Unless your going to be doing alot of film, the price for equipment and chemicals really outweigh the advantages of doing it yourself. Also the availability of equiment and chemicals. Some chemicals are considered hazmat and some retailers will no longer ship it since they don't want to deal with the extra paperwork. As for equipment. As far as I know, nobody makes small processors any longer. Jobo quit a couple years ago. And
eBay supplies are starting to go down. I just check and only 65 items on
ebay. Used to be in the hundreds. Some stores still have new old stock but the selection is dwindling.
Now if you would like to do black and white. You don't even need a processor. If your carefull you can even do slide film without a processor or anything. Just need a couple film reels and a developing tank, and a way to control a water bath. Black and white there is a fairly broad range for temperatures. Actually fairly easy to do at home without major equipment (developing).
For color and color transparencies there are several steps that require precise temperature. This can be done with a large water bath in a big tub or sink. In college we did slide film with a water bath that was constantly filled by a water control (faucet that maintains set temp). But obviously a processor like Jobo's with a controlled water bath make it easier. I my college days I used to use a fish tank with a modified heater that would keep the temp. It worked pretty well. I then bought a Jobo processor and it made things alot easier. Jobo items can be purchased on eBay still, but the choices are starting to dwindle. And because of that prices on some items are going through the roof (buy it now prices). Jobo CPE is the smallest processor an will do up to 5-6 rolls of 35mm in a batch is you have the right tube extensions. I have actually done up to 8 on my CPE (more than they suggest, strain on the turning motor). I also have 2 Jobo TBE 2-12 tempering units. Each will hold 12 1 liter chemical bottles at the right temp (what you set). You could use just a Single TBE-2 tempering bath to do color film. There is a hole in it for tempering a developing tube, up to 6 1 liter bottles, and 6 1/4 liter vials. The TBE 2 is designed for small batch developing 2 rolls at a time. The TBE 2/12 is designed to temperature control 12 chemical bottles. When I did developing I would do several batches in a row, would try and use up a whole 5 liter E-6 kit doing slides. I would save up so I have 50-60 rolls of film ready to develope. So I used the 2 -TBE 2/12 to have my next set of chemicals ready to go. This way I am not storing chemicals, ie wasting it.
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