Home developing ? basic kit

Home developing – basic kit

All the basic kit lined up on the kitched windowsill. The developer (white bottle with red label) is a small size, but the fixer (on the left) is family size. When you get into darkroom work seriously, you end up bulk buying for economy...

I’m assuming that you have a sink or a moderate-size hand basin to work in, with hot and cold running water, though at a pinch, you can manage without – it’s just more complicated, and harder work!

You’ll also need somewhere relatively dust-free to dry films: a shower room where you can leave a film hanging up for a couple of hours will be good, and the more dust-free it is, the better.

I suggest buying a photographic measuring jug: using the kitchen Pyrex jug may cause a degree of domestic conflict.

You will definitely need a developing tank, a thermometer that gives readings around 20ᵒ Centigrade to +/- half a degree, and a clean bottle to keep the fixer in. And either a small photographic measuring cylinder or a large syringe for measuring the developer accurately.

The Paterson System 4 tank is the benchmark, but others exist, and some are very good indeed. A secondhand Paterson costs around £15, and you may well find it bundled with other useful stuff.



The parts of a Paterson tank laid out - I'll show you how to use them tomorrow...

For 35mm film, you need a 300ml measuring cylinder, but 600ml or 1000ml will be fine, and allow you to process roll film as well – cost will be around the £10 mark new. The smaller (50ml) cylinder that you use for measuring developer is a bit cheaper.

A photographic thermometer will cost from £10 new.

You can buy special photographic storage bottles, but anything will do. Beware, though – you need to make sure that the bottle is clean, and that it can’t be mistaken for a soft drink. None of the chemicals you use for basic developing are terribly poisonous, but they’re certainly not good for you if you neck them down. Ideally, use an old photographic bottle - if you can blag one from someone else who is already addicted, it's simple!

And if the bottle has a narrow neck, you’ll need a moderate-size funnel to help you pour the fixer into it from the developing tank.

Finally, you will need small bottles of developer and fixer, from around £6 each.

And that’s all. You can get all of the chemicals and equipment from any good photographic retailer: I particularly like Ag Photographic, who offer a selection of starter kits as well as individual items. They are still very much open for business during lockdown, but only by mail order.



If you use a very highly concentrated developer, a syringe may be easier and cheaper to obtain than a measuring cylinder - to develop one 35mm film in a Paterson tank, you need to measure 12ml of developer if you're using the modern version of Afga Rodinal that I'm using. Other developers are diluted less.