Beginner Film Developer

Elvis-isintheroom said:

Oh freestyle in LA the US. There is nobody here in Bali selling chemicals or a (reliable) source of anything photographic.

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If it's hard to get in Jakarta, it's likely even harder to get in other cities..

If developer is hard to get in Jakarta, perhaps you could start using one of the coffee based developers, plenty of that it Jakarta.

SMBooth said:

If developer is hard to get in Jakarta, perhaps you could start using one of the coffee based developers, plenty of that it Jakarta.

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robusta / instant coffee might not be readily available,


but if lightstalker can get THAT and vit c powder and washing soda/sodium carbonate s/he should have it made.
if baking soda is available, not washing soda, just heat the baking soda in an oven low temp until it is dehydrated
it will then be converted to the soda you want ...

http://caffenol.blogspot.com/
might be of some help for proportions and recipes ..
but be advised it can be as addictive as drinking coffee
and give results as superior as store bought developers ...

I'm going to contradict myself.....

Despite the fact that I said earlier Tri-X and D-76 is easier and forgiving therefore my recommendation, the difference between films and developers aren't as big as they are often made out to be. With possibly exception of Lucky brand (which I have no personal experience but have heard some dubious reputations), they are all capable of producing fine results. This is especially true when one is not going to try to control one aspect of the combination or another.

If you are in a country/environment where wide variety of choices aren't readily available to you, just pick one that is easily and inexpensively available and play with it to your heart's content. With practice, you could do a fine job with any quality film.