When you think about how sensitive film is to light and how careful you always have to be with it, many people are absolutely terrified by the thought of developing your own film at home. I know I was. When I started researching how to develop my own film, I immediately noticed the warnings on each step. Each one pointed to how easy it would be to screw up your film at that particular step. Developing your own film almost felt like being Indiana Jones trying to navigate your way through a labyrinth of traps and tricks designed to kill you at any misstep.

But learning to develop film is actually easy and developing film at home can save you a ton of time and money! For years, I developed film at my own home, in my bathroom. You don’t need a big space or a lot of super special equipment, just a few things and the willingness to explore something new and create something beautiful!

In this blog post, I’m going to be sharing my process, the equipment and tools and chemicals that I use to develop color negative film (CN-41) at home.

Developing Color Film Guide

First, this process is only for color negative. Usually the chemistry required to process the film is listed on the cartridge. But generally, you just know. Color Slide film must be processed in E-6 chemistry and black and white film is a different chemistry and process all together. This guide will help you develop your Kodak Portra, Ektar, Ultramax, etc films.

Equipment List

The equipment is going to be your biggest investment. Here is a complete list of the gear I need to develop film at home.

1 Liter Glass Bottles - 4 ea - Find them on Amazon
Thermometer - 1 ea - Find one on Amazon
Bottle Cap Opener - 1 ea - These Work Great
Scissors - 1 ea
Funnel - 1 ea - Find them on Amazon
Film Spool - 1 to 3 ea - Find them on Amazon
Developing Tank - 1 ea - This Tank Comes with Spools!
1,000 ml Measuring Beaker - 1 ea - Find them on Amazon
Plastic Storage Container - 1 ea
Stirring Rod - 1 ea - Find one on Amazon
Warm Water Circulation System - 1 ea - Available from B&H
Film Squeegee - 1 ea - Find one on Amazon
Film Clips - Several - Find them on Amazon

I’ll include links below to purchase the exact equipment I use. I’ve been using this gear for years and have a pretty decent groove going. Every photographer might do things a little different or have a different set up, but this works best for me!

Chemistry

There are several options out there for chemistry. In the beginning, you could easily get chemistry shipped to your house in both liquid or powder form. But over the past few years, that has changed. And the quality and availability of the chemistry has changed also. I’m not going to spend any time here reviewing chemistry options, rather, I’m going to cut to the chase with my recommendation.

For color chemistry (C-41), I prefer to use the Cinestill CS41 Color Negative Film Kit. This kit can be ordered in both liquid and powder form, which is helpful as sometimes shipping the liquids can be an issue. The liquid kit is almost always in short supply also. I have used both the powder and the liquid kits and have gotten the same consistent results from both. Cinestill’s kits are easy to use and come with detailed and color instructions to help you get the times and temperatures right.

Chemistry does become exhausted pretty quickly as you process and/or let the chemistry sit around. I have a tendency to try to keep at least one powder kit on hand just in case my chemistry is exhausted. It is ok to push the chemistry, but it’s more of an art than a science and you need some experience before you start trying to use almost exhausted chemistry on photos for clients or your own cherished moments!

Mixing the chemistry is actually quite easy, but it does require that you use water at specific temperatures, which is where your thermometer will come in handy.

Prepping Your Film for Processing

This part is honestly probably the most difficult because the film canisters must be opened and spooled in complete darkness. It can take a little bit of practice to get really fast at it, but it is not hard to do as long as you do a little planning and know what you’re doing before you turn out the lights.

Step 1 - Find/Make a Completely Dark Space

I’ve had a lot of luck using bathrooms. When I say completely dark, I absolutely mean COMPLETELY DARK. Turn off the lights and let your eyes adjust. If you can see anything at all, there’s too much light in the room. Generally, I stuff towels under the doors and/or hand a quilt or other thick blanket over the door. You know you’ve done it right when you cannot even see your hand in front of your face. This level of darkness can be a little disorienting, so be careful and be aware of your surroundings as you work. Remove any obstacles or objects that might cause you to trip or be hurt in the dark. Also, be sure to remove your Apple Watch or other smartwatch or fitness device. Take your phone out of your pocket as well. I actually ruined a roll of film because I forgot that my Apple Watch was still on and when I flipped my wrist it illuminated and the film was completely fogged.

Once you’re sure your space is light-tight, you are ready to move on to step 2.

Step 2 - Lay Out your Film and Equipment

This is important because it helps to know exactly where everything is before you turn out the lights. When I first started developing film, I did not have a lot of countertop space, which made laying things out difficult. Ideally, you want to lay things out in the order that you will use them and with enough space between the objects that you may not knock something over in the dark and not be able to find it. Once you start, you won’t be able to turn on the lights until you have the film in the developing tank with the lid secured. Until that moment, even if you drop everything, you cannot turn on the lights because the film will be ruined. Here’s what you’ll need to prep the film:

Exposed Film
Scissors
Bottle Cap Opener
Developing Tank (including the lid, and also the center spool if included)
Film spools

Normally I set my gear in a left to right configuration. The bottle cap opener on the left, then the roll(s) of film, then the scissors, then the film spools on the right.

Step 3 - Open and Spool the Film

Finally, we get to the fun part. Close the door, make sure everything is super light tight. make sure that there are no electronic devices nearby that are going to light up and fog the film. And in my case, make sure that there are no little kids that are going to burst into the room randomly, as my children like to do. Now let’s open up that film canister!

With the lights off, take your first roll of film and use the bottle cap opener to pry up on the side of the canister that does not have the protruding cylinder. I like to use the little cylinder to push the film out of the canister, so I open the other end. Once the bottom cap is removed, discard it (I throw it on the floor and clean it up later). Push up on the cylinder and remove the film roll and discard the canister. Hold the film by the plastic spool and do you best not to touch the film. Some spools might be included to spring loose so be careful to listen/feel for the film unspooling. More often however the film will remain tight against the spool. Pull the film leader away from the spool (the leader is the first part of the film that has the notch cut out. It’s what you use to spool up the camera), and cut the leader when the film is at its full width. Try to cut as little of the full width film as possible. Carefully, holding the film by its edges, insert the film into the uptake spot on the film spool. You might want to practice this part in the light with some old film before you actually try it with an exposed roll. Depending on the spool type you are using, they can sometimes be difficult. Once the film is started on the spool with a couple of rounds on the spool, carefully make sure you do not drop the film or let it hit the ground and begin to spool the film until you hit the film’s little black spool.

Here’s a visual example of how to hold the film and the film spool while loading. I generally do this with both hands.

It is a little bit of a trick to be able to hold the film carefully and spool it. It would definitely be worth grabbing an old or cheaper roll of film and just practicing this in the light before you try to do it blind.

Now you take your scissors and cut the film away from its original spool and finish spooling it onto the development spool. Normally the film is held on by tape, but sometimes the sprocket holes are fed into a center spool. Either way, you are going to have to cut the film to free it.

Once you have spooled the entire role, I always go ahead and place it in the developing tank, especially if I have more rolls of film to open. That way, there’s less chance of it getting dusty or exposed to light if anything happens. When you have all the rolls you are going to develop spooled up, place the lid on to the developer tank and make sure it’s locked down and light tight. From here you can turn on the lights and clean up the mess!

Step 4 - Prep the Chemicals

At this point, the instructions that came with your chemicals take precedent over whatever I say here. Mix them according to the instructions that came with them. I generally allow them to sit and settle a few hours before I use them to develop with. But I’ve also used them immediately so that’s up to you. Generally however, all of the chemicals will need to be heated to well-above room temperature. The Cinestill kit I use requires heating the chemicals to 102 degrees Fahrenheit or 38.9 degrees Celsius.

To heat my chemicals, I get a plastic tub and fill it with water. I then insert the Cinestill TCS-1000 and allow it to circulate and heat the water. I used to do this by using really hot water only and then just immersed my chemicals and monitored the temperature but this was really unreliable. After I purchased the TCS-1000, the process has been soooooooo much easier! I normally set the TCS-1000 to 104 instead of 102 degrees so that chemicals will make it over the last little hump of getting to developing temperature. I use my thermometer to monitor the temps in the chemicals and once they reach the correct temp, I ready to move ahead to Step 5!

Step 5 - Run the Film Through the Process

Here’s the tools and equipment you will need:

Again, the instructions that came with your chemicals will guide you through all of the specifics. You need to pay close attention to temperatures and times. As well as notes about agitation methods. Developing temperature, developing time, and film agitation can all have various effects on the final result so if you’re new to film developing, you definitely want to follow the instructions exactly.

For most color film developing, the process is the same with only a few variations. Here’s the basic process:

Pre-Wash (tap water at developer temperature)
Developer
Blix
Rinse
Stabilizer/Photo-Flo
Dry

To pre-wash, I usually just adjust the hot and cold taps until the running water is approximately that of the chemicals (102 for me). I simply hold my thermometer under the water and make adjustments until it gets to the correct temperature. Normally, you run the developer tank full of water and just let it sit for the prescribed time. Usually around a minute or so. Then you simply dump out the water. Don’t be shocked if the water comes out green or purple or brown or blue or some other color. The films are coated by the manufacturer and part of the pre-wash is to remove that coating.

Immediately after the pre-wash, I pour the developer into my tank with the film and begin agitations. During the entire developing process, I leave my TCS-1000 running to keep the chemical temperature consistent. When I’m not agitating, I put my tank back in the warm water to keep the chemicals from losing temps.

When it comes to agitation, there are a couple of different methods for you to consider using. Most developer tanks come with a little peg/handle that you can insert and rotate the film inside of the tank. They also come with a rubber lid that can be installed allowing you to agitate by inverting the tank. I have used both methods with similar success. Lately, however, I have noticed some lighter edges on my film around the sprocket holes which might be caused by turbulent developer swirling around the plastic spools as I spin them with the peg. I have been inverting more lately and have not seen those lighter edges.

The developer generally stays in for somewhere around 3:30 but that varies so check the instructions that came with your developer. As I’m developing, I go ahead and put the funnel in the developer bottle and get ready to pour the chemical back into the bottle. I also go ahead and open the bottle of blix so that I can be ready to pour. I get kinda obsessive about things when I’m developing and I like to make sure the same lids go back on the bottles they came off of. So opening ahead of time helps me to be organized enough that I don’t get things mixed up.

As soon as the developer is out, the blix goes in. Blix generally takes several minutes longer than the developer. Be careful not to spill the blix during the process, it can sometimes leave a nasty stain. While I’m blixing, I go ahead and put the lid on the developer and set it aside (or back in the heating tank if I have another batch to do). I also rinse the funnel and move it to the blix bottle to be ready to pour when the time has finished.

Once your blix process is finished, the film is no longer light sensitive and you can remove the lid without damaging the images. I usually pour the blix back into its bottle and then begin the rinse. Your rinse water needs to be warm, generally around 102 degrees and your rinse time can vary, but normally is around three to five minutes. Don’t get impatient during the rinse, just let everything get rinsed really well.

I normally allow the tank to fill completely up and then remove the lid and dump out the water and refill. You will need to dump the water several times during the rinse process. There will usually be a slight color tint to the water at first, but this should completely fade away as you rinse and dump.

Once rinse is complete, you can stabilize. Not all chemistry kits include a stabilizer. I normally mix in a drop of Kodak Photo-Flo with my stabilizer. But literally only add one drop. Too much and things will get really sudsy. If your chemistry doesn’t require stabilization (the Cinestil kits do not) then I go ahead and fill the tank up one more time with water and put a very small drop of Photo-Flo in and agitate for a few seconds.

After this, drain the water and you’re ready to move to the next step!

Step 6 - Drying the Film

Once the liquid is drained from the tank, the drying process has already started. As film dries, it can develop water spots, which are kind of a pain to get off. So to start the drying process, I usually try to get as much water as I can off of the film before I hang it up to dry. My practice is to leave the film in the spool and give it a good shake to get as much water off as I can. I then pull the film out of the spool and use a squeegee to get even more water off.

Using a squeegee is a hotly debated practice because there is the risk of scratching the film as you squeegee it. I’ve actually done it before and its heart-breaking. I’ve learned to be careful and make sure everything is clean and all surfaces are free of debris before I start. Your film will dry just fine without the squeegee, I’ve just found it leaves fewer water spots when I use the squeegee.

Next, you simply clip the film onto a film hanger and find a nice quiet cool and preferably dark place to let the film dry. The drying process takes a few hours and you generally want your film to be completely dried before you store or scan your film. Film loves to attract dust, and water spots are just a pain you don’t need in your life so hanging your film somewhere without a lot of air movement or light will allow the film to dry with less issues.

Sometimes, especially with 35mm film, the film can curl up as it dries. I usually attach another film drying clip to the bottom to hold the film straight, and it also helps a little with the curl. The film can curl up or it can kinda form an arch, both are difficult to deal with when storing or scanning so every step you can take to prevent it will help. You will discover that some films are worse than others when it comes to curling.

After Processing

Once your film has dried, you’re ready for the next step, which could be storing in film holders, scanning, or printing in a darkroom. Either way, the hard part is over and you’ve developed your first roll(s) of film! Congrats!

Be warned, once you start this process, film developing is kind of infectious. I love developing film at home and look forward to shooting so I can develop my next rolls. It’s almost a magical process honestly!

If you have any questions or run into any issues, please feel free to email me at tony@shutterjunkies.org or find me on Facebook - I’ll be happy to help you out!

If you’re just exploring and interested in find out more about film options, check out a few of my previous blog posts!

Kodak Film

Film Photography as a Hobby

3 Best Kodak Films for Beginners

Good luck and keep shooting!!

How to Develop Film at Home - Everything You Need and Need to Know!