B&W Equipment/Developer Needed

[Agulliver]

Personally I would not repurpose drinks bottles just in case someone didn't realise and took a swig. Even someone with poor eyesight and not paying attention knows that a glass amber bottle or a brown plastic bottle contains a chemical solution not intended for drinking.

+1 on not using a squeegee. If your squeegee tongs are perfect, sure it can help dry film. But just one grain of grit/sand and your film will acquire a streak along it's entire length. If you keep a dedicated dark room, maybe. But these days most of us don't.

I use Photoflo which does last for years. You use a few drops at at a time. You can even mix Photoflo in a solution of isopropyl alcohol to make it last even longer.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Squeegees scratch film.

Do not use squeegees. Use PhotoFlo following the instruction sheets. Do not just pour some into the water. Hang the film, then blot the edge of the bottom with a paper towel to draw off the excess water.

 

[DeletedAcct1]

Hello all! I am about to jump into developing at home. I am going to do color and black and white. I will start with B&W since based on some research and talking to others it is a little bit easier to do than color.

I have a picture attached of my equipment and need help/advice on what other equipment is needed.

View attachment 377101

Here is a list of what I have

1. Patterson Dev Tank
2. 3 - 1 Liter bottles
3. Digital timer
4. Digital thermometer (probably only need for color?)
5. Film hooks
6. Changing bag
7. Film canister opener
8. not shown - rocker blaster
9. not shown - antistatic brush

Additional equipment
Do I need a film drying cabinet?
Something I was looking at for the dev tank is the Hewes Pro Stainless Steel Reel. I hear that they are much easier to load compared to the plastic ones.
But it looks like they only make 120 reels for Paterson and I would need to get a Jobo tank see link #3 below if that is a good tank. I figured to get one that can do at least 2 rolls unless it's recommended to get a smaller or bigger tank.

Things for me to buy now
(if people think the Hewes Pro reels are worth it over plastic)
1. https://www.freestylephoto.com/150135-Hewes-Pro-Stainless-Steel-Reel-35mm-for-Jobo-1500-Tanks
2. https://www.freestylephoto.com/1500...eel-Reel-120-for-Jobo-1500-and-Paterson-Tanks
3. https://cinestillfilm.com/products/...reiR9i4PC5cVUtO6yGIXtF5-mNQVVWX1HxvSHkpJlGdUB

Anything else that I am missing? should my bottles be different? Do I need funnels and other accessories?

Developer
What developer should I get? I did some research and people were recommending Kodak xTol. I mainly shoot Ilford B&W for now, but have a few rolls of Kodak Max as well.

If I need to split the equipment list from the Developer question let me know.

Thank you in advance for your help getting stared on my developing journey!

For the developer: how much do you shoot? How many rolls per month?
I can suggest using Ilford Ilfosol 3, which is a good liquid developer sufficiently cheap, one shot.
I don't suggest you to use Kodak d76 because is expensive.

 

[tykos]

For the developer: how much do you shoot? How many rolls per month?
I can suggest using Ilford Ilfosol 3, which is a good liquid developer sufficiently cheap, one shot.
I don't suggest you to use Kodak d76 because is expensive.

d76 is short of 2€ per roll, less if bought in the gallon size (is it still available?), the mixed solution lasts at least 6 months.
Ilfosol is cheaper (about 60c per roll?), but one 500ml bottle can develop 30 rolls and ilford says it has to be used in less than 4 months. That's a lot of rolls for a newbie.

Also: does it make sense to buy chemicals listing by price to spend maybe a euro less on development when we're spending hundreds in equipment, cameras, lenses, and 6-15€ on a single roll?

 

[JerseyDoug]

After I do the third stage (20 inversions) of the Ilford washing method I add one drop of LFN (for 35mm) to the same water and very gently invert the tank four or five more times. Then I remove the film from the tank, hang it in the shower stall and very gently wipe down both sides with a Kimwipe. I have been doing this for at least ten years. No dust, no scratches and the film dries very quickly.

(One drop of LFN for a 250 ml tank. Two drops for a 500 ml tank.)

 

[mshchem]

After I do the third stage (20 inversions) of the Ilford washing method I add one drop of LFN (for 35mm) to the same water and very gently invert the tank four or five more times. Then I remove the film from the tank, hang it in the shower stall and very gently wipe down both sides with a Kimwipe. I have been doing this for at least ten years. No dust, no scratches and the film dries very quickly.

(One drop of LFN for a 250 ml tank. Two drops for a 500 ml tank.)

LFN is great stuff, same with Kimwipes

 

[DeletedAcct1]

d76 is short of 2€ per roll, less if bought in the gallon size (is it still available?), the mixed solution lasts at least 6 months.
Ilfosol is cheaper (about 60c per roll?), but one 500ml bottle can develop 30 rolls and ilford says it has to be used in less than 4 months. That's a lot of rolls for a newbie.

Also: does it make sense to buy chemicals listing by price to spend maybe a euro less on development when we're spending hundreds in equipment, cameras, lenses, and 6-15€ on a single roll?

Last 1 litre d76 pack I've bought was 11,5€, that is almost 3€ per roll. Not cheap.

 

[MattKing]

Discussions about the cost per roll of developer are very location specific. It would be better for the OP to look up several options from sources that the OP can access, and then ask for our advice, because the cost to acquire each option will depend on that access.

 

[tykos]

Last 1 litre d76 pack I've bought was 11,5€, that is almost 3€ per roll. Not cheap.

as Matt says it's very specific, but speaking of Europe Maco and Fotoimpex have it at 8/9 € (kodak or adox) 1L bag or 14€ gallon bag. Not as cheap as i remembered, but still not huge.
i'm saying this because as a noob i threw away more than half-full bottles and bottles of concentrated developers, as i didn't shoot all the rolls needed to consume them before thinking "will this roll come out blank?". Because with a non developed roll you end up throwing away the bottle, the roll, the time it took to shoot that roll (given it's not the roll of once-in-a-life-event). There are lots of myths on the internet about developers' expiration dates, i'm just trying to say it should be taken into account.