Hi:

I am seriously thinking of learning to develope and print my black and white negative. I would like to know is there exist such a book that is written in a form of FAQ format? Also, can you recommend books that is simple enough for beginners?

sincerely,

Edward Yu

-- Edward Yu (fallot@ms2.hinet.net), December 06, 2001

Answers

Edward, I use "Beyond Basic Photography" by Henry Horenstein to teach a B/W class. It's a great text. If you want something more technical, consider "The Film Developing Cookbook" by Steve Anchell and "The Elements of Black and White Printing" by Carson Graves. I think there was even a Leica darkroom book published at one time. The darkroom forums on Lusenet are a good place to look, also. Good luck!

-- Steve Wiley (wiley@accesshub.net), December 06, 2001.

I've found that Ansel Adams 'The Negative' and 'The Print' are basics that should be in any library. Though they can be a bit hard to wade through in spots (the zone system stuff is heavy going), his advice on developing a personal film and paper speed are essential IMO.

-- Bob Todrick (bobtodrick@yahoo.com), December 06, 2001.

I strongly recommend that you start with a Kodak book as a beginner. The more advanced technique books can come later, of course. Kodak's darkroom guide and Basic B&W processing books will get you started and give you good results from the very first roll of film. I think Barnes & Noble has them in stock, I am sure Amazon.com would have them as well. B&H too. If nothing else, go to kodak.com and look around. I have been processing B&W for years and I still go to my Kodak Adacvanced B&W book on a regular basis. Kodak makes the best product for the darkroom technician, hands down. When you want to push the envelop of your style, technique and the materials, guys like Ansel Adams rule, but for the beginner, its Kodak all the way.

-- Dan Brown (brpatent@swbell.net), December 06, 2001.

I would like to second Mr. Wiley's recommendation of Anchell & Troop's Film Developing Cookbook. Of all the books I have seen, it comes closest to having the FAQ format that you want. However, if you have never developed film before you will need a basic text as well. Phil Davis's Basic Photography book (I forget the exact title) is very good, with plenty of photographs to illustrate the various steps of the development sequence.

By far the hardest part of film development for the beginner is, believe it or not, getting the film on the reel in the dark. Practice loading some scrap film on a reel, first with the lights on, then with lights off or your eyes closed, until you get the hang of it.

Good luck Edward. Doing your own developing and printing will add enormously to the experience of photography and, eventually, to the quality of your results.

David.

-- David Mark (dbmark@ix.netcom.com), December 06, 2001.

>By far the hardest part of film development for the beginner is, believe it or not, getting the film on the reel in the dark.

This is really true. If you are just starting out and can get this right, the rest is easy. Just use Tri-X and D76 1:1 until you get good at it, and then start playing around if you want.

-- Pete Su (psu_13@yahoo.com), December 06, 2001.

I think one really good book to start with is The Craft of Photography by David Vestal. You can find some used and inexpensive at, for example: http://dogbert.abebooks.com/abe/BookDetails?bi=70652692. To me he and Bill Pierce (Leica Manual) were two of the best craftsmen and teachers of the craft of B&W 35mm. I agree with the above about choosing one film, probably Tri-X, and developing it with D76 (1 to 1) or HC-110 (1 to 31) until you get really good with it before you experiment all over the board with other combinations. I used a Focomat 1C with a Rodagon enlarging lens to make a lot of great prints. They can be found inexpensively now. Unfortunately mine now lives in my brother's darkroom and I shoot mostly Velvia and Provia. Good luck.

-- Don (wgpinc@yahoo.com), December 06, 2001.

Couple of good articles on B&W Developing using HC-110. http://teachnet.edb.utexas.edu/~leica/hc110.html http://www.kodak.com/global/en/professional/support/techPubs/j24/j24.s html http://www.photogs.com/bwworld/faq/faq6.html http://www.bayarea.net/~ramarren/photostuff/tmytx/tmytx.htm

The only developer I liked better than HC-110 with Tri-X was Agfa Atomal which gave the most beautiful balance of contrast, shadow and highlight detail I have ever seen. Unfortunately it was unstable and tricky to work with and Agfa dropped it. Good luck.

-- Don (wgpinc@yahoo.com), December 06, 2001.

Don, Atomal is available is available in Europe, although Agfa may have changed the formula since you last used it. A German company called Calbe (a former division of Agfa Germany) also sells it as Calbe A49. This company also produces a version of Rodinol that is true to the original formula. FYI the developing agent in Atomal is PPD. While capable of producing beautiful, long scale negs, it's also a known carcinogen.

-- Steve Wiley (wiley@accesshub.net), December 07, 2001.

Try Fred Pickerd's book "Zone VI Workshop". It is OUTSTANDING and SIMPLE.

Good Luck!

-- Tony Oresteen (aoresteen@mindspring.com), December 10, 2001.