Black & white film development & processing

Description

Development and processing for a single roll of black-and-white film, 35mm or 120/220. I like to give you the flexibility to get your film the way you want it to be, so make sure to read the sections below.

Sample images are scans of Eastman Double-X developed in 510-Pyro, Analog Amsterdam NOW100 developed in Rodinal 1+50 and Eastman Double-X shot at 800 ISO, pushed 2 stops in D-96.

Development

Choose your developer:

• HC-110 is pretty much the industry standard for black-and-white film development, along with D-76. Both of them are midway between Rodinal and D-23.
• Rodinal is the oldest developer that’s still being made. It gives you the classic Rodinal look: high edge acutance (so high perceived sharpness), but also more visible and larger grain. (It’s my favourite developer for 120 film).
• D-96 is the standard developer for cine stocks (Double-X 5222, Cinestill bwXX, Orwo UN54, Ferrania P30, etcetera). It produces a slightly lower contrast negative but retains an amazing amount of detail, especially in the shadows.
• D-23 is a developer with strong compensating characteristics. It dissolves grain for a very finely grained negative, but this comes at a cost of reduced sharpness.
• 510-Pyro is a staining developer, based on pyrogallol. It leaves a “pyro stain” in your negative, which gives really nice results if you use an enlarger to print your negatives.
• By default I dilute Rodinal 1+25 and HC-110 in Dilution B. All the other developers are used stock.

• If you have any special requests (for example a custom developer dilution, or an analog contact sheet from the darkroom), please send me a mail first via the contact form so we can work out the details. If you can fill my processor with your custom order (5 or 8 films at once) your changes will be free (incl. push/pull)!

Scanning

• Standard 35mm scans are 2000dpi (6MP, 2000×3000) 16-bit TIFF files from a Nikon Coolscan 5000.
  • If you want the full 4000dpi (24MP, 4000×6000) files, add a note (it’s free, but increases apparent grain!). Keep in mind: a full roll of 16-bit TIFFs at 2000dpi is 1.2GB, but a full roll at 4000dpi is 4.8GB of pixels.

• 120/220 film and custom formats (XPan, etc) are scanned on an Epson V750 flatbed in 2400dpi (44MP, 5500×8000 for 6×9).
  • Scanning 220 film will have an additional €5 fee added to your order.

Processing

• Negatives are cut into strips of 6 and stored in transparent minilab sleeving by default. 35mm can additionally be stored in a ring binder perforated ADOX Adofile sleeve for €0,50.
• I can also leave your roll uncut (add a note to your order), but make sure you send enough plastic canisters with your rolls for me to put the negatives into as I will roll them into a piece of paper which I ship in a canister.

Notes

• Ship your rolls to the address listed on the Contact page. Make sure to note your order number somewhere.
• If you’re shipping films with plastic canisters, make sure to leave the cap off, otherwise they won’t fit through the mail slot!
• If you’re into cinefilms, Analog Amsterdam sells Double-X, which happens to be my personal favourite black-and-white film
• And, if you want to get those sweet cine negatives at home, I also sell D-96 chemistry kits!