Processing 120 Film

[lance_frost]

<p>I'm new to this forum and new to home processing as well. I am interested in processing my 120 film at home to avoid the long delay. My understanding is that processing B&W is relatively easy. I just ordered a Yankee clipper II and a changing bag. Now, I need to buy chemicals. I am going to attempt to process Kodak 400CN B&W. Does anyone have a recommendation on what chemicals I need to use or any other handy info? I have no experience at all when it comes to darkroom work.</p>

[frank.schifano]

<p>Kodak 400CN is a C-41 process film. It won't do well in standard B&W chemistry. So you have two options. First option, don't use this film. Get some Tri-X, Plus-X, TMax 100, TMax 400 from Kodak. Alternately use HP5+, FP4+, Delta 400, or Delta 100 from Ilford and use standard B&W chemistry. Option 2 is to get a C-41 kit, the same as you'd use for color negative films. Temperature control needs to be more precise, and timings more exact for the C-41 process. </p>

[walter_degroot]

<p>the thing with conventional B&W processing is that unless you fumble putting the folm on the reel or mix up the developer and fixer steps, it will work.</p>

<p>but as has been said here recently: keep a notebook, try to be precise. or at least reasonably careful. and you will be satisfied.<br>

after some time you will learn to fine tune what you are doing and get good results.</p>

<p>One mistake many make when doing " wet printing" is to pull the print when " it looks right"<br>

DON'T reduce the exposure and develop for the specifified time.</p>

[lance_frost]

<p>Gentleman,<br>

Thanks for your responses. I found a place semi-locally that will develop and print the film that I currently have. I think I am going to take Frank's advice and buy some different film that is more suited to standard b&w chemistry. </p>

[craig_shearman1]

<p>If you want to get started in developing for the first time, stick to the absolute basics. Shoot either Kodak Tri-X or Ilford HP-5 and develop in Kodak D-76 developer, rinse with plain tap water and fix in Kodak Rapid Fixer. Development and fixing times are on the packages and/or boxes and are available on the Kodak/Ilford web sites. Don't try to develop the Kodak 400CN at home until you've had a little experience. You can do it, but it's color developing even though it's a B&W film, and as said above the time and temps are more critical. I started off with the equivalent of the Yankee plastic tank but much prefer stainless steel. It's OK to start with the Yankee but you can only develop one roll at a time and the plastic takes forever to dry. Buy chemicals in one-gallon size and store them in proper plastic photo chemical jugs. Don't listen to people who try to get you to mix partial batches of chemicals to save money -- it's just one more way to screw up, especially when you're first starting. B&W processing is so easy a child can do it -- I learned when I was 12 -- so yo should have a lot of fun. Good luck.</p>

[lance_frost]

<p>I've had several rolls of the 400CN commercially processed and loved the results. Will I see a big drop-off in quality when I switch to Tri-X and D-76 home development?</p>

[jpo3136b]

<p>I never tried 400CN, but Tri-X and D76 have long been standards. Given their lengthy positive record, I'd be surprised if you weren't at least moderately satisfied. Keep in mind though, that there will always be some rolls hampered by the mistakes that come along with doing something new. Plow through those first two dozen beginner rolls, and I imagine you'll be unstoppable. </p>

[Ed_Ingold]

<p>C-41 home processing is interesting but not especially economical. Simple, 3-chemical kits like Tetenal don't do a very good job removing all the silver, which hurts the tonal range and prevents you from using Digital ICE when scanning. If you do C-41 at home, use the full Kodak or Fuji kit (6 or 7 solutions). Adorama and Calumet will ship the full kits, but not B&H. Some of the components are considered "hazardous" for shipping purposes. My recommendation is "forget about it" and have C-41 film done commercially. That's getting to be a challenge for roll film.</p>