Cheapest and Best Way for Developing and Printing 8x10s

[norly]

The best and only? place to do 8x10 development in sweden is Team framkallning in sthlm.... Speak with Veikko he will set you up.

ps, ive said this in one of your other post, but that was before I saw this request. So here it comes again.

[toolbox]

I may be the lone dissenting voice here, but it is possible to shoot LF (even 8x10) on a budget...you might have to make some compromises, but that's the nature of photography . If it weren't possible to do it on the cheap, I wouldn't be able to do it at all . I'm in this for fun...I"m not trying to create the perfect negative and perfect print at this point...I just don't have the time to devote to it at this stage in life.
There are deals on equipment out there, but you have to hunt for them... For film, I've been shooting all kinds of expired stock...some as old as the early 1990s. Yes, it's always a crapshoot, but so far I've only had one total failure (some Ilford ASA400 in 120). It fogged so bad it was unusable. And since it's just for fun the added "randomness" of old film doesn't bother me. I've bought big boxes of the stuff, and sold some off so the rest is actually *free*, and that price I'll live with it . For serious work, I'll go with new film. All my paid jobs have been digital so far, but if anyone ever takes me up on a film shoot it would have to be new too obviously. I've used that Shanghai stuff in 4x5 and was pleasantly surprised with it. They sell it in 8x10, but IIRC it wasn't as good of a deal. X-Ray film is another inexpensive option, but it too has it's issues you have to decide if you can with with. Again, at the price I'm totally game...
For developer, I've been mixing up a 2 bath using the Barry Thornton formula...it's not only really cheap to mix up, it's also really forgiving for times and temps, which is a big bonus particularly when working with old film...I don't sweat the unknown variables it introduces so much.

If you want to nail down the absolute best results with the most consistency, you're going to pay more for it. If "good enough" is good enough, you can do this stuff on a surprisingly small budget...I guess it comes down to what compromises you're willing to make in return for lowering cost.

[cosmicexplosion]

there is cheap black and white film on ebay

or like others have said just start with the paper you would normally print on, put it in the darkslide where the negative normally goes and expose it as if it was a neg.

you may have to experiment!!!!!

ps do a google, or search this forum for images of paper negs.

then scan or develop.

i think that is cheeeeeeeeep.

[Andrew O'Neill]

xray film. It's orthochromatic, but you can get lovely results with it... and it's CHEAP!
Cheapest developer? I mix my own from scratch, either pyrocat-hd, D-19, LC-1B...
Cheapest development method? That's easy... trays. Trays are also the best because they allow you to play around with agitation.

[Brian C. Miller]

The problem is that Zenny lives in Sweden. I imagine that he may need to pay exhorbitant taxes on things brought into the country via mail order, and some things may be unavailable to him. (I remember someone from Central America on another forum telling us what it's like to live outside the US. Quite enlightening.)