My experience with FujiFilm Darkless

[IloveTLRs]

So last night was my first shot at developing my own film in about 10 years. I went with a kit from FujiFilm called Darkless. The starter kit has two chemicals: a developer and a fixer, and only enough to do one roll. The film is developed in its own canister so there is no need for a darkroom.

In the end it came out pretty badly. I have lots of weird stains on my negatives and blank areas - I guess they weren't developed properly. I might have agitated too fast or for too long. The instructions said if there were white spots on the film, to put it back into the fixer for 2 minutes.

The biggest problem was drying the film after the final wash. The instructions said to wash the film for 30 minutes, then dry them off with a cloth and hang them up to dry. What kind of cloth am I supposed to use? Obviously tissues will leave residue all over the place and the towels I used left streaks. I don't remember what we used in college - a drying cabinet I think.

I'll post some images when I get home tonight. I still have to cut the film and scan it.

Price-wise, the Darkless kit is very economical. The starter kit is about $5, which is the cost to develop a roll of B&W over here. There is also a kit for 3 rolls and 6 rolls. The 6 roll kit has chemicals only, but costs about $10. 1 hour do-it-yourself vs. 3 business days, I'm surprised FujiFilm isn't selling more of these kits (and the store staff knew nothing about them ...)

 

[David R Munson]

I doubt that I'd use it much, but I am very intrigued by this. Might be fun just for messing around.

 

[IloveTLRs]

I passed the roll through my K1000 quickly so it wasn't anything Pulitzer-prize winning. It was fun to do developing again and I'm definitely going to be trying it some more.

I should learn how to roll my own film next ...

 

[k_jupiter]

Find a tank and a changing bag. You are never going to get any good results using the canister for your developing tank. There is a reason you had all sorts of blank spots and weird stains. The film sticks to itself when wet. You need to spool the film onto a reel and let them chemicals circulate. I don't know how hard it is to find developers and fixers in Japan (haven't been there in four or five years), but do the legwork, get yourself some chemicals, a few mixing containers and a film developing tank, plastic or metal. OH, and a good timer and thermometer.

The joy of seeing something come out correctly is amazing.

tim in san jose

 

[pkrentz]

Cannister Development

I second what Tim said, get the equipment you need. Pat

 

[walter23]

And to make life easier, shoot 4x5 sheet film. The picture taking is harder; the darkroom work is much easier. I still can't handle 35mm film spools. Huge long narrow strips of film in the dark? Nightmare.

 

[IloveTLRs]

I remember it being easier in college when I did it the old fashioned way. I have heard of people having good results with Darkless though, so I'm going to try again.

The problem with getting chemicals is which ones do I need EXACTLY? The store staff know nothing about developing so I was standing around for 20 minutes until they found a guy who handed me a bag of D-76. Is that all I need though? Science was my worst subject in school and mixing chemicals, storing them and disposing of them is something I'd like to avoid for the time being

What I was going to do, was once I got used to using Darkless, buy my own chemicals and do TMAX (for B&W I shoot TMAX almost exclusively.) I'd also like to do 120 since I shoot medium format a lot, too. Eventually I'd like to be able to do C-41 (E-6 looks to be far too difficult.)

 

[rusty71]

D-76 is easy to mix. Very economical too. The only other thing needed is fixer and Photo Flo to prevent water spots. Use a water bath between the D-76 and fixer to stop the developer. You will have much better results than the fuji canister.

 

[k_jupiter]

A couple of things...
D-76 1:1 will suffice nicely for what you are trying to do. You don't mess with replenishment cycles, Use once, pour it down the drain. Flush well with water if you are concerned with environmental issues. Your fix is a harder one to solve. Where in Japan do you have a toxics disposal system?

Anyhow, you are in Japan. Use Fuji! They make wonderful B&W film. Acros is one of my favorites in 35mm. Their 120 film also comes in 100 and 400 speeds and are very good.

tim in san jose

 

[IloveTLRs]

Here are two sample photos from my adventure last night. Notice how they suck :rolleyes:

Can anyone tell from looking at them what went wrong? Too much of this, not enough of that? (Not "you used a crappy kit, get a real set up next time" please.)

 

[Roger Hicks]

And to make life easier, shoot 4x5 sheet film. The picture taking is harder; the darkroom work is much easier. I still can't handle 35mm film spools. Huge long narrow strips of film in the dark? Nightmare.

Sorry, couldn't disagree more. Processing first. Easiest of all: 35mm. Next easiest: 120. After that, sheet film just gets steadily more difficult as it gets bigger unless you have deep tanks and hangers.

As for shooting, why is 4x5 more difficult? It requires a tiny bit of discipline, but that's all.

 

[Neal]

Dear IloveTLRs,

Actually, I must say that the "Darkless" product looks like good fun. The shot on the left looks as though the film was touching at the point on the upper left. The shot on the right appears to exhibit the spots that show up on lots of "Darkless" photos posted on the web. I have a feeling that the system has too little space between the coils(?) of film, or that the mechanism to hold the film apart is not dependable.

I'd still like to buy a few of these.

Neal Wydra

 

[Discpad]

As for the "Darkless" kit:

There's never enough time to do the job right...
But always enough time to do it over.

 

[k_jupiter]

Dear IloveTLRs,

Actually, I must say that the "Darkless" product looks like good fun. The shot on the left looks as though the film was touching at the point on the upper left. The shot on the right appears to exhibit the spots that show up on lots of "Darkless" photos posted on the web. I have a feeling that the system has too little space between the coils(?) of film, or that the mechanism to hold the film apart is not dependable.

I'd still like to buy a few of these.

Neal Wydra

Neal...
There is no mechanism to hold the film apart. You rewind the film into the cassette, you throw the cassette into the developer. You then throw the cassette into the fix. There is a major technological issue with this process, no?

tim in san jose

 

[bcostin]

The Darkless does sound like it'd be cool to try. I vaguely remember reading about in-canister development as an emergency method some photographers would use in the field. Far from ideal, but better than nothing at all. It'd be great if Fuji's been able to refine it enough to be practical.

BTW, there are quite a few examples on flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/search/?w=all&q=darkless&m=text

 

[Discpad]

The Darkless does sound like it'd be cool to try. I vaguely remember reading about in-canister development as an emergency method some photographers would use in the field. Far from ideal, but better than nothing at all.

That has to be the one of the least intelligent statements I've seen in a while: If it's an "emergency" then that means you have a shot-in-a-lifetime.

Since we have established the roll contains irreplaceable images, then why risk it with a developing method that has a high probability of ruining that shot?

What is the "emergency" that requires instant film developing (like out in the field), where you can actually *do something" -- Either printing it in a darkroom or scanning it -- with the negative once you've developed (and ruined?) it?

Let's think this through, guys!

 

[pentaxuser]

Can't quite work out "the fun to try" aspect. There seem to be major flaws with it, based on developing with the film in the cassette and no way of avoiding them. What happens when the negs are more important and worth the effort of decent prints?

Anyway if it's fun for the OP then fine. Me? I'd turn suicidal or homicidal

pentaxuser

 

[IloveTLRs]

As always, thanks for the replies.

The flickr examples of Darkless processed photos look a lot better than mine! If my photos came out looking like those I'd be more than happy!!

I'm going to try again with the 3 roll kit. If it doesn't work out I'm just going to give up on it and get the chemicals.

Some of the comments in Japanese are saying that peoples first experience with Darkless has been the same as mine and sometimes worse. I guess that makes me feel better ...

 

[Discpad]

The flickr examples of Darkless processed photos look a lot better than mine! If my photos came out looking like those I'd be more than happy!!

I'm going to try again with the 3 roll kit. If it doesn't work out I'm just going to give up on it and get the chemicals.

Don't complain when your half-assed film developing hack ruins your negs when they stick together.

You've been warned.

 

[Neal]

Hi Tim,

Yes, it sure sounds as though problems should be the norm. I'd still like to try it though. :>)

Neal Wydra

 

[Skorzen]

Just a thought, those spots look like air bubbles or something which did not allow the developer to work properly.

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

If you want to become proficient at this technique, there is a discussion of in-cassette processing in Anchell's _Darkroom Cookbook_ in the section on monobaths. That said, I can't imagine too many situations where I'd want to develop 35mm film in the cartridge. He recommends only doing this with 24 exp. rolls, and the first two and last two frames should be left blank.

 

[IloveTLRs]

Don't complain when your half-assed film developing hack ruins your negs when they stick together.

You've been warned.

Try decaf next time :rolleyes:

 

[IloveTLRs]

Actually, I must say that the "Darkless" product looks like good fun. The shot on the left looks as though the film was touching at the point on the upper left. The shot on the right appears to exhibit the spots that show up on lots of "Darkless" photos posted on the web. I have a feeling that the system has too little space between the coils(?) of film, or that the mechanism to hold the film apart is not dependable.

It was fun to try it, even if the film came out like crap. Thanks for your advice. I have done a lot of reading and found some tips which should help me out. Quite a few people have actually gotten good results. Apparently I didn't transfer the roll into the fixer fast enough.

I've also found that with another kit you can do color development. The samples I've seen were pretty good (not slide-film quality, but still quite nice.) http://www.flickr.com/groups/naniwa/

 

[Discpad]

Try decaf next time :rolleyes:

Yeah, I forgot: This is APUG, not Photo.Net -- The guys over here are a lot more experienced!