Cheapest place to get film developing chemicals?

cardiff_gareth

cardiff_gareth

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Gareth
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Hiya,
So I have my 120 camera and just bought a 35mm SLR also. 35mm SLR needs new light seals as has a major light leak! Anyway, with both of these cameras I want to shoot some black and white and develop it at home. I have a dev tank here and the measuring cylinders, thermometer etc but I don't have the chemicals yet.

I don't want to go straight to Amazon and the like for convenience if there is somewhere that sells them cheaper?

Probably looking at small bottles of chemicals for now until more confident and then I'll buy bigger 'bulk' sizes.

Thanks
 
When I started up (as a grown up) about three months ago, I got chemicals from Wex and Ag Photographic. If I recall correctly, Wex was cheaper, but didn't have everything I wanted, Ag filled in the gaps.
 
Nik and trick are pretty good. They sell chemicals by Bellini that make they’re own cheaper versions of Ilford and Kodak chemicals. I think the smallest amounts are still 500ml but they’re fixer is £6 for 500ml. They also sell light seal kits for a lot of different cameras
 
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In addition to the above, Speed Graphic and Process Supplies are options.

Not sure if you've made the decision on developer yet, but just be wary of which one you pick to go with which film. (This might be useful to @Leebert too!)

Rodinal for example doesn't play very nicely with HP5. It gives quite "rough" results, which weren't pleasing to my eye. Ilford DD-X on the other hand is much nicer, but more expensive (per film) I sent Lee a small bottle of Rodinal so you must be able to buy them small, and it's fine for dipping your toe in developing, but if you get the bug it's worth having a look around for different chemistry. HC-110 is quite expensive to buy, but is used at a low dilution, lasts ages, and gives (IMO) very good results with most films. Then there's the powder developers which I have no experience with....

The problem with starting out is that you might get rough results with that 1st film and assume that all developing will look like that. It's very possible to get superb results once you find a film/developer combination that suits your taste. I say that because Tri-X in HC-110 looks lovely to me but has quite a pronounced grain. HP5 in DD-X has virtually no grain to see and is lovely and soft toned.

Also, pushing film will compound this. "The Internet" said that I could push HP5 to 3200 if I wanted, but when I pushed it to 800 in Rodinal it looked awful. The difference between that and HP5 in DD-X at 800 is literally night and day.
 
Thanks for the ink to this tread @Harlequin565.

I am completely new to this too having just picked up some developing gear from fleabay. I was getting more and more confused with the amount of information out there on developing recipes so I took a different approach. I started searching using Google's image search with a few combinations that came to mind - for instance, 'Ilford HP5+ and Rodinal R09 one shot'. If I liked the results, I saved the page for later and made a note of the recipe in a note book. I haven't gone too mad so now I have a short list of combinations to investigate. further.

I like the Film Dev website too as the are combinations and recipes with sample images... https://filmdev.org/

Good luck!
 
Thanks all, lots to go on. I have an outdated TMax 400 here and an outdated HP5 here I'm planning on using to recheck the light seals when self fixed. If I mess up the developing with these films I'm not bothered as I just want to make sure it'll be light tight and good for fresh film so no expensive film wasted, and also gives me 2 practises at developing.

I want to keep the 35mm for Black and White only and maybe one day one of those bulk film loaders so more cost effective in the long run.

Chemicals!

Developers
www.wexphotovideo.com

Ilford ID11 Developer 1L | Wex Photo Video

www.wexphotovideo.com
www.wexphotovideo.com

Ilford PERCEPTOL Developer 1L | Wex Photo Video

www.wexphotovideo.com
www.wexphotovideo.com

Ilford Ilfosol 3 Developer 500ml | Wex Photo Video

www.wexphotovideo.com

Stop Bath
www.wexphotovideo.com

Ilford ILFOSTOP 500ml WLD | Wex Photo Video

www.wexphotovideo.com

Fixer
www.wexphotovideo.com

Ilford Rapid Fixer 500ml | Wex Photo Video

www.wexphotovideo.com

Only one fixer here and one stop Bath so can't go wrong but developers?!

I'll look at the other brands later on but I don't want to over complicate it all and pickle my head so trying to keep it simple for now.

Out of those 3 developers, which ones best?

Ta ;)
 
I have also just decided to try some home dev again (after maybe 10yrs).
To start off, I bought a bottle of ilfosol3, Ilford rapid fixer and had some stop from last time.
I used to use ID11, but as I may be developing on an intermittent basis, I thought that the ILFOSOL3 would be a good choice to start for ease of use and shelf life.

Good luck with yours.
 
I'll look at the other brands later on but I don't want to over complicate it all and pickle my head so trying to keep it simple for now.

Out of those 3 developers, which ones best?
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It kind of depends how quickly you intend to use it up, and how you intend to use them. ID11 is the standard for all b&w films that has been on sale for years and is almost identical to Kodak's D76. The WEX link gives info on using it straight or 1:1, then talks about how long it lasts. Some people find mixing the powder to be a nuisance, but that's down to the individual.

Ilfosol info suggests it is mainly meant for slow and medium speed films rather than the 400 speed ones you mention. Dilution at 1:9 should get you about 16 x 35mm films developed, which is more than the ID11, and you don't need to mix it up. I haven't used Perceptol, so can't comment.
 
cardiff_gareth said:
Out of those 3 developers, which ones best?
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The only powder I used was XTOL which was really nice but a complete pain to mix, store and use.

I found Ilfosol to be very "average" so if you're testing the process and don't want the faff of powder, try Ilfosol.

[unhelpful]
When it comes to HP5, assuming "money no object", I'd choose Ilfotec DD-X every time. I've not found a developer I like with T grain film (Delta & TMAX) but again, DD-X works very nicely with Delta 100.

My developers are HC-110 for Tri-X, P3200 and Double-X, and DD-X for anything Ilford. I've been experimenting with Diafine but I don't think it's my bag.
[/unhelpful]
 
Another vote for DD-X here.

It is hard when there is so much choice of developers, it becomes all too easy to over-analyse, or even think I must have one of each to find out the strengths and weaknesses.

I decided it was important to try to eliminate as many variables as possible to begin with. So, one film (HP5+) and one dev (DD-X). That still leave a shed load of variables: camera, lens, ISO, exposure and scene. That leaves out all the errors I can introduce in development and scanning.

Some people will say DD-X is expensive, but it becomes trivial (in my opinion) when stacked up against all the other costs of this hobby. I could develop one roll of film out of my litre of DD-X and pour the rest down the drain and it would still be cheaper than the last film of film I got commercially processed. In reality, it will probably cost me less that £1 per roll for the dev.
 
sirch said:
Is this really how much we value our photography and the businesses and people who make it all possible?
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i was thinking similar Chris given that per individual frame, even those that measure 10x8 inches, the cost of chemicals to develop them is literally coppers!
 
For what it’s worth, I highly recommend HC-110.
It lasts forever, is very economical though possibly not the cheapest ( maybe that immediately dismisses it as an option) , and it offers good results with a good selection of films inc fomapan, FP4, delta, Adox chs, ilford ortho and even large format j lanes glass plates.
 
sirch said:
Is this really how much we value our photography and the businesses and people who make it all possible?
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Asha said:
i was thinking similar Chris given that per individual frame, even those that measure 10x8 inches, the cost of chemicals to develop them is literally coppers!
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Pretty much agree with these sentiments, but I was thinking of trying DD-X and just priced it. 1L at Wex is £15.99 + 2.98 postage, so £18.98 delivered. Identical product at Ag is £23.54 + £7.98 postage, so £31.52 delivered. I'd still be supporting Ilford, but that's really quite a price difference if I go ahead and order. :thinking:
 
Peter B said:
Pretty much agree with these sentiments, but I was thinking of trying DD-X and just priced it. 1L at Wex is £15.99 + 2.98 postage, so £18.98 delivered. Identical product at Ag is £23.54 + £7.98 postage, so £31.52 delivered. I'd still be supporting Ilford, but that's really quite a price difference if I go ahead and order. :thinking:
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Exactly this!
 
Peter B said:
Pretty much agree with these sentiments, but I was thinking of trying DD-X and just priced it. 1L at Wex is £15.99 + 2.98 postage, so £18.98 delivered. Identical product at Ag is £23.54 + £7.98 postage, so £31.52 delivered. I'd still be supporting Ilford, but that's really quite a price difference if I go ahead and order. :thinking:
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[the "Friday night bottle of wine" caveat applies to anything I say from here on in :whistle: ]

I agree that some companies are, to be generous, a bit lazy with their efforts at reducing delivery costs and maybe they get less of a volume discount from Ilford but then as I am sure we all know those companies are as capable of using google as we are to establish the lowest common denominator for prices.

In other news
www.talkphotography.co.uk

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cardiff_gareth said:
You misinterpreted it. It's not so much for looking for the cheapest chemicals by the cheapest brands but actually finding a retailer that maybe sells the same chemicals but cheaper so not paying through the nose for the same product
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My appologies, yes Idid misinterprate.

As for quantity,I realise that you may well end up trying more than one developer, nonetheless sometimes it’s effectively cheaper to buy the larger package/ bottle.

I recently bought some ID11 , the larger sized pack to make 5 liter solution was a long way from five times the price of the pack to make 1 liter.
Of course, similar applies to fixer etc .
If stored correctly most concentrâtes will keep good for ages.
 
I don't often follow up on my ramblings but of course to answer the OP question, Amazon or Ebay are clearly the cheapest places


but not once they are the ONLY places which we can buy from
 
I've used Ilfosol 3 for the first few years, and I really liked the results, both slow and faster (though it might explain why I never took to HP5!). For me, a liquid developer is much more suitable than powder that has to be mixed up, but if you've got suitable storage and don't mind the mixing (and maybe making 5 litres), then your options expand. I always added marbles to the bottle to exclude air, and it lasted pretty well. I never had a complete failure, as you can get with some versions of Rodinal (I understand). I did get a bit wary of its shelf life, however, so I've switched to HC 110. This is quite a bit more expensive to buy but very economical to use; the most common dilution B is 1+31! Results with HC 110 are usually excellent, I've only had one film (this year) that I wasn't happy with, and I suspect it was a metering issue in foggy conditions.

Rapid Fixer and Ilfostop are fine and last for ages. You might also need something like Kodak Photoflo (dunno what the Ilford version is called) for your final wash unless your water is really good quality, to avoid drying marks.
 
Having played this game for 50+ years now, I tend to 'brew my own'. The first film I developed was in propritory chemicals I bought from the local chemist. I had to do it on a picnic table on the lawn as my mother would not allow me to bring 'chemicals' into the house despite having a cleaning cupboard full of much nastier stuff. I generally buy raw chemicals (Metol, Hydroquinone, sodium sulphite, potassium bromide etc.) from Silverprint. (Back in the day, Rayco were the guys.) ID11 is my usual brew as I tend to use PanF and FP4 most of the time. Ilfasol3 works well I have found and Ilford now offer their 'simplicity' range for beginners. I haven't tried them so can't comment but they may be good for a first foray. I would suggest that 'cheapest' may give disappointng results and put you off the whole idea. Don't spoil the ship for a ha'poth of tar - if it's worth doing it's worth doing properly. If you go for a liquid like Ilfasol3 split the 500ml in to two 250ml bottles. The one you aren't using remains sealed and will keep longer without oxidising.
 
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Hi, just joined the forum. I've just got back into film again after nearly 40 years. I'm experimenting with Rollei Infrared B&W film at the moment. I did use the old Kodak HEI in the past. I'm about to start home processing my films again and got some Ilford ID-11 developer in powder form. It makes up 1 litre of developer. Can anyone tell me if this is a stock solution and do you further dilute it say 1+1 or do you use it neat? Thanks.
 
shuggster said:
Hi, just joined the forum. I've just got back into film again after nearly 40 years. I'm experimenting with Rollei Infrared B&W film at the moment. I did use the old Kodak HEI in the past. I'm about to start home processing my films again and got some Ilford ID-11 developer in powder form. It makes up 1 litre of developer. Can anyone tell me if this is a stock solution and do you further dilute it say 1+1 or do you use it neat? Thanks.
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Welcome Hugh :)

I don't use ID-11, so will await a better qualified response from someone who does, but according to Ilford's datasheet it looks like it can be used either at stock, or at 1+1 or 1+3 dilutions.

 
The Massive Dev Chart (here) shows a few examples of dilution and info. Enter your film etc and it will give some examples.
 
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