Since I started shooting film, I’ve managed to spend a lot of money at photography stores. Each roll of film can cost up to $30 to develop the film, scan the film, and then put all the photos on a CD for me to take home and view on my computer (or in some cases, print each photo at a small cost for each print). This starts to rack up as I try to shoot more rolls of film, so I decided try my hand at developing film myself in my bathroom.
It isn’t as complicated as it sounds, since all you have to do is gather all the tools necessary to develop on your own. However, the initial cost is quite steep. The tools I needed are:
- Film developing tank ($30)
- Film changing dark bag ($30)
- Developing Chemical ($20)
- Fixing Chemical ($20)
- High resolution photo scanner with film insert ($140)
Total Cost = $240
Again, photography is getting expensive, as you can see by my total costs. However, that amount equals about 10 rolls of film developed by the guys at the photography stores, and I’ve already developed 8 rolls on my own since I started doing this 1 week ago!
Here are some scans from rolls that I developed myself:
All in all, I think this is a more efficient method of developing for film, especially for a hobbyist like me who is merely shooting film just for fun. When I can minimize the long-term cost of operations trying a new method, why wouldn’t I? Do you think it’s worthwhile spending more money up front, or would you rather spend for each roll you want developed?
Through the Lens of a Tenor 