An Introduction to Black & White Film Processing

I have told this story more than once over the years but it's worth repeating here because it's the perfect introduction to a process that many people believe is a thing of the past. I was only nine years old when I received my first real camera, a Kodak Brownie Box Camera. I loved that camera and took it everywhere with me, taking pictures of everything I saw in my daily travels. Growing up on a farm, there were always plenty of animals around to photograph and I ran through film faster than my folks could buy it for me. I became intrigued by everything photographic, memorizing the data sheets that came with every roll Kodak 620 film that I loaded into that camera.

I wasn't your typical nine-year-old boy of that day; I was a nerd before anyone even dreamed of coining the word "nerd." When other farm kids were reading Superman comic books, I was reading books on photography, learning about cameras and film processing. I started processing my own black & white film and printing black & white pictures when I was twelve years old. Back in those days, Montgomery Wards sold a basic home darkroom kit called, appropriately enough, "The Complete Home Darkroom Kit by Towers," I received it for my twelfth birthday. I'll never forget that kit, it came with a set of three developing trays for developing prints, three sets of print tongs, a contact print making box, a mechanical timer, a film developing tank with an adjustable film reel, a darkroom safe light, a glass chemical thermometer, a stirring rod, and chemicals. I didn't have an enlarger but I really didn't need one because the 620 film negative was such a large negative that contact printing was all I really needed to do. I really didn't need an enlarger until I received my first 35-mm camera for my fourteenth birthday. Montgomery Wards, a large, chain of retail stores similar to Seas & Roebucks that went out of business years ago, also sold a no frills Towers Enlarger that took 35 mm and 2 ¼" X 2 ¼" negatives and I bought one of them with my own money. Well, that's another story for another time.

Over the ensuing years since I received that Kodak Brownie Box Camera, I've owned and used just about every type of film camera known to man. Today, I shoot mostly digital using Nikon DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex) cameras but I still own many of the film cameras that I collected over the years and I still use them from time to time and I still process my own film, both color as well as black & white. I no longer print pictures from the film I develop but scan the negatives into my computer to be processed and printed using the digital darkroom. I've combined the best of both worlds.

Although it's becoming increasingly difficult to find photo darkroom equipment, chemicals, printing paper, and other supplies, do-it-yourself film processing can still be a very satisfying hobby. Film processing for the amateur photographer is becoming a lost art which I recently started to teach my thirteen year old grand daughter. Mostly she shoots with her digital cameras, she has two of them, a Kodak Easy Share point and shoot which I gave her for her tenth birthday and a Nikon D40 which I gave her last Christmas, but she has an inquiring mind about everything photographic and wants to learn everything her old grandpa can teach her. It's my hope that after reading this article that you will want to try your hand at developing your own black & white film just to keep the art form alive.

"The Complete Home Darkroom Kit by Towers," has gone the way of Montgomery Wards itself, it isn't difficult to assemble all the equipment, and supplies that you will need to process your very first roll of black and white film. The really good news is that you don't even need a room that you can turn into a permanent darkroom because the only step in the process that you will need to do in total darkness is loading the film onto the processing tank reel. Once the film is on the reel and the reel secured in the tank you can do everything else with the lights on. You can use a closet or any other area that you can make light tight to load the film and then do the processing in the bathroom, the kitchen, or anywhere else that you have access to running water. I'll begin by listing the equipment and supplies that you will need to develop black & white film.

Equipment that you will need to develop black & white film.

1. A film developing tank. Tanks come in two basic types, plastic tanks, and stainless steel tanks. Plastic tanks are the least expensive but the stainless steel ones are well worth the extra cost because they are easier to keep clean and stainless steel reels are easier to load the film on.

2. An accurate photo lab thermometer, preferably one that has both a Fahrenheit and Centigrade (Celsius) temperature scales. Having the water and chemicals at the proper temperature is crucial in the film processing procedure. The developing time is directly related to the chemical baths temperature and we'll talk more about that later.

3. A digital chemical scale.

4. A plastic or glass graduated mixing/pouring cup.

5. A pair of film sponge/tongs for removing the excess water from the film when you hang it up to dry.

6. You will need a pair of good scissors for trimming the strip of negatives into manageable lengths (strips of 5 or 6 frames) after they dry.

7. Film clips to hang the film up to dry after processing, two clips per roll of film, one supports the strip of film while the other is used as weight to keep the film from curling up as it dries.

8. You will also need a film canister opener but an old fashion beer can or bottle opener will do the trick.

9. A supply of brown, one-quart, chemical storage bottles to store your working solutions.

10. Rubber gloves to keep your hands and fingers from becoming chemically stained.

Chemicals that you will need to process black & white film

1. Film developer. There are universal developers that will work well with almost any black & white film and I suggest that you start out with one of them. Film developer and other photo chemicals come in concentrated forms and need to be diluted before use in the developing process. The chemical concentrates may be in either a liquid form or in a powder form. You can use regular tap water to prepare your working solutions but using distilled water gives the best results. Tap water has too many impurities in it that will react negatively with the photo chemicals and with the film itself.

2. Film stop bath solution. Plain ascetic acid can also be used in a pinch. The stop bath stops the developing process, preparing the film for the fixer bath.

3. Film fixer. The fixer bath secures the developing process and assures you that the negatives won't fade or become cloudy with age due to any residual sensitivity to light.

4. A pre wetting agent. Pre-wetting agents aren't absolutely necessary but they aid in the developing process by making it easier for the film developer to interact with the film emulsion.

5. A washing agent. Adding a washing agent to the wash water isn't absolutely necessary but helps in the washing process by expediting the removal of all trace chemicals from the films emulsion and celluloid base. The pre-wetting agent and the Wash Aid not only speed up the processing but they work together to prevent the negatives from becoming water spotted.

With the equipment and chemical on hand you are ready to start processing your first roll of film but the prudent beginner will practice loading film on the developing tank reel first with the lights on using a roll of film with no pictures on it. You will be throwing away a perfectly good roll of film but the few dollars that it will cost you will be money well spent. Getting the film loaded properly on the reel in your pitch-black closet can be tricky. Until you get the hang of it, film has a tendency to jam in the reel's grooves, to buckle and touch together between grooves, etc which cause you to end up with unusable negatives. Don't stop after your first success at getting the film to feed into the reel's grooves perfectly the first time, keep practicing. Practice until you can do it successfully every time with your eyes closed. Once you can do that, you are ready for a roll of film that has irreplaceable pictures on it.

Success in the darkroom hinges on developing procedures that can be performed repeatedly in exactly the same way. You've already started developing those work habits by practicing loading your new developing tank until loading it became so easy that you could do it right every time with your eyes closed. Developing consistent procedures for mixing your chemicals is also necessary to developing good darkroom work habits.

The developer is the first chemical solution used in the process. The purpose of the developer is to convert the silver halide crystals that were exposed to light to black, metallic silver. Film developers are classified in much the way that films them selves are classified. There are high-speed films and high-speed developers. High-speed films are more sensitive to light and are used in low-light situations. High-speed developers shorten the processing time but, like high-speed film, produce a grainier negative. There are slower films that offer a finer grain negative and there are fine grain developers that extends the processing time but results in a finer grain negative.

The second chemical bath used in the process is the Short Stop bath which neutralizes any developer remaining on the film whether you use a Short Stop Bath or use a plain water bath between the developer solution and the fixer is a personal choice on the part of the photographer. Personally, I prefer including a short stop bath in my workflow but many photographers opt to substitute a plain water wash at this point. The reason many photographers forgo using a hypo bath is because the acidic stop bath reacting with the films emulsion may generate gas bubble that make pin holes in the films emulsion that will print out as black spots.

The third chemical solution, the fixer solution, removes any residual sensitivity to light that the film may still retain after the developing process and renders the negative image permanent.

Prepare to develop your first roll of film by mixing all your chemicals according to the directions on the packages or on the instruction sheets that came with them. Take extra care when measuring and mixing your chemicals. Store the mixed working solutions in the labeled brown, storage bottles. Carefully wash and dry your mixing cup and stirring rod before moving from mixing one solution to the next so the solutions don't become contaminated. With all your working solutions prepared you are ready to begin developing your very first roll of film.

1. Bring your developer solution to the proper working temperature by setting the bottle in hot water to raise the solutions temperature or by setting the bottle in cold water to lower the temperature. The standard developing temperature for most developers and films is 68° F but check the data sheet that came with the developer that you purchase to be sure. Developing time varies with the temperature and you will find a time/temperature chart in the data that came with your chemicals.

2. While you're waiting for the developer solution to reach the proper temperature, take your film into your light tight closet, load it on the tank reel, and secure the loaded reel in the tank.

3. After the developer has reached the proper temperature, fill the film tank with the pre-wetting agent and let the tank set for one minute. The pre-wetting agent prepares the film emulsion to be acted upon by the developer. This step is essential to ensure that the developer acts on the emulsion evenly, thus producing even tone gradations of gray in your negatives.

4. Pour the pre-wetting agent out as quickly as possible and fill the tank with the developer solution as rapidly as possible. Once the tank is full, tap it lightly on the countertop to dislodge any air bubble that may have formed on the film.

5. Agitation is essential to proper development. To agitate simply invert the film tank and then turn right side up. During the first 30 seconds of development time, rotate the tank at 2 to 2 ½ second intervals then sit the tank down and give it a one-quarter turn. Wait another 30 seconds and then agitate for 5 seconds, sit the tank down with another one-quarter turn. Repeat this process until the total developing time has elapsed.

6. When the required developing time has elapsed, dump out the developer and fill the tank with water, agitate a few times and then dump the water out. Fill the tank with the short stop solutions, agitate for the specified time, and then dump the solution out. Fill the tank with water again, agitate a few times, and dump the solution out.

7. Fixing time will vary from fixer to fixer and vary by temperature. As a rule the total time in the fixer bath will range from five to ten minutes, we want to keep the film in the fixer for the shortest time as possible to minimize the films wet time. The way we accomplish that is this. After the film has been in the fixer for one minute, remove a short length from the reel and check to see if it's clear or still milky. If it's clear, return it to the fixer and fix for one minute more before washing. If it's still milky, return it to the fixer, fix for another minute, and then check again. If it's clear this time return it to the fixer and fix for two minutes more before washing. The trick here is to keep the film in the fixer for twice the length of time it takes to clear.

8. When fixing is complete, wash the film thoroughly using a washing aid, which help prevent hard water spots from building up on the film. Wash the film by running water into the tank for fifteen minutes or so. Then carefully remove the film from the reel and hang up to dry.9. Hang the film in a dust free location to dry. Once dry; cut the film into strips of five or six negatives to be scanned into the computer for editing and printing.

Well, there you have it. You just developed your first roll of film at a fraction of what it would have cost you to have it done at a pro lab. Of course, that's not counting what you spent on equipment and supplies to get started.