I have magical film!

[ctam43]

I seemed to have stumbled across magical film that no one can seem to develop. The film is fujifilm black and white iso 400 35mm 36 exposure neopan professional.

My first attempt to get this film developed was at two different wal-marts, and a shoppers drug mart (I just wanted it done quick), both places said they couldn't do it because it wasn't c-41 film. So I went to two other local camera shops around my hometown, and they told me they would have to send it away since they didn't have the chemicals to develop the film. Finally, I just returned home to Halifax, and I took it to the Atlantic Photo Supply today, and they told me they would have to send it all the way to Winnipeg to get developed and it would take approximately 3 weeks.

WTF is the point of having this film if I can't get any God damn pictures developed from it??

Sorry about the swearing, but it's pretty frustrating. Does anyone know where I could get this developed?

 

[Josh66]

You would be hard pressed to find a 1 hour lab that still does traditional B&W...

You can either buy the chems and equipment to do it yourself, or send it out.

B&H sells mailers:
A&I Develop + Prints Mailer for Black & White Film B&H Photo

You should be able to buy them at other stores too.


Walmart, et al., even though they can't do it in-house, should still be able to send it out for you. Expect a 2-3 week turnaround time.

 

[bruce282]

Fewer and fewer places develop B&W film anymore.

A lot of folks that shoot B&W develop their own film, it's not that hard or expensive.

Bruce

 

[compur]

There are places advertised on the web that do B&W film via mail.

You can also learn to do it your self. It's not difficult.

 

[ctam43]

Thanks a lot guys.

I guess the consensus is to do it myself. Thanks for the links and the help.

 

[Josh66]

If you plan on doing a lot of B&W, yeah - I would say do it yourself.

If it's just a few rolls a year though, it might be better to just send it out.

For what 10 mailers would cost, you can buy everything you need to do it yourself.
If you see yourself shooting much more than 10 rolls, I would consider buying the gear to do it on your own.

 

[ctam43]

Yea, that makes sense.

I will be shooting a pretty significant amount of B&W for the next little while.

I've been looking up developing kits online, but do you know of any out there that are good, and fairly affordable?

Thanks again.

 

[Josh66]

Take a look at this thread, post #9 by djacobox372:
http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/film-discussion-q/226740-film-developed-incorrectly.html

Maybe toss a thermometer in there too.

 

[ctam43]

Perfect!

Thanks a lot

 

[j-dogg]

I saw magical film and came in here expecting Kodachrome content.

Develop it yourself, you can do it in a kitchen sink or a dark closet (followed shortly thereafter with the obligatory "that's what she said" ) takes next to no time at all.

Kodak sells a film called BW400CN in Walgreens it's not true black and white because it uses the C41 process but it is damn close and I honestly can't tell the difference.

 

[Rob1n]

Try a digital camera, then you don't need to get a gum chewing student to process it for you. They will ruin it anyway, processing B&W is a lost art. Neopan has a tiny tolerance, get it wrong and the grain gets very ugly indeed. sorry

 

[terri]

Try a digital camera, then you don't need to get a gum chewing student to process it for you. They will ruin it anyway, processing B&W is a lost art. Neopan has a tiny tolerance, get it wrong and the grain gets very ugly indeed. sorry

There's a lot wrong with this post, starting off with assuming anyone shooting B&W film is interested in a digital camera. Not helpful.

 

[Torus34]

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...lm-photography-part-iii-film-development.html

 

[terri]

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...lm-photography-part-iii-film-development.html

I can vouch for this series of articles!

Happy New Year, Jim! :hug::

 

[djacobox372]

Take a look at this thread, post #9 by djacobox372:
http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/film-discussion-q/226740-film-developed-incorrectly.html

Maybe toss a thermometer in there too.

There are also a lot of great how-to's on youtube that show you how simple it is.

The nice thing about B/W is that it's developed at room temperature, making a thermometer not completely necessary (although it's a good idea).