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Written byAmy Elizabeth
When I was a junior in high school, I took a photography class which kick-started my love of film and photography.
Being a true late 90’s teen, analog was our only option. We learned how to develop black and white film and spent our days in the darkroom making our own enlargements.
The darkroom holds some of my BEST high school memories of being with friends and creating, all while listening/singing to some sweet alternative music on the radio.
But back then, we ONLY wanted to be in the darkroom, enlarging our prints and hanging out, and we did not want to “waste” our time developing our film. Many of us would take our film to Ritz Camera and for $3 we got our developed film and a contact sheet.
Fast-forward almost two decades, I’m shooting film again and wanting to get back to my black and white roots.
Deciding to Develop My Own Film
But sending film out for black and white developing is not cheap. The days of developing b&w film for $3 a roll is long gone.
Black and white film is unlike C-41 (color film) in that the time to develop black and white film varies based on film type. All C-41 gets processed for the same length of time, so it gets run through machines in batches, making it cheaper to develop.
I desperately wanted to shoot black and white film and develop it at home, but was, honestly, terrified to take the plunge. I remember it being kind of tricky and a major nuisance when I did it in high school, and now I was going to VOLUNTARILY develop my film?
After turning to some friends in an online community for help, I gathered up some supplies, watched some YouTube videos, and off I went to sink or swim.
Guess what? It’s embarrassingly easy to develop your own film!
Developing my own black and white film has been SO freeing. I don’t have to send it out to a lab and be held captive. I can develop it the same day I finish up a roll.
I can also push a roll of film if I want to! (You can read more about pushing film here.) I shoot as much as I want because my costs are low! So, yeah, it’s pretty much the best.
If you’re on the fence, DO IT. It’s not as scary as you think it is. Not even half as scary. And you will love the freedom it gives you.
Related: Develop Color Film At Home
How to Develop Black and White Film at Home
I couldn’t write about how awesome it is to develop black and white film without giving you the information to develop your own! Sooooooo I am including my materials and my process below.
Do You Need a Darkroom?
First off, I need to address this common question: do I need a darkroom?
No. Unless you’re doing enlargements, no darkroom necessary! You just need a changing bag to get your film on the reel and in the tank. Once it’s sealed in the tank, it’s safe from light and you can do all the rest in a lit room.
Supplies:
Links are included to the product I use.
- Plastic Beakers– I got the kind where the levels are raised and not printed on. I feared something printed on would wear away too easily. (Amazon:SEOH Plastic Beaker Set)
- Funnel to put the fixer solution back in the bottle (item 6 on this list). (Amazon:Plastic Funnels)
- Stirrer (Adorama:Chemical Stirring Paddle)
- Developing Tank (Amazon: Paterson PhotographicUniversal Tank) –Paterson tanks have a reputation for being leaky, but if you put the cover on the tank and burp it by gently lifting up a little flap of the lid until you hear the air escape, your tank will be tight and won’t leak.
- Syringe for measuring developer (Amazon: Formulary Measuring Plastic Syringe, Adorama:Photographers’ Formulary12ml Micro-Mixer Measuring Plastic Syringe)
- Bottle for storing the fixer solution, which can be reused for a couple dozen rolls. (Amazon:Kaiser 500-1000ml Accordion Bottle)
- Thermometer to try to get your temp as close to 68º as possible. (Adorama:Photographers’ Formulary12″ Glass Thermometer)
- Fixer (Amazon: IlfordRapid Fixer, Adorama: Ilford Rapid Fixer)
- Developer – There are lots of options for this, but I use HC-110 dilution b. (Amazon: Kodak HC-110 Black & White Film Developer)
- Photo-flo – (Amazon: Kodak Photo-Flo 200, Adorama:KodakPhoto-Flo 200)
Not pictured are a few items you’ll need to get the film on the reel:
- Changing bag(Amazon:Film Changing Bags, Adorama:Large Changing Bag) – Why Adorama’s photo has an ENTIRE CAMERA in the changing bag is beyond me. Note: you should take the roll OUT of the camera before putting it in the changing bag.
- Church Key– For opening up the film canister. (Amazon:Chef Craft Bottle Opener)
- Scissors– Which you probably already have, but I like to use a small, blunt pair inside the changing bag because I’m clumsy enough in broad daylight when I can see what I’m doing. (Amazon:Westcott Kids Scissors)
- Clips for drying your film (Adorama: Stainless Steel Film Clips, Amazon:Trusty Binder Clips)
- You’re also going to want to download the app Massive Dev Chart. It’s my guide to the times needed for each film. It also has a built-in timer as well as a brief rundown of the process to develop black and white film.
Developing Process:
Here’s my process in a nutshell to develop black and white film at home. Processes can vary, but as long as you’re consistent in your steps, you’ll have consistent results.
The times for developing and fixing will vary based on film and on chemicals. The Massive Dev Chart will tell you exactly what times you need for those steps.
- Put the film on the reel in the changing bag. Make sure the tank is closed before opening up the bag. Check out this YouTube video for help.
- Using 68º water, agitate the film for a minute and dump out in the sink. (This step is debatable. I like to get my film to the right temp and rinse away anything unnecessary.)
- Pour the developer mixture into the tank and agitate for the first minute. Every minute thereafter, agitate for 10 seconds. Be sure to tap the tank on a surface to pop any bubbles that have formed after each round of agitation.
- Dump out the developer, and fill your tank with more of the 68º water to rinse off excess developer. (On Massive Dev Chart, this is called the stop bath. I have always used water for a stop bath and have never had an issue.)
- Pour in the fixer mixture. Agitate for the first minute, and then every minute thereafter agitate it for 10 seconds.
- Funnel the fixer mixture back into the bottle for reuse.
- Your film is now ready to see light! So feel free to open it up at this point.
- Fill up the tank with water and dump out a handful of times (I am not temperature specific here.)
- I then leave the film under running water for 10 minutes to be sure all the chemicals are washed away.
- Pour in a couple drops of photo-flo and dunk the reels up and down in it until you see bubbles.
- Take the film off the reels and squeegee with two fingers. (You can buy a squeegee, but I’ve heard too many horror stories of film getting scratched up this way, so I just use my hand.)
- Clip to some sort of line. I strung some string in my basement that I clip my film to. I also put a clip at the bottom so the film dries straight.
- Allow to dry overnight, and the next day you’re ready to scan!
Related: Your Self-Developing Questions Answered!
Helpful YouTube Videos:
- This video will help you get the film on a reel. *Note, this video says to turn off the lights. Please just use a changing bag. Most of us don’t have rooms in our house that are truly pitch black and you will end up getting light on your film
- This video and this video will help you with the process to develop black and white film.
I am finding more and more people who are interested in developing their own black and white film, and I hope this leaves you feeling empowered and encouraged!
So, so much good info! Thank you, Amy! Amy is a regular contributor here at Shoot It With Film, and you can check out her other articles here, like Develop Color Film at Home and .
Please check out Amy’s work on Instagram and her website, and if you have questions about how to develop black and white film, leave them below in the comments.
Tags: amy elizabethdarkroomdeveloping filmfor beginners
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Blog Comments
Amy this is amazing and SO helpful! I can’t wait to put this into practice. And your images are just lovely. <3
Thank you!!! I’m so glad you found this helpful! You’re going to fall in looooove with it!
Reply
Mariel
January 5, 2018 at 4:44 pm
Amy YOU ROCK! I did it in High School too and sometimes I didn’t wind the film very carefully and then the chemicals didn’t hit the film and I’d get SPLOTCHES on my negatives. Is that ever an issue? Or is that just a squirrelly high schooler problem? I was probably busy thinking about BOYS haha
hahahahahaha! Typical teen ;). That hasn’t happened to me, but probably would have in high school if I kept developing my own negatives. (the one roll I did develop in high school got a huge fingerprint on it because I touched my wet negatives. Dumb.). If you’re tugging too much to get the film on the reel, it’s time to start over. (I still re-reel it a lot out of paranoia. If the negatives are reeled so that they’re touching, it’s something you’ll feel as you ratchet them on.). And the splotches could have been because you got bubbles on your film? That’s why I tap the tank after every agitation; gotta pop those bubbles! I really think adult-you will do quite well.
Hey! What do you use for enlarging print process?! And how do you discard of the chemicals at home. That’s always been the one thing stopped me from doing this at home
I scan my 35mm negatives on a Noritsu LS-600 and do any post processing in Lightroom (I’d LOVE to have my own enlarger…maybe some time in the future!). For medium format I scan on an Epson v600; scanning black and white on a flatbed is pretty darn easy. Color is finickier. Chemicals can be dumped down the drain since you’re working in such small batches. The developer gets dumped after each use and the fixer gets dumped after every couple dozen rolls…not only is it a small batch but since the silver is pretty exhausted it’s even less toxic. (If it makes you feel better, the bottle even states it can be disposed of down the drain. I was nervous too so I checked the bottle and asked around to see what standard procedure is.). Let me know if you have any other questions!
Thanks so much! I can’t afford a scanner like that right now, so I am looking into Enlargers. This was so helpful to have the list with the links. 🙂
Thanks so much! I can’t afford a scanner like that right now, so I am looking into Enlargers. This was so helpful to have the list with the links. 🙂
Reply
Hannah Rodne
March 12, 2020 at 12:36 pm
Thanks for this!! Appreciate the links so much!!! Does red light affect the film? Or does it have to be completely black?
Hi Hannah! I’m glad the article was helpful! And good question, it must be completely black to work with the film. Photographic paper is far less light sensitive than film, so it can handle the red light (think of how photographic paper is exposed to light for seconds, whereas we typically expose film to light for a fraction of a second.). A changing bag will do that trick if you don’t have a darkroom!
Amy,
Is the developer is one time use and then toss it correct?
On step 2 you mention rinsing with water for a minute. Is this a prewash to soften up the film or just to wash off any crud and undesirables?
Also the Stop Bath. You’re just using water and there’s plenty of stuff online for specific stop bath. So I take it you’ve not seen any difference in the two. It certainly is cheaper and easier.
The fixer can be reused. How many rolls can you get out of a fixer mix? Are certain brands with better reusability?
Also do you have any experience with the Cinestill DF96 Monobath system? Its a one chemical does all thing.
Thank you,
FW
Hi Frank!
The developer can *technically* be reused, but with adjusted development times. I don’t know these details (like how many times this can be done or how long you could keep the mixed solution), so I just go with the “one and done” method.
I started pre-washing my film just to get rid of any junk (you especially notice this with 120), but it’s not a necessary step. I started doing it because the videos I watched did it, so I still do it for consistency’s sake.
I have honestly never used a stop bath, and I like my results, so I figure why start? But this is for sure up to each photographer’s preference. The C41 process uses no stop bath, so I’m just not bothered by not using it for black and white. But if only using water bothers you, go ahead and use that stop bath!
Fixer can be reused. I have only used Ilford Rapid Fixer and I store it in an accordion bottle. I use it for around a couple dozen rolls, but I’m bad at keeping track. I have never had an issue. If I think the chemicals are too old, I’ll fix for an extra minute.
I have only used Kodak HC-110b, so I have not tried the Cinestill DF96 Monobath. I might need to do that at some point!
Hi Amy! I use to develop film at home, and always followed the times and recommended dilutions specified on the charts/data sheets, but lately I started to read much different information, for example Kodak recommends for their developers to agitate the tank 7 inversions in 5” at the beginning and repeat every 30”, that for me is too much, I used to develop with Ilfosol3, on which Ilford recommends agitate 10 seconds ant the beginning and then every 1 minute, similar as you mentioned, so based on your experience which is your advise? Thanks a lot!
Hi Mike! Thanks for stopping by! I honestly just follow whatever the Massive Dev Chart App says. It has never failed me! I agitate for one minute at the beginning and then start inversion for 10 seconds every minute thereafter. It seems to be a good method for me! I hope that helps!
Reply
Mike
May 18, 2021 at 12:38 pm
Thanks!
Reply
Tom
June 5, 2021 at 1:34 pm
Great reminder on BW film processing. It’s been 10 years since I developed any film (used to do it a lot), so this helped greatly to remind me what I needed to start back up.
Reply
Frank Wolff
January 25, 2022 at 10:25 pm
I was a little anxious about developing my first roll of B&W. Haven’t done that since high school in the 70’s.
I shot Ilford 3200 at 1600 and developed it normal time. The end result was that it was embarrasingly easy to do from start to finish. I got the Mass Dev Chart app for my phone ($9) and it covers a crazy amount of info for just about any film and developer combo you can imagine. Plus it’s also a complete developing timer, so there was no reason to buy a separate timer. Everything came out ok. I don’t have another high speed film to compare it to, but my main thought is that 3200 is crazy grainy and low contrast. Especially when I compare it to my TriX and Tmax rolls I got lab developed. I started with Ilforsol 3 Developer, Stop and Fixer and Ilfords version of Foto flow. I’m sure there’s contrast differences with other developers, but this is what I got now and it will do me fine until I decide to experiment with other chemicals.
Thanks
FW
Reply
PhotoBob
September 25, 2022 at 11:39 am
Good article, especially the beginning as it brings back memories of jr. high and working with b&w film processing and printing. I’ve come along way since those days to refining my process, it is a wonderful journey.
Reply
Brian Johnson
October 7, 2023 at 10:43 am
Easy to follow guide, with some great photos. Thank you.
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