Where to process B/W film?

[Larry Shone]

I might like to get back into using HP-5 with one of my film cameras but have always been put off by the cost and time delay-honestly I would hand a roll into Jessops, be relieved of a tenner and then be in for a 10 day to 2 week wait!
See I love B/W, using the coloured filters and getting dramatic skies(not the same on digi, in b/w mode-doesnt work as it only uses one channel) but my only viable route is XP-2 at jessops(the only decent camera shop in darlington!)
Having my own darkroom isnt an option so i'd have to use a lab, but who do you all use?

[Roger_Provins]

Having my own darkroom isnt an option so i'd have to use a lab, but who do you all use?

You only need a changing bag, developing tank, some chemicals and a scanner .... no darkroom required

[Larry Shone]

Having my own darkroom isnt an option so i'd have to use a lab, but who do you all use?

You only need a changing bag, developing tank, some chemicals and a scanner .... no darkroom required

OK I'll revise that. a home developing kit is out of the question so...

[OneTen]

See next thread down.

[Larry Shone]

See next thread down.

Yea I saw that after I'd posted. The laptop is being rather slow today(T-mobile issues I think)

[Ephemeral]

Darlington Media Workshop still has darkrooms, plus a pro set-up now - it is a community-based group so membership fees are really low - it's at the back of the Arts Centre

[Larry Shone]

Darlington Media Workshop still has darkrooms, plus a pro set-up now - it is a community-based group so membership fees are really low - it's at the back of the Arts Centre

Hmmm that could be something to look inte when I get more time,thanks! Might be able to get my college work back while I'm there!

[PeteE]

I cannot understand the continued DIFFICULTY with processing B/W films-I can get a film done in under 20 mins and I don't always load it in the dark- I sit on the sofa with the telly on and load it in a changing bag. Then PRINTS-I use a Nova Mulitimask; I can get 8 6x4" prints on one sheet of 16x12" Ilford Multigrade,or if I do 7x5" I expose a set of ten prints and develop all at once,ten at a time,interleaving them in the developer- it doesn't take TWO WEEKS!

[Larry Shone]

Yea it is easy to do B/W but I just don't want all the chemicals in the house with having young kids about and nowhere safe to store it all.

[ermintrude]

I might like to get back into using HP-5 with one of my film cameras but have always been put off by the cost and time delay-honestly I would hand a roll into Jessops, be relieved of a tenner and then be in for a 10 day to 2 week wait!
See I love B/W, using the coloured filters and getting dramatic skies(not the same on digi, in b/w mode-doesnt work as it only uses one channel) but my only viable route is XP-2 at jessops(the only decent camera shop in darlington!)
Having my own darkroom isnt an option so i'd have to use a lab, but who do you all use?

If you dont want to have chemicals in the house for any bizarre reason (I assume you have bleach and stuff like that which require the same/more care than d&p chemicals) I really dont see why you dont just do it digitally. You dont need to have only one channel, use a channel mixer. If you dont have full PS, download an Elements plug in such as SmartCurves. Or use different layers - see here

Way cheaper, quicker, and safer if it matters.

[Larry Shone]

We dont use bleach and if we did it would be kept in the loo Too small in there for anything else(this house is tiny!) And what i meant by only having one channel i was referring to how my panasonic digi works when in B/W mode-only one channel is selected by the camera so i have to shoot in colour and convert to mono later. Unfortunately the channel mixer i downloaded doesn't work with Vista

[ermintrude]

And what i meant by only having one channel i was referring to how my panasonic digi works when in B/W mode-only one channel is selected by the camera so i have to shoot in colour and convert to mono later. Unfortunately the channel mixer i downloaded doesn't work with Vista

Sorry thats what Im trying to say - shoot *in colour* on your digi then use some form of Channel Mixer to get the mono effect you want. Read the link I sent above again, it shows you how to DIY with levels if you dont have a channel mixer plug in. I know its a Mac site but 2 out of the 4 options can be done on a PC too.

EDIT: Just reading your other post here I see you have Photoshop 5 which does indeed have a Channel Mixer but I dont know if PS5 is compatible with Vista?

There are several plugins available here that are Vista compatible.

[Larry Shone]

Ah yea i had PS5 LE but it didn't have channel mixer either. What happened is I downloaded a B/W plug in for any version of PS which works fine on the PC which has Elements 1 on it(i know its old but it was a freebie),but then i put 5 LE on the laptop which worked fine,but the plug in didn't. PS would just freeze up. I have had GIMP before but wasn't keen on it(too used to PS). I'm gonna read up and learn to do it with layers until we get Vista off the laptop.

[Ant_B]

Hi, I have a family too. I have been developing my b&w at home since they were crawling. They have never ever been near the chemicals, the equipment or the supplies. The same goes for the bleaches and other household chemicals. Now my children are just getting to their teens they are starting to show a real interest in the darkroom and photography.

Keep things above waist height if they are still really small, show them how it works (they'll either get bored of the dark or actually interested anyway) and explain. Don't just tell them not to touch. Worked for me!

I've found that very few children actually touch things like these if you take simple precautions anyway.

Don't let media hype about the dangers of children and chemicals spoil a fantastic and rewarding leisure activity.

Anthony.

[Larry Shone]

Yea Ant,it may well work for you but our house is tiny,no storage space,my keyboard lives on its end,never gets played,cameras all over the place. Need a bigger house with cupboards. But then its not me you have to convince!

[Ant_B]

Larry,
Until the house I now live in, I always used the bathroom. the enlarger sat on toilet lid, the bath had the chemistry, had to run an extension cable for the power. I didn't even have a real timer for the first few years. I admit it was back breaking, but a patient wife and children helped.

One hint if you do this however - make sure you know which is the tea and which is the chemistry. You only get them wrong once

Anthony

[Larry Shone]

Na sorry but there aint gonna be no darkroom in this house. I think I might have stated this a few times already...

[benji]

Larry,
have a look here:
http://www.peak-imaging.com/htmls/process.htm
Hope it helps,
Benji

[Larry Shone]

Larry,
have a look here:
http://www.peak-imaging.com/htmls/process.htm
Hope it helps,
Benji

Oh i'm well aware whats possible, know you can get a darkroom in a matchbox but i just don't want that at the moment. I'm sticking with digital.

[benji]

Larry,
have a look here:
http://www.peak-imaging.com/htmls/process.htm
Hope it helps,
Benji

Oh i'm well aware whats possible, know you can get a darkroom in a matchbox but i just don't want that at the moment. I'm sticking with digital.

Sorry Larry, but why would you want a lab to process / print your BW films? To have the lab develop them is understable enough, but surely the whole point of processing/printing BW negs is to be in control of this hugely "flexible" medium yourself.
Why have BW negs bulk processed. No thought will be put into the process, and I think the overall results might be average. Every frame needs to be assessed before processing, a lab won't really do that.

Also:
Why did you ask in your original post where you could have your BW films processsed, and then you tell us you're sticking to digital anyway (sorry, I didn't get that bit, but maybe I misunderstood! ).

Thanks for being more precise.

Benji