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Film Developing

Bruce Wolfe
Sep 18, 2017
3 min read

I developed my first roll of film in 48 years and it was a blast. Actually, my first roll was attempted a few days earlier and it didn't turn out so well. As I was struggling to get the film on to the reel and my eyes were adjusting to the dark, I noticed a light leak into the room from the basement. It might have been ok but I didn't want to take a chance and waste the developer if the film was getting exposed so I aborted. I figured I can use this roll to practice putting the film on the reel. I practiced several times with my eyes close and got it pretty well figured out. This process should make sense if you are familiar with 35mm film.

I'm using a Paterson Super System 4 developing tank. The idea behind a film tank is to be able to thread your film onto a reel in total darkness and then drop the reel into the tank which is light tight. You can then go into normal room light and pore in your developer and other chemicals to develop the film. The Paterson tank and reel has a nice "ratchet" feature that allows you to ratchet the reel to feed the film on. You just need to get the film started on the reel and then work it back and forth to crank the film on. I wish I would have had that back in the old days.

I had a day or two to contemplate this process before another attempt could be made and I got an idea! The next roll of film was still in the camera so here was the plan: While rewinding the roll in the camera, don't rewind all the way back to the film can as usual but leave some of the leader out. Pull out a bit to work with and trim off the half width part. Start the pulled out part on to the reel. This can be done in the light because it is just the leader. The hard part for me is getting it started on the reel which is trivial when doing it in the light. At this point, take it into the dark and start feeding on the reel. Pull about a foot at a time from the can . The weight of the can keeps the film straight as you're reeling it. Otherwise, you have to deal with the curling and possibly scratching or kinking the film. Not good. When you've pulled all the film out and you're down to the last 6 inches cut the film and let the can fall to the floor. Finish reeling the rest of the film. That's my procedure and it worked great!

From there, I developed the film using Perceptol at 68 deg. for 14 minutes and Ilford Rapid fixer for 5 minutes. Washing with water in between. I'm leaving out some details but that's the gist of it.

Below is a shot off of that roll. It was under really foggy conditions that morning. Yes, just a test shot really. Nothing to write home about.