I used to rush my 35mm negatives out of the tank and squeegee them like crazy. Last weekend I processed a roll of Tri-X 400 at home and decided to just hang them in the bathroom with no touching, waited about 90 minutes. The difference in dust and scratches was night and day compared to my usual frantic drying method. Has anyone else found that just letting film air dry slowly works better than all the fancy drying aids?
Turns out slow inversions twice a minute work way better than my aggressive agitating method, has anyone else wrecked a whole roll from being too rough?
I got into developing film at home six months ago just to save money but somehow I just processed my 100th roll of Tri-X in my bathroom sink. Didn't even realize until I counted my empty spools while cleaning up after a wild session where I forgot the stop bath and had to fix it with tap water. Has anyone else accidentally lost count of their rolls or am I just that bad at keeping track?
I was at the Brooklyn Camera Swap last month and this older guy showed me how to load bulk film in total darkness using just my fingertips. He said it takes 20 seconds once you get the hang of it. I tried his method at home and now I can load 35mm canisters in under a minute without any light leaks. Has anyone else found a trick that completely changed your darkroom workflow?
For months my old Pentax Spotmatic had a shutter that would hang open at slow speeds. I read online that some folks use a hair dryer to warm up the lubricant, but I figured that was just asking for melted parts. Last week I got desperate after missing shots at a family reunion. I set my wife's hair dryer on low heat and pointed it at the shutter mechanism for about two minutes. The camera worked perfectly for three rolls after that. I still don't fully trust the method, but it sure beat paying $80 for a CLA. Has anyone else tried this trick, or did I just get lucky?
I ruined a $40 vintage Takumar lens by wiping a spot with 91% isopropyl and watched the coating bubble up and peel off in less than 10 seconds, so has anyone else had this happen or am I just the unluckiest person in this forum?
Ive been developing at home for about 2 years now and I keep hearing two DIFFERENT things. One group says plain distilled water with a drop of dish soap works just as good as photo-flo for drying without spots. The other says you are RUINING your negatives if you dont use the real stuff. I washed some rolls last week with just distilled water and they dried fine. No spots or streaks. My buddy in Chicago swears by photo-flo and says I'm asking for residue problems down the road. Who's got real experience with this long term? Like 5 years down the line does it even matter?
Spent five days straight trying to unstick a shutter on a Spotmatic I got for $30 at a thrift store. Ended up snapping the curtain spring on day three and had to order a replacement from a guy in Germany. Has anyone else had luck with those old Copal shutters or should I just toss it?
Went through some storage bins at my folks place and dug out his old GraLab timer from like the 70s. The thing still ticks and the dial moves smoothly, so I plugged it in and it actually works. 3 years ago I wouldve just used my phone for developing but now I kinda wanna set up a proper darkroom corner. My dad used this in his高中 yearbook darkroom and he passed maybe 2 months ago. Anyone else inheriting old gear and trying to figure out how to use it right?
I always thought distilled water was overkill for mixing developer. Figured tap water was fine since I've been developing at home for like 4 years now. Then I ran into this guy at a camera swap meet in Portland last month who showed me his negatives from two batches. One had these little white spots all over from hard water minerals. He let me look through a loupe and it was obvious. Tried a gallon of distilled on my next roll of Tri-X and the difference was noticeable even to me. Now I'm curious if anyone else has seen better sharpness or just cleaner negs from switching.
I've been developing my own black and white film for about 6 months and finally hit 100 rolls last weekend. What surprised me is that my first 90 rolls looked okay but the last 10 suddenly got way better because I stopped shaking the tank so aggressively. Has anyone else noticed a specific number of rolls where their technique just clicked, or am I just less jittery now?
A whole cup of black coffee went straight into the ventilation slots of my Omega D-2 while I was developing prints at 2am and somehow it cleaned the contacts or something because now it actually holds sharp focus, has anyone else ever fixed something by breaking it first?
So I ordered this pre-cut light seal kit online from a place called SealFix (or something like that) and thought I was being smart skipping the generic foam sheet. Opened it up, tried to put the seals in my Pentax K1000, and every single piece was about 2mm too short. The mirror bumper was totally the wrong shape too. I even measured my camera door channels before ordering and their website said it was compatible. $80 down the drain because I couldn't return it after cutting the backing off. Just buy a sheet of 1.5mm black foam from a craft store and cut your own, it's like $5. Has anyone else had a pre-cut kit totally miss the mark like that?
I started developing black and white film in my bathroom sink about 18 months ago just to save some cash. Last week I rolled out number 50 and it caught me off guard honestly. My first few rolls were disasters, fogged negatives, scratched up from bad reels, you name it. I remember ruining a whole roll of Tri-X from a trip to the local botanical gardens because my developer temp was way off. Now I've got a little setup with a changing bag and a Paterson tank that fits right in the corner of my laundry room. It's crazy how something that felt so foreign becomes second nature after enough tries. What number did you guys hit before it started feeling routine instead of nerve wracking?
I went through three rolls of film and kept getting these weird orange streaks. Turned out the foam seal on the back door was completely disintegrated, took me literally 5 minutes to replace once I figured it out. Has anyone else wasted that much time on something this stupid?
Last month I was at the Photorama show in Portland and some old timer saw me buying a bottle of standard Kodak fixer. He told me to switch to TF-4 for my Tri-X rolls because it clears way faster and lasts longer in the tray. I figured whatever, it's cheap, so I grabbed a bottle. First roll I developed with it cleared in like 3 minutes instead of 5 and I got way less stain on my negatives. He also said to bump my temp to 72 instead of 68 for the developer and now my shadows have way more detail. Anyone else get fixer advice from a stranger that actually worked?
Watched a guy at the local camera shop in Portland show me his before and after negatives. He used a hair dryer on low heat for 10 minutes. His negatives came out spotless. Mine took 3 hours hanging and got dust spots every time. The difference was night and day. No more dust nibs stuck to wet emulsion. Anyone else ditch the hanging method?
I slapped a strip of black electrical tape along the hinge of my beat-up Pentax K1000 last night and honestly it worked better than the $15 foam kit I bought from that shop in Portland, has anyone else found a janky fix that actually held up?
Last weekend I was cleaning dust off my old Pentax K1000 shutter curtain with a can of compressed air. A guy at the local camera club in Portland nearly lost his mind, said I was going to blast the shutter blades right out of alignment. Look, I used short bursts from like 8 inches away and held the mirror up with a lock. No damage at all, the thing fires fine. I get that you shouldn't blast the shutter directly on high end stuff but this is a beat up 1970s workhorse, not a Leica. Has anyone else used compressed air carefully on old cloth shutters and had it work out?
I've been developing black and white prints at home for about 2 years now and I keep going back and forth on which toner to use for longevity. Sepia gives that warm vintage look but I've read it can weaken the emulsion over time if you don't fix it properly. Selenium is supposed to be better for archival keeping but it turns everything a cold purple-black that I'm not always into. I tried a batch of 8x10s last month with sepia and three of them started getting weird streaks after a week... now I'm thinking I should have stuck with selenium. Has anyone else had trouble with sepia fading or am I just messing up the washing step?
I picked up a cheap YONGNUO cleaning kit from B&H last month cause my 50mm f/1.4 had this haze that wouldn't come off with just a cloth. Tried the included fluid and swabs on the front element and it cleared up like 90% of the gunk. Anyone else had luck with those kits or do you just send them out for a proper service?
I started developing black and white film back in March after a friend gave me an old stainless steel tank and a broken thermometer. This week I loaded roll number 200 into my Patterson tank and it hit me that I actually stuck with this hobby for once. Most of those rolls are just me messing around with a beat up Pentax Spotmatic I found at a thrift store for $15. I ruined at least 30 rolls in the beginning because my developer temp was way off or I forgot to agitate. But now I can nail exposure compensation without even thinking and my negatives come out clean almost every time. The biggest surprise was how much money I saved doing it myself since a lab in my town charges $12 per roll just for develop only. Has anyone else kept count of how many rolls they've done at home?
I've been developing my own black and white film for about 2 years now. Last week I ran out of fresh fixer and had to mix some from powder, and I actually read the instructions for the first time. Turns out I was supposed to agitate constantly for the first 30 seconds then every 30 seconds after that. I always just gave it a few shakes at the start and let it sit. My negatives always came out a little hazy and I thought it was just cheap film. Now they're crystal clear after one roll. Anyone else find out way later they were skipping a basic step like this?
Had this old Minolta X-700 that's been sitting in my closet for like 2 years because the shutter would hang up at slow speeds. Tried everything - firing it empty, tapping it, even left it in the sun for a day. Finally read somewhere that you can dab a tiny bit of lighter fluid on the shutter blades and work them loose. Grabbed my Ronsonol, put maybe one drop on a q-tip, touched it to the edge of the blades, and fired it about 20 times. Now it's clicking through all speeds smooth as butter. Anyone else tried this on sticky leaf shutters? Does it come back after a few months?
I had a Spotmatic that sat in a basement for 20 years. The shutter blades were completely stuck, oil turned to glue. I tried lighter fluid, naphtha, even heat with a hair dryer, nothing worked. A guy at my local camera shop told me to try a tiny drop of plain dish soap on the blades and work them gently with a toothpick. After about 15 minutes of careful wiggling they freed up and the shutter fired normally. Has anyone else used something weird like that for stubborn lubricant?