These days, there is a tonne of fantastic film chemistry available, but it can be hard to decide where to go next or even where to start. And while Alex has been developing his film at home for over ten years, he still hasn’t touched some developers. But in today’s show, he is going to break down a tonne of developers, including Kodak D-76, D-96, HC-110, Xtol, Rollei Supergrain, Rodinal, FX-39, Atomal 49, Studional/Hydrofen, Pyro developers and much more. It’s a lot of information in a tiny podcast.
Looking for a good spot to get your gear and material fix check out Burlington Camera (Burlington, ON), Downtown Camera (Toronto, ON), Film Plus (Toronto, ON), Belle Arte Camera (Hamilton, ON), Pond’s FotoSource (Guleph, ON), Foto Art Camera (Owen Sound, ON). In Quebec, Photo Service (Montreal, QC) and Studio Argentique (Montreal, QC), Out West there’s Kerrisdale Cameras (BC), The Camera Store (Calgary, AB) and Beau Photo Supply (Vancouver, BC). Additionally you can order online at Argentix (Quebec), buyfilm.ca (Ontario), the Film Photography Project or Freestyle Photographic. Looking for development options, check out these labs that have our support, Boréalis Photo Lab, Old School Photo Lab, The Darkroom, and Film Rescue International.
Also you can connect with us through email: classiccamerarevivial[at]gmail[dot]com or by Facebook, we’re at Classic Camera Revival, Twitter @ccamerarevival, and Instagram (@classiccamerarevival)!
Love your work, Alex. But I hope you’ll add an addendum to this podcast guiding not just what to do, but why to do it. And maybe organize guidance by objectives, rather than by developers. I’m a novice, but I really want to understand the variables. What are the effects of adding/subtracting development time? Temperature? Stand vs. tank developing? Types of developer (eg, hydroquinone vs ascorbic acid etc)? Environmental considerations? For example, I know that I like clean, low-grain negatives with lots of detail. I think that means I trade away some contrast, but I scan my negatives and I can increase contrast to taste in the computer. I would love to understand all the variables in the development process and how I can tune them for my objectives. This podcast touched on that in places, but focused more on which developers you like and their market history. There’s probably no one who knows more than you about the variables and how they work, so I would really look forward to learning about them from you. Thanks!
I love this idea! Will definitely put a development boot camp episode together for early next year!
That’s great – thank you! I’ll be looking forward to it.
Wow, thanks again Alex. Far too much info to jot down while driving (joking). Would you have a summary of this developer driven discussion with what films work (and don’t) somewhere. I have a few of these developers and sometimes wonder which to use when … exactly the info you’ve presented here. Excellent summary, thanks again
We’re working on another episode more combination driven!
Just to add to the list some more variables that would be good to learn about – pre-soaking (or not), and more/less agitation. Thank you!