Develop your own 120-format SW roll films (beginners)

Gast · 2003-02-21T09:04:13+00:00

Hallo, ich habe noch keinerlei Erfahrung mit der Entwicklung von Filmen. Doch habe ich mir jetzt ein paar Bücher geliehen und will endlich die SW-Filme mein...

Gast

Hello, I don’t have any experience with film development yet. However, I’ve borrowed a few books and finally want to develop the black-and-white film from my Holga 120 myself. I don’t think it’s worth investing in particularly expensive equipment (I’m a beginner and don’t shoot that much film). So here are my – simple – questions: What darkroom equipment can you recommend, and what costs should I expect? Is there a book on black-and-white development that you’d particularly recommend? Thanks in advance :(

Gast

Hi Tobias, All you really need is a tank for just over €15 and the chemicals. Of course, I don’t know if you also want to make enlargements – if so, there’s a bit more to it. We’ve posted a bit about film development on our website: http://www.fotoimpex.de/Technik/Tip_Filmen...entwickeln.html Basically, it’s all very simple. Even enlarging. If you’re from Berlin, you can also take beginner’s courses with us. You can find out more at: www.mietlabor.de Best regards, Mirko

Gast

Hello! I’m not sure if it’s ‘proper’ to link to a rival forum here – but I’m going to do it anyway (and I always mention FOTOIMPEX on the rival forum too, whenever the topic is paper offering the best value for money ;-)) – but ‘you’ll find help here’: www.phototec.de : lots of patient users who are always happy to answer beginners’ questions (again and again and again and ...); www.sw-magazin.de : some good beginner’s guides; Otherwise, I can highly recommend the A&P tins here at FOTOIMPEX, and likewise the Meopta enlargers; the ClassicArts Polywarmtone is a superb paper anyway, and if you can manage to stop the 120 ClassicFilm from curling up like carnival bunting... Roman PS: On books: steer clear of anything with G. Spitzing’s name on it. There are good books (though not all in German) by authors Tim Rudman, Larry Bartlett and Tony Worobiec – have a look at www.lindemanns.de!

MirkoBoeddecker

Roman, Don’t worry! We don’t delete posts just because they mention a competitor’s name :-) We might have a word to say if we think something isn’t quite right, but as long as the post is justified and contributes to the discussion, it’s welcome. Only offensive or unjustified insults or comments get taken down. Even if they are offensive or unjustified towards the competition. With that in mind, thanks to everyone who posts and discusses here! Mirko Bödecker Fotoimpex-Berlin

Gast

And which enlarger would you recommend? As well as my 6x6 prints, I’ll probably be enlarging 35mm film from time to time, perhaps even up to 40x50, but I’m thinking only black and white... As I said, it shouldn’t be too expensive :(

Gast

Just a quick follow-up – as I said, I’m a complete beginner – I’ve now read a bit about software development and seen examples that achieve certain effects (e.g. very warm brown tones, etc.). Can these only be achieved with hardware-based processors, or can software-based processors do the job too?

Gast

Have a look at http://www.schwarzweiss-magazin.de/swmag_f...schritte_02.htm . There’s a good introduction for beginners here. By the way, brownish black-and-white photos are actually toned black-and-white photos. All you need is a black-and-white enlarger. But of course, you can also produce black-and-white enlargements using an enlarger with a colour mixing head. Regards Volker

Gast

The course looks promising so far. Thank you very much!

Gast

What do you actually think of the Meopta Opemus Standard 2? I reckon I can get hold of one quite cheaply. I’ve got a few questions (apologies for the bullet-point style...): Parallelogram guide? Maximum enlargement on the base plate? Is floor projection possible? Condenser illumination or diffuse? Does it have a colour mixing head? Thanks, this forum is really handy :(

Gast

Parallelogram guide: what do you mean by that? Maximum enlargement on the base plate: approx. 30x40 Floor projection possible: of course Condenser or diffuse illumination: Condenser Colour mixing head available: no, the Opemus 2 is too old for that Regards Mirko

Gast

Thanks for the quick reply. I’ve read that there are projectors with parallel optics and those with a fixed optical axis. As it doesn’t have a colour mixing head, I suspect it can manage without parallel optics. Thanks again.

Gast

Hello Tobias, There are apparently enlargers with a parallelogram guide. However, I don’t know of any by name, and I don’t think Meopta makes any either. Such devices are likely to be found only in quite high price ranges, though. You can view further Meopta enlargers, amongst other things, at http://www.meopta.cz/history/. As far as I am aware, colour filter sets for the Opemus devices are only available from the Opemus 5 onwards. Best regards Volker S.

Roman

Hello! Examples of enlargers with a parallelogram mechanism include the (admittedly rather expensive) Kienzle models, the Leica Focomats, and the (inexpensive second-hand) Kienzle and Agfa Varioskops – the parallelogram mechanism is often linked to an automatic focusing system! Roman