AuRA Rotary Assist Film Developing Machine by Viktor Falendysh — Kickstarter

Here’s a rotary film processing assistant on kickstarter that looks very well made.   I’m curious about how much difference in processing times a rotary drum makes, and whether drum speed, reversal matter.   I see that the AuRA’s standard processing turns fast for 30 seconds then slows down.  Is this really the equal of agitation?   Should a vane or other protrusion be put in the drum to assist with mixing?   I’m guessing that the film reels will provide enough opportunity forRead more

Filmomat: A really cool film processor that handles 35mm up to 5x7in sheet film! 

I’ve been following (lusting after?) the Filmomat since it was first introduced, and at that time the creator had just made it for himself.  Now sometime later he’s made it available for sale (although it’s kind of pricy) and that is really exciting.  What makes it so cool? First off, it’s really difficult to develop color film at home – the chemicals aren’t expensive or dangerous but color film processing just requires really steady temperature control and at higher temperaturesRead more

Stand Development Darkroom Guide | The Art of Photography

Stand Development is a film developing process that involves placing film in a tank of highly diluted developer and letting it “stand” with no agitation. Source: Stand Development Darkroom Guide | The Art of Photography I just watched this video and thought it was a pretty useful introduction of stand development. It covered the potential advantages of the technique such as tolerance to exposure variance, more sharpness and dynamic range and also some of the potential pitfalls such as bromideRead more

Local Darkroom finder

I’m lucky, I live in walking distance to one of the largest public darkrooms in the country, the Harvey Milk Photo Center.   It’s got something like 45 enlarger bays in their darkroom, a film processing area, a digital lab, and some class rooms.   I just came back from printing in the darkroom tonight and wondered where I might go if I wasn’t in San Francisco. A quick google pulled up Local Darkroom.  It’s a web tool that allows youRead more