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View Full Version : How soon after shooting do you develop?



Daniel_Buck
29-Jul-2007, 23:34
I curious for those who don't shoot professionally (or for those professionals, when you are shooting for your personal collection), how soon after you shoot do you get around to developing the film? (large format)

For those who hand off to labs, how soon do you send them off?

Me being so immersed in everything digital at home and at work, I can't stand not seeing my photos soon, so I usually develop them the evening after I shoot, let them dry over night then scan them in the next evening after work. I'm also fortunate enough to live close by to sooo many nice areas for shooting (I go to Malibu, CA usually) I don't have to travel very far to shoot, so I can process within hours of shooting.

Ole Tjugen
30-Jul-2007, 02:01
In my case, it's "all of the above".

Some times I get it done right away, but other times it can take several months...

Walter Calahan
30-Jul-2007, 04:22
I can wait a few days. My life is full of deadlines, so who needs more.

Diane Maher
30-Jul-2007, 04:42
I can wait a few days. My life is full of deadlines, so who needs more.

Me too. I have some negatives waiting to be developed from the View Camera Conference still. However, I am working on a few prints at the moment that I need to get done and they have to get done first. I'll go back to developing film next week. :)

evan clarke
30-Jul-2007, 05:01
I always make 2 sheets of the same exposure so I can fine tune the second sheet if the first is not where I want it. I try to develop sheet 1 in a week or so, print it and study the print to make a good decision about the second sheet. If I am happy with the first one, I store the spares for a later experiment...EC

Louie Powell
30-Jul-2007, 05:10
No definitive answer - it all depends. If I am working around home, I may process the same day. If I am away, then I wait until I get home. I generally try to accumulate two or more sheets to process at a time, so a single sheet may have a longer dwell time than a batch.

And of course there is the matter of fitting processing in around the honey-do projects that always seem to take priority.

Ralph Barker
30-Jul-2007, 05:30
It's a wise man who gives priority to his honey-do list. :D

fotographis
30-Jul-2007, 05:42
If I am shooting Black and White, then I usually process within a few days. However, if I am shooting chromes, I usually wait until I have amassed enough film (both LF and MF) to justify buying the 5 liter one shot Kodak E6 kit, which only lasts a week before certain chemicals in the kit go to pot. I process all my film in a Jobo CPE.

Oren Grad
30-Jul-2007, 05:49
Anywhere from 15 minutes to several months.

Ole Tjugen
30-Jul-2007, 06:10
... to justify buying the 5 liter one shot Kodak E6 kit, which only lasts a week before certain chemicals in the kit go to pot. I process all my film in a Jobo CPE.

I have the 3-bath 5 liter JOBO chemical kit, and only mix as much as I need for each developing session. The stock chemicals last for years unopened, and at least a year when opened. I do all my E6 processing with a JOBO CPE-2 - small films in reels, 5x7" and up in paper drums.

Andre Noble
30-Jul-2007, 06:31
...I usually wait until I have amassed enough (transparency) film (both LF and MF) to justify buying the 5 liter one shot Kodak E6 kit, which only lasts a week before certain chemicals in the kit go to pot.

I hope you're freezing your exposed E6 sheets in the meantime. E-6 sheets are notorious for magenta shifting if not processed right away.

Dick Hilker
30-Jul-2007, 06:33
The nearest lab is an hour's drive, so I usually wait until I have enough sheets to make the trip worthwhile. I'd love to develop my own again, but live with a septic system near a pristine river and wouldn't want to risk polluting it with the chemicals.

Bill_1856
30-Jul-2007, 06:50
If I am shooting Black and White, then I usually process within a few days. However, if I am shooting chromes, I usually wait until I have amassed enough film (both LF and MF) to justify buying the 5 liter one shot Kodak E6 kit, which only lasts a week before certain chemicals in the kit go to pot. I process all my film in a Jobo CPE.

Hey there, fotographis. One of the rare photographers who does his own E6. No PhD here! Good for you!

Scott Davis
30-Jul-2007, 06:54
Like Ole, I TRY to soup my film as soon as possible, but sometimes it sits in the holders or in the offload box for days or even a week or two before I can get to it.

Brian Ellis
30-Jul-2007, 07:23
Varies, usually within a day or two but sometimes up to a week. It depends a lot on how excited I am about the photographs. Every now and then I can't wait to see what I've got so I'll develop as soon as I get home.

Ron Marshall
30-Jul-2007, 07:52
I wait until I have enough sheets of the same zone system development grade, N, N+1 etc to fill the Jobo, before developing.

Doug Dolde
30-Jul-2007, 08:04
I drop them off at the lab late the same day I shoot. (E6 4x5)

domenico Foschi
30-Jul-2007, 09:45
Anywhere from 15 minutes to several months.

Ditto.
Sometimes, the films disappear of its own will.
I will never be able to forget of one particular roll.
I was on the way back from Las Vegas to La, several years ago, when while driving, next to my car there was a truck with this beautiful girl with curly red hair and freckles on the passenger seat with the head out of the car door.
The light was beautiful,, it was late afternoon, the wind was uncovering her beautiful face and made her close her eyes.
I took a few shots, it was as close at perfection as I ever got, I believe.
I could never find that roll, ever.
It is a loss that I still feel to this day, after 16 years that it happened.
Sometimes I think it was too soon for that picture.
Thank you for bearing my rant.

Colin Robertson
30-Jul-2007, 09:52
Stuff shot round the house (portraits or still life) souped at once, sometimes within minutes. If I've been on trip all processed in batches within a couple of days of getting home. All E6 goes off in the post, and the lab is VERY quick. So, nothing lies around for any length of time.

Andrew O'Neill
30-Jul-2007, 10:43
As soon as I get home.

John Curran
30-Jul-2007, 14:40
B&Ws within 1-3 days, (my own DR) trannies sit in the freezer until I have enough to send to the lab.

wclavey
30-Jul-2007, 16:24
It's a wise man who gives priority to his honey-do list. :D

You forgot to include the answer "When it is safe to do so..." I have only been doing LF for about 2 years and I am still very anxious to see the results of a few hours spent exposing film... But then again, I have been shooting MF fo 50 years and I am still very anxious to see the results of a few hours spent exposing film...

I try to do it within a few days but it doesn't always work that way. I process my ASA 100 film in R09, so I tend to wait until I have 6 images (at least 4), unless it is something pressing, to fill the holder so that I get the most out of the 1500 ml of developer.

Dan Schmidt
30-Jul-2007, 17:25
sometimes within a week sometimes within a week.

my washer has 14 slots so I usually wait until i have at least 28 negatives to develop.

This can take a week or a month. I develop 7 sheets at a time by inspection. Two development rounds then go in the washer together. Then i start on the next two rounds of developing.

Right know I only have room to dry about 30 negatives. My volume seems to be picking up so i'll have to expand that.

Scott Squires
31-Jul-2007, 12:48
Most of my Photography trips are 7-10 days long so when I get back I do E-6 first and will wait on the B&W until all my E-6 is done.

Scott Squires

Stan. L-B
31-Jul-2007, 13:24
As soon as I can get to the darkroom - which is usually within the hour; even quicker if I use my studio. I use the Jobo CPP2 for all processing to 10X8 for colour trans. and neg. also. B&W. For me the buzz is getting the results for each exposure - fast!

Jim Grimes
1-Aug-2007, 19:05
With the exc eption of some Jand C 100 that I am trying to use up, I have developed all my negatives from the View Camera Conference figure study workshop last month. My darkroom schedule for the summer is not as intense as the fall and winter, but I don't like to have exposed film sitting around too long. Normal circumstances, about 4-7 days from exposure to development.

roteague
1-Aug-2007, 21:42
I generally wait until I have a certain number of transparencies ready for processing. This is because I send all my film to Calypso for processing, and I don't wish to deal with shipping small orders.

Kirk Keyes
2-Aug-2007, 12:38
Months, sometimes years... I'm working on becoming the Garry Winogrand of large format!

sanking
2-Aug-2007, 19:28
I develop film as soon as possible, usually within 2-3 week of exposure. I do all of my own B&W developing, and use a local lab for color negative film.

From time to time a roll or two of film gets lost in a suitcase and I re-discover it years later. I recently found a few rolls of Kodak color negative film exposed in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1997. The developed negatives showed no sign at all of color cast or age artifacts. The film had been stored in my home, with climate control on 100% of the time.

I have had similar good success with B&W film.

I certainly don't recommend this type of treatment, but my experience suggests that it is not necessary to develop soon after exposure if the film is stored in good conditions.

Sandy King

Daniel_Buck
2-Aug-2007, 19:47
I certainly don't recommend this type of treatment, but my experience suggests that it is not necessary to develop soon after exposure if the film is stored in good conditions.
Though that wasn't the reason behind the poll (just curiosity), this is good to know!

Utomo Tjipto
2-Aug-2007, 20:49
I am out in the field for a long time, and usually it will be around 2 months time before I reach "civilization" (meaning an fully equipped E-6 facilities and B/W). That's why it takes quite a long time.

Maybe, for those people that goes a long time in the field, it would make more sense to use digital back. But the costs is still too expensive (for me at least).

What do you guys think?

Cheers,
Utomo