c/analog-camera-club

Took me 3 years to realize I was loading 35mm film backwards every time

I've been shooting film on and off for about 5 years now. Always had trouble getting a full 36 exposures out of a roll. Usually got stuck around 32 or 33. Thought it was just bad luck or cheap film. Then last month I was at a shop in Portland and the guy behind the counter watched me load a new roll into my Canon AE-1. He goes "you know that sprocket side should face the lens, right?" I felt like an idiot. Been doing it wrong the whole time. Now I get the full 36 every time. Anyone else make this kind of basic mistake early on?

Got told my negatives were too dense and it changed everything about my developing process

I took a roll of HP5 to a local lab in Portland last month and the guy said my negatives were way thicker than they should be. He asked if I was compensating for underexposure and I told him I just followed the times on the Massive Dev Chart. He laughed and said those times are a starting point not gospel. He told me to cut my development time by like 20% and agitate less. Tried it with a roll of Tri-X last week and the scans came out way cleaner with actual shadow detail. Has anyone else had a lab tech or random old head give you advice that made you rethink your whole workflow?

Hit 100 rolls developed this weekend and spilled fixer all over my kitchen table

I counted up my negatives last night while organizing my binder. 100 rolls since I started developing at home two years ago. The milestone came during a really messy session where I knocked over a bottle of fixer and it went everywhere. Smelled like rotten eggs for hours. But honestly that smell kind of makes it feel official now. Has anyone else hit a random number that just hit different?

Switched from tray developing to a Paterson tank after 15 years

For the longest time I did all my black and white work in trays in the kitchen sink. Three trays lined up, developer, stop, fixer. It worked fine but I was always fighting with dust and uneven development. Last winter I finally bought a Paterson tank and a changing bag for about $45. Now I can develop film while watching TV and the negatives come out way cleaner. Anyone else make the switch late in the game and wish they did it sooner?

Stop storing your film in the fridge with fruit - I lost 12 rolls to moisture

I threw a bunch of Portra 400 and Tri-X in my regular fridge last summer, right next to some apples and lettuce, and when I developed them 3 months later half of them had weird fog patterns and sticking issues. The humidity from the produce got into the canisters and damaged the emulsion. If you're gonna cold store your film, put it in a sealed container with some silica gel packs, not just loose in the drawer. Anyone else ruined a batch this way before noticing?

Overheard a guy at my local lab say he develops C-41 in his bathroom sink

I was dropping off some Portra at the photo lab in Austin last week and this older dude was telling the clerk he does all his color processing in his bathroom with a sous vide and no darkroom setup. He said he gets great results and saves like $15 a roll. Has anyone else tried developing color film without a proper darkroom setup?

Talked to a guy at the darkroom who made me rethink my whole developing process

I was at the community darkroom downtown last Saturday, waiting for my prints to dry, and this older guy named Dave started asking me what developer I use. I told him I've been using Ilfosol 3 for years because it's cheap and easy to find. He just shook his head and said I was wasting my rolls, that I should try a two-bath developer like Diafine because it gives way better shadow detail and you don't have to mess with time and temperature as much. I kind of brushed him off at first, but then he showed me some of his prints from a beat up Canonet he picked up for 20 bucks at a flea market, and the tones were incredible. Now I'm sitting on a bunch of rolls I already shot and I'm wondering if I should change my whole workflow, maybe pick up some Diafine this weekend. Has anyone else switched from a standard developer to a two-bath system and noticed a big difference?

Took me 3 hours to find out my developing tank was just slightly too dry

I was loading a roll of Tri-X 400 into my Paterson tank last night and kept getting light leaks in the exact same frame. Rewound it, checked the lid seal, checked the reel... nothing. After like an hour of troubleshooting I realized my tank had sat in a hot closet for 6 months and the little rubber gasket had shrunk just enough to let a pinprick of light in. I finally just wet the rim with a bit of water and it sealed up perfectly. Has anyone else dealt with a dried out gasket on an old Paterson?

I finally stopped hating Kodak Gold after a guy at a coffee shop in Portland changed my mind

I finally developed a roll from 2018 and the colors came out completely weird

Found a roll of Fuji Superia 400 in an old jacket pocket from like 6 years ago. Decided to just send it through the regular C41 process anyway. The negatives came out looking like someone messed with the saturation slider in Lightroom. Everything has this weird purple tint that I actually kinda like. Made me realize expired film is way more unpredictable than people online make it seem. Anybody else ever get weird results from old film you forgot about?

Printed my first roll from 1998 and the difference is hilarious

I dug out an old roll of Kodak Gold that sat in a hot car for 26 years and developed it last week. The colors came out all washed out and pink compared to a fresh roll I shot at the same park today. Has anyone else tried developing really old film and got weird results?

Tried switching from tank development to stand development for my black and white rolls

Honestly, I been developing my own 35mm for about 5 years now always using a standard tank with agitation every 30 seconds. But last month I tried stand development on a roll of Tri-X where you just let it sit in dilute Rodinal for an hour with barely any stirring. The grain came out way softer and the highlights looked dreamy but my shadows were kinda flat. Tbh I'm torn now - do you guys stick with the old reliable method or lean into the lazy stand technique? Has anyone else switched and regretted it or found it works best for certain films?

Finally got my developing times right after 3 ruined rolls of HP5

I kept getting super thin negatives until I realized my tap water was way colder than the 20C I assumed it was, so I picked up a cheap aquarium thermometer for $8 and now my shots actually have contrast - anyone else run into temp surprises with their water source?

Argued with a lab tech for 10 minutes about C-41 temperatures

I always heard you have to develop C-41 at exactly 102°F or the colors shift. Then I read a Kodak technical document from the 80s that says the process can handle up to 104°F with perfect results, just with shorter development time. Has anyone else run their chemicals warmer than the standard and gotten good scans?

Loaded a roll of Tri-X backwards at sunrise in Yosemite and only noticed after 12 shots

I was fumbling with cold hands near Half Dome, put the film in with the spool facing wrong, and now I have a whole roll of blank frames with cool light leaks on the edges - has anyone else gotten salvageable images from a mistake like this or should I just toss it?

Three days last spring where everything went right in the darkroom

I was printing in my basement in Chicago and every single negative from a roll of Tri-X came out perfectly exposed for once. No splotches, no dust spots, no weird chemical streaks. Has anyone else had a stretch where the photo gods just smiled on you for no reason?

Just found out Ilford FP4+ looks totally different at box speed vs pulling it

Shot a roll of FP4+ at ISO 125 last week like I always do. Got the negs back and they looked flat. Did some digging on a darkroom forum and found out this film is actually rated at ISO 100 for true box speed from the factory. Pulling it to 125 changes the contrast curve. I develop my own stuff at home with HC-110 and never noticed before because I always meter at 125. Going back to 100 next roll. Has anyone else seen a big difference with this film at different speeds?

Talking to a retired photographer changed how I see film grain

I was at a local camera swap meet in Portland last Saturday and got to chatting with a guy named Frank who shot weddings on 35mm for 40 years. He told me he never pushed Tri-X past 400 because he liked the grain exactly where Kodak designed it, and that hit me different after I'd spent weeks trying to get grainy results from underexposed rolls. Now I'm wondering if I've been chasing the wrong look this whole time, has anyone else had a pro change their mind on something basic like that?

Brought home a roll of XP2 Super from a garage sale for $3 and I'm never going back to Tri-X

Guy in Pottstown had a box of old film hidden under some vinyl records. Three bucks for one roll that expired in 2018. I figured why not. Developed it at the lab down the street and the grain is just so much smoother than what I get with Tri-X. Has anyone else switched emulsions based on a random find like this?

My Yashica-Mat shutter jammed mid-roll on Saturday, lost 12 shots

Was shooting a friend's wedding party in a park near downtown, went to advance the film and the crank just stopped. Felt like sand inside. Took it to a repair guy on Monday, says the old grease got sticky and gummed up the shutter blades. Cost me $80 to get it cleaned and adjusted. Anyone else have a camera freeze up at the worst possible time?

Just did a head to head between D76 and Rodinal on the same roll of HP5

I cut a roll of HP5 in half and developed each piece different. D76 gave me nice smooth grain, pretty standard look. Rodinal was sharper but way grainier. Like sandpaper grain. For portraits I'd pick D76 every time. But for street photography that gritty Rodinal look just works. Depends what you want I guess. Anyone else done a side by side like that with the same film stock?

Just compared hand-rolled 35mm to a lab-developed roll and the difference is scary

I shot the same roll of Portra 400 on my AE-1 last weekend, one roll I developed myself in the kitchen sink and the other I sent to a lab in Austin. My home job had dust spots everywhere and the colors looked flat. The lab roll came back crisp with way better contrast. I thought I was saving money at $4 a roll vs $12 at the lab but after seeing the results I'm sticking with the pros for color film. Has anyone else had this happen or is my developing technique just trash?

TIL you can hit 500 rolls developed before your first major chemical accident - I almost did

I kept a log since I started developing at home back in 2022 and I just ticked over 500 rolls last night. I was mixing up some fresh D-76 when I splashed a bit of developer on my arm. Not a big deal usually but this time it got into a tiny cut and burned like crazy for a few minutes. Made me realize I have been way too casual about safety gear. I always wear gloves but I skip the apron and eyewear half the time. After 499 rolls without issues I got lazy. That little burn was a wake-up call because one slip could ruin a lot more than film. Anyone else get too comfortable after hitting a big number?

My $50 bulk loader turned 5 rolls into a disaster

I grabbed a used bulk film loader off eBay for $50 thinking I'd save money loading my own 35mm. First couple rolls came out fine, but then I loaded a roll that had tiny scratches all the way through from a rough felt light trap. Now I'm debating if the savings are worth the risk of ruining whole shoots. Anyone else had a bulk loader mess up their film or is mine just a lemon?

People keep calling flashbulbs the same as speedlights

Was at a camera swap meet last Saturday and this kid kept saying his old Graflex flash was just a vintage speedlight. No man, flashbulbs are single use glass bulbs that pop with actual fire inside, not a rechargeable strobe. Had to pull a burned out GE #5 from my bag to show him the difference. Anyone else run into folks mixing up old flash tech?