Each house has old photo albums that are carefully stored and proudly shown to guests. And in this there is a special nostalgic charm that is not present in modern information keepers. Currently, film printing has given way to first place in digital printing, but it is still in high demand.
The chemical process in which a negative is obtained from a regular black-and-white or color film is called film development. At home, developing a film does not require any rare abilities or long training. It will require only accuracy and careful observance of all stages. The main thing at the same time is not to be afraid to learn this interesting process.
First you need to prepare all the materials and tools. A tank is a necessary thing, without which film development will not be possible. As a rule, it is available to all people who have previously been involved in photography, so it can be easily borrowed from relatives or friends. You can buy a modern tank in a specialized store, but it will cost more. The developer and fixer will have to be purchased at the store, and instead of distilled water, you can boil ordinary filtered water. As a stop solution, low concentration vinegar can be used.
Next begins the development of the film. In a completely dark room, you need to unwind the film and insert it into the development tank. It is worth remembering that the glare of light can finally and irrevocably “illuminate” all frames. We dilute the developer, following the instructions on the package, and fill it there. After that, you can already work in a lighted room.
During the entire time that a black-and-white film develops, scroll the tank clockwise every minute. The development time may vary depending on the brand of developer, its concentration and type of film. The right choice of development time allows you to achieve different contrast negative. But errors in the selection of parameters may result in the film being damaged.
Then we pour the developer and immediately fill the stop solution to stop the development and rinse the film. At the next stage, drain the stop solution, fill in the fixer and keep it in the tank for about 6 minutes. You can hold the fixer longer so that the black and white film does not darken over time.
In order to wash the fixer, you need to thoroughly rinse the film with distilled (or ordinary) water. A similar process usually takes 10-20 minutes, during which you will have to rotate the development tank from time to time and change the water. After that, gently wipe the film with a sponge and hang it on a rope, securing with a clothespin, dry in a room (for example, in a bathroom), where there is the least dust. As a load below, we fix a couple more clothespins. Drying time not less than 2 hours.
Thus, developing a film only at first glance seems to be a very complicated process, but if you try it at least once, then it will seem like you always did it. After all, this is a very fascinating process, as a result of which a film is produced that is shown by one's own hands.