It really was only a problem while processing multiple rooms. That trick of opening up the film canister with my hands only is a new one to me. I'll give it a try, but do my arms have to look like yours to pull it off?.....lol. This is a great video for anyone new to film processing. It incorporates most of the tricks I learned over the years, and I few I did not learn until today. Thanks and take care, Ian

[@Raychristofer]

Hello thanks so much Ian, every so often I try to make make a benchmark video to challenge myself to not be lazy with shooting and editing. youre right the wet reels is a problem because sometimes I have to develop another roll and I need to use a hair dryer on the plastic reel. no you dont need popeye arms and surprisingly the edges arent sharp enough to cut you easilly. your name looks familiar have we spoken before?

[@NeitherYouNorIAreRight]

Still killing it Ray. Keep up the great work! Love this video.😊

[@Raychristofer]

Hey thanks much, glad it was helpful. I need to find a way to promote this harder but I'm not a social media guru yet.

[@evtimstefanov8377]

Great video man! Explanation, image, sound...everething! Thank you so much!

[@christosmilonas7986]

Many thank's for a great instructional video and beautiful pictures! Could You please show us how You scan Your pictures? God bless You!

[@Raychristofer]

Hahaha hello thank you. Sure I think it's a good idea for me to do a follow up video on scanning.

[@m00dawg]

Love it Ray! I've been developing my own film for quite a while but I always like seeing how other film photographers do it. Plus I find your videos very thorough, friendly, and fun! Your video on Cyanotypes was sooooooo helpful by the way! I had never tried Cynaotypes until that point and wow it sure is fun!

[@Raychristofer]

Hey man thanks, you tried cyano because of my video?!? That's killer you're the first to mention that. Super fun and doesn't break the bank. I'd like to see your results also

[@Andy_XT]

Thank you, Ray. Really well explained. Even too much: you make it look so easy!

[@bluegrassengineer]

I was just getting ready to develop a 120 roll of HP5 when I saw you had a new video. I decided I would rather watch you. That Arista reel looks great. I use a Paterson reel, and you are right about how hard it is to load medium format on that reel. I might just get the Arista tank to make my life easier. You hit all the right points here. Keep 'em coming.

[@Raychristofer]

I love you man thanks bro. This is one of those technical videos to produce that have to be as accurate as possible so as not to start a war in the comments lol. Check freestyle photo they have that Arista premium reel and tank. Let me know how your hp5 goes!

[@Resgerr]

You don’t have to get the Arista tank you can just buy the reel as Paterson tanks take them.

[@Resgerr]

I recently found out when you buy a tank it comes with a white plastic clip and that is to hold the reel on the black spool holder so it doesn’t move so you don’t have to put another reel in

[@Raychristofer]

@@Resgerr hello how are you? that's probably a good brand that you purchased with the clip because mine didn't come with it and I don't I think they warned me about that in the instructions. As you can see I learned a lot of nuances by making mistakes, but I think it makes me be more successful now that I understand the mechanics in detail.

[@Resgerr]

Raychristofer I am fine thank you- I’ve been looking on line and I can’t find the clip and yet I have one!😱Funnily enough that’s the only one and I have 4 tanks, a single 35, 2x the 35/120 tanks and a 3x 35mm tank.🥴

[@TeKnoVKNG23]

Great guide here my man! Always love seeing/learning how to do something that involves another medium. I just found a cherry D700 on KEH and made a small jump to full frame. Only have a cheap Sigma 28-300 that I picked up there as well, but I figured I'd start small with an all-in one just to learn before I go for better FX glass. For some reason notifications weren't working and I missed your last 2 vids. Glad to hear your calming voice again. Keep up the good work man!

[@Raychristofer]

Hey bro you got full frame! thats awesome man im wanting to do that also especially with all the vintage lenses I run. yes plz keep me informed. full frame nikon are outstanding.

[@TeKnoVKNG23]

@@Raychristofer So far so good. Only been able to take it out a couple of times with the crazy weather in GA, but so far I notice that even with the smaller 12mp sensor the image quality and colors seem to be so much better and the images have a bit sharper look to them. I like it because it's very simple, no video, no real perks, just go out and shoot with it. Kind of glad I got it because I was going through a down period where I wasn't really interested in going out and taking pictures. I had my D7100 and a whole bunch of lenses but it just made it confusing every time, do I take the 18-105? Do I use the 70-300? The 80-400? and it just made it a hassle having to carry all the stuff around. Gear Acquisition Syndrome had me down, lol. So I basically kept my D3400 since it was practically new, kept my 18-105, my 70-300, and my two vintage Nikkor lenses, the 28mm and the 1.8 50mm, and sold all my other stuff, then used that to get the D700 and the 28-300 Sigma lens. For an $80 lens it's been really solid, just a little fuzzy at the 300mm end. Probably going to try to find a decent wide angle lens and then eventually I want to get the Sigma 150-600 for birds/wildlife, but that's going to take a bit to save for.

[@Raychristofer]

@@TeKnoVKNG23 Killer man, some of my favorite photos were taken on a 12mpg GH1 ,, I have several shots from it hanging on my wall on metal prints and I see no deficiency. you might get best results with a couple primes like a 35mm to keep it small and versatile.

[@TeKnoVKNG23]

@@Raychristofer I mostly do birding and wildlife. Live out in the country and our neighborhood is built around some wetlands with a walking path that goes right by them. Seen a bald eagle, some nesting hawks and plenty of birds, even a beaver family, plus do a lot of hiking, which is why I kind of want to get the big telephoto at some point. Problem with FX lenses is they are so damn expensive so I'll prob just stick with my 28-300 for a bit.

[@turdboman]

Hey Ray, nice production. I of course don't rewind all the way into the can , I trim and start it on the reel b4 I put it in the dark bag . I found the reel with the platforms after a while also . I like the idea of removing with a syringe the water in the amount of the dev that will replace it !!

[@Raychristofer]

Hey thanks Mike how are you? I don't think I knew you develop your own film I don't remember if we talked about that. That's awesome man I'm glad I have subscribers that know the ropes. I'm sure there's tricks and tips that others use that I didn't think of also

[@turdboman]

@@Raychristofer Do you start you 35mm on the reel before you put it in the bag ?

[@turdboman]

@@Raychristofer I think you mentioned color film being more tricky, if you find a way to control the temp I find it easier, I use a sous vide cooker . www.flickr.com/photos/36583800@N02/43301473864/in/dateposted/

[@Raychristofer]

@@turdboman hey I interviewed a photographer on the channel and he mentioned the sous vide also. Another issue I have is when scanning the colors come out inconsistent and I spend much time color correcting so I have alot to learn so I tend to prefer BW

[@Raychristofer]

@@turdboman hello know I always do it in the dark bag because 35 mm is easy for me to load, another commenter earlier mentioned that they put it on before putting it in the bag tho, that's something I never considered before but that is good for beginners to know if they're having trouble

[@maximilianlittlechilds5866]

great video, mate. I appreciate the effort and dedication you put into your videos.

[@Raychristofer]

Hey thanks so much Max, just because of that I dedicate this video to you LOL. I've been working on this video for months and some of the developing footage I probably shot right before Corona hit. Good looking out.

[@maximilianlittlechilds5866]

​@@Raychristofer haha thanks, I'm honoured! I've been shooting film for years but have always been scared of ruining good photos by developing the film myself. It must take some serious dexterity to do all that work inside the dark bag whilst blind. Practise makes perfect though I guess! Take care x

[@Raychristofer]

@@maximilianlittlechilds5866 I shot this video using a very old expired color roll that was probably left in a hot attic so those are the things you used to practice with. Can for the medium format you can cut strips of plastic to practice. It's not bad as it looks. My problem is many days I don't have the time or the motivation and the part I don't enjoy is scanning and tweaking each frame one at a time. That's where it's good to have a lab accessible if you fall out of love with the process LOL

[@bender06160]

Thank you!

[@Raychristofer]

Hello thank you, glad it was helpful

[@ManuelGuzmanPhotography]

There's some tips here I never even heard from other places. Watching you getting your film out of that canister without a can opener was a trip.

[@Raychristofer]

Hey thanks for checking this out I think this was the longest video I ever put together, I started shooting it from before Corona and it took me this long to shoot the talking head parts and attack the edit. I'm sure you know exactly where I'm coming from. lately I noticed I love getting out with the camera and shooting but when it comes time to develop and scan sometimes it's just tedious and I don't have the enthusiasm so I always wind up with rolls of film waiting for me to develop.

[@joanmichel]

Got excited to see a new video from Aloy! :) I want to see your daughter to do this with you !

[@Raychristofer]

Hello Joan thank you. Dang you're right, whenever I put daughters in a vid they get mad love. Good looking out 👍

[@CARLA19822]

Thank you for all the tips, wonderful!

[@Raychristofer]

Awesome thank you Carla, finally a lady checking my video. It's been too much testosterone lol

[@alecbeltran2408]

great video man! looking to try this out with my HP5 roll

[@Raychristofer]

Thanks man, let me know how it goes.

[@proudtobeautistic]

There's nothing like developing your own film at home, for me it's a lot of fun.

[@endingmirage]

In Paterson developing tanks there's a funnel, that prevents reel from sliding. But reels themselves don't have that ledges that make loading film easier. Oh well. Also, you don't need to rinse film before stop bath, makes little sense, stop bath is not something you need to be worry about in my opinion. It's just acid, it won't get bad. After stop bath, yes, there is a point in rinsing, so that fixer doesn't get too acidic. But that's also not critical, since you better to worry about fixer's shelf life (which is about 3 month maximum). You probably won't kill fixer by skipping rinsing after stop bath, but generally, yes, it it better to rinse. And rinsing afrer fixer for 3 minutes? That's way to quick, 15 minutes minimum requred, that chemical won't go away in 3 minutes, event though you won't see clouding. Rinse properly, it is important!

[@Raychristofer]

Hey thanks man it looks like you got some experience developing also. Good have subscribers that understand the process. The instructions on my fixer recommend 3 minutes so I'm going by their specifications but that's also why I mentioned rinsing longer.

[@randallstewart175]

That funnel inside the latest version of the Paterson tank traps so much air in the tank that if you use inversion agitation, it works more like a cocktail shaker than a processing tank - real crap. Get an AP instead. Stop bath will "weaken" as it is reused with developers, but the idea is that when it does, you throw it out. Almost all commercial stop baths add a dye which changes the solution from yellow to dark blue when it is exhausted.You do not need to wash between stop bath and fixer, as the active (acid) ingredient in stop bath is also a major ingredient in all acid fixers. Washing for 3 minutes??? Right, that's just this side of worthless with B&W. Using a quality film washer, at least 10 minutes is minimum, and more is better up to 20 minutes. And, most folks put their open tanks with reel inside under a tap and let it pour - that's practically no wash at all, since the water is not circulating over the film , just running out of the tank top.

[@randallstewart175]

Note re tank reels: The Arista reel he likes is an AP. AP tanks.reels are sold by Freestyle under their "Arista" house brand. Similarly, B&H sells AP under their house label.

[@randallstewart1224]

True. Now all you need to do is buy the AP/Arista/B&H tank to go with them and go "Paterson Free". That should be a goal for any serious darkroom worker. (That's the tank he uses in the video.)

[@aldenjames5611]

Would love to see a coffee developer vid!

[@Raychristofer]

Hello thanks. I would live to see that too because I have only heard of it but the images I see look perfect. I have alot of questions myself.

[@randallstewart175]

Why? There are so many failed videos about caffenal out there already. It's one of those YT fads which has, thankfully, passed its time.

[@lancmac]

Dang.. you could be an ambassador for vintage film..... Lomography, Kodak, Fuji or any other company could use you to develop the resurrection of shooting film. Maybe set up a after hours class for photo stores.. Or maybe you could start a vintage photography society and give talks at highschool and colleges... Or be a guest speaker at local photo clubs promoting film photography....

[@Raychristofer]

Hahaha hello Lanc, man I appreciate that and it's funny you said that because I went on a cruise a few years ago and one morning they had a photography workshop and bless the guy's heart but he spent so much time rambling that he lost focus attention and it wasn't really a fun class. That would be cool and some of the college libraries near me invite musicians and artists to do workshops so maybe I could look into that, thanks for the confidence man. I've actually been priming to do this video for over six months so I was ready to hit the ground running when I press the record

[@ornino54]

Nice tutorial, my question is can I use same method to development film C-41 Black and White. thank you very much.

[@Raychristofer]

Hello thank you, c-41 developer will only work with color film but interestingly you can use black and white chemicals to develop color Film but it will turn out black and white.

[@OutpostH]

I had a dark cupboard under the stairs where I used to load up the Paterson tank may years ago :-) Now you have started this, are you going to cover C41? Keep up the good work.

[@Raychristofer]

Hey thanks man. You just gave me PTSD I remember a horror movie called people under the stairs lol. For some reason my color developments aren't perfect and sometimes I have problems getting accurate white balanc when scanning. For that reason I may hold off on color tutorial but I may do a scanning video in the future.😊

[@OutpostH]

Raychristofer Yeah. I would be interested to see what scanner you use. I have box of negatives in the loft which I’ve been meaning to digitise. But not sure which scanner would be the best choice.

[@Raychristofer]

@@OutpostH yes sir I'm using the Epson v600, it cost me 180. But lately I see them online going for 500+ it's crazy. Look for the Epson 550 also

[@MelanieKing]

Great video!

[@Raychristofer]

Thanks Melanie, go forth and develop your skills and bless the hearts of the labs.

[@eight24am]

FYI: It's called Quasi-lateral agitation. A good tip to share. Lots of good tips to share in such a short video. But for the love of God don't squeegee wet film with your fingers.

[@Raychristofer]

Lol I hear you man but I actually don't trust using a real squeegee because I feel I may scratch the emulsion if there's a grain of dust on it and my wet skin is pretty soft. one thing I forgot to mention is when I first started learning is even if the film looks dry you may touch it and it feels tacky because the film based absorbs moisture and in the beginning I put it in the scanner wondering why it was sticking to the glass LOL

[@WRPugsley]

I use surgical gloves to develop, to avoid fingerprints. Is it okay to squeegee with gloved fingers?

[@eight24am]

@@WRPugsley You were wearing those same gloves when handling all of the chemicals. So you have to really make sure there's no residue on them. I use some very fine pore cellulose sponges made for wiping film. I soak them in the Photo-Flo and squeeze them out. I squeegee the film with those.

[@Raychristofer]

@@WRPugsley Hello now that you mention it I use a sensitive cyanotype paper and I find I have to use gloves to prevent smearing. I think the fingerprint got on it when I was trimming it with the scissors to put in the scanner but yes gloves would prevent that now that you mention it. Il

[@justinkingery2489]

@@Raychristofer If you use a cleaner, like Photo-Flo, you don't need to squeegee at all. That's what it's for. The liquid dries with ZERO residue on the film. Cheers!

[@Mjaumjaso]

Nice video!

[@randallstewart1224]

The developing techniques demonstrated here are meant well, but they reflect a large body of misinformation which has rattled around on YT for years. Some are just unnecessary, but one error promoted here is critical to the survival of your negatives. 1. Pre-wash film before development. Completely unnecessary unless need to warm (or cool) the film and tank - rarely required. Why do people on YT recommend it? There is an anti-halation dye in the emulsion which washes out into the first liquid in which the film is soaked. If that first solution is developer, it often greatly changes the color of the developer. For the many folks who reuse their developer, this scares them, thinking that they have in some way damaged their developer. Total nonsense of course, as that dye is chemically inert and has no effect on developer reuse, but stupid is as stupid does. 2. Fix time of three minutes. Totally inadequate. Time depends on the type of fixer used. The shortest fix time is with "rapid fixer", and it probably 5 minutes minimum with regular film, and more like 8 - 10 minutes with T-grain films like Kodak T-Max. The specifics on in the fixer package. Just follow the directions for Christ’s sake. 3. Interim water wash between each chemical step. The idea of a water wash between each chemical is positive, as it prevents cross-contamination by otherwise carrying some developer into the stop bath, or stop bath into fixer. However, the whole idea of using a stop bath is to immediately stop development, which can be important if you are critical about development time. Inserting a wash before the stop bath merely delays starting the purpose for using it at all and extends excessive development. Stop bath is strong chemically, and developer is weak. You would probably use one liter of stop bath for a year before you could significantly dilute or weaken its operation. Also, stop baths contain a dye which changes color to alert you when it is exhausted. And it's cheap as dirt anyway. As to protecting fixer from stop bath, the one active chemical in stop bath is a major component in almost all fixers, at least all that you are likely to use. So, that is a big "so what". 4. BIG SIN! A 3 minutes final wash to remove fixer from the developed film? Not hardly! First, you cannot look at the film to see if it is fully washed. He notes that he washed more than one minute to remove a dark color from the film, thus three minutes. Son, that's the residue of anti-halation dye. It has nothing to do with removal of the chemical fixer. Kodak has published its consistent specification of a minimum of 20 minutes of flowing water (over the film) to completely wash film. Ilford has shortened this with its minimum wash recommendation of a long sequence of tank "fill and dump" steps to reach a minimum wash. His three minutes recommendation will wash the fixer residue out of the tank, but it won't come close to washing the film free of fixer. So, what does that mean? His negatives are loaded with fixer. (It's not visible.) Over a few years, that fixer will dissolve the silver oxide in the emulsion, which forms the image. So one day he will pull out his negative strips and discover that he is storing blank film or mottled and useless images. Wash time or conservation of wash water is really important to you, there are "hypo elimination" products, which chemically change the fixer into other chemicals which wash out of emulsions (film) much more quickly. These productions are a bit expensive. There are other produces labelled as "washing aids", which are quite inexpensive but less efficient. Either will save water and time.