The Film Developing Cookbook (Darkroom Cookbook, Vol. 2) (Spiral-bound)

~ Steve Anchell (Author), Bill Troop (Author) "Each combination of a particular developer and film yields a unique negative..." (more)
Key Phrases: tabular grain films, high definition developers, stop speed increase, Tech Pan, Zone System, Geoffrey Crawley (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Review of The Darkroom Cookbook:
"The Darkroom Cookbook is destined to become a classic. For anyone working in black-and-white it is a must have."--Shutterbug, September 1996

"This elegant, user-friendly book clearly provides the photo-chemical information necessary for the photographer to be in control of his or her black and white film developing. I cannot praise the writing and design of The Film Developing Cookbook highly enough." - Journal of the Print World

Photographic processing is a chemical process. While it is not necessary to know anything about chemistry, it is necessary to understand what photographic chemicals do, and why. The Film Developing Cookbook will help photographers acquire a working knowledge of photographic chemistry that is relevant to black and white film developing and serve as a reference and refresher for photographers at all stages of their skill.

This companion to The Darkroom Cookbook will help photographers become familiar with different developer formulas for achieving a wide range of pictorial effects, and teach them how to mix and use photographic solutions from scratch-even to create new ones. Many of the developing formulas and archival fixing solutions contained in The Film Developing Cookbook have never before been presented.

Topics covered in this manual include:

· Films
· Developer ingredients
· Types of developers
· Formulas
· Speed increasing
· Mixing and storing stock solutions
· Stop baths, fixers, and washing
· Safety
· Chemical and equipment suppliers
· Recommended development time for hundreds of films and developers -- Review

Review

Review of The Darkroom Cookbook:
"The Darkroom Cookbook is destined to become a classic. For anyone working in black-and-white it is a must have."--Shutterbug, September 1996

"This elegant, user-friendly book clearly provides the photo-chemical information necessary for the photographer to be in control of his or her black and white film developing. I cannot praise the writing and design of The Film Developing Cookbook highly enough." - Journal of the Print World

"...this is a very important publication for every fan of the darkroom. You'll learn huge amounts of stuff about photographic processes."
www.photocrack.com

Photographic processing is a chemical process. While it is not necessary to know anything about chemistry, it is necessary to understand what photographic chemicals do, and why. The Film Developing Cookbook will help photographers acquire a working knowledge of photographic chemistry that is relevant to black and white film developing and serve as a reference and refresher for photographers at all stages of their skill.

This companion to The Darkroom Cookbook will help photographers become familiar with different developer formulas for achieving a wide range of pictorial effects, and teach them how to mix and use photographic solutions from scratch-even to create new ones. Many of the developing formulas and archival fixing solutions contained in The Film Developing Cookbook have never before been presented.

Topics covered in this manual include:

· Films
· Developer ingredients
· Types of developers
· Formulas
· Speed increasing
· Mixing and storing stock solutions
· Stop baths, fixers, and washing
· Safety
· Chemical and equipment suppliers
· Recommended development time for hundreds of films and developers

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Spiral-bound: 163 pages
• Publisher: Focal Press (January 4, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0240802772
• ISBN-13: 978-0240802770
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 7.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #92,146 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must have book for anyone who develops their own film!, December 18, 2001

By	Robert S. Lai (Syracuse, New York United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Anyone who is developing black and white knows that there are a lot of conflicting opinions out there. Kodak wants you to agitate the film a certain way, Ilford says to do it another way. Which developer do I use, and why? This book gives very logical and satisfactory answers to these questions. It allowed me to figure out how I was going to standardize my technique for the films that I am going to use. Don't be mislead by the title. This book does go into details of the effects of metol, phenidone, etc., but it is not a cookbook in the sense that you will come out designing your own developer. It does contain many recipies for developers, for those who mix their own. But, my aim was to figure out what the characteristics are of the developer that I am using, and how to maximize it. The book really excels in this area.

I've run through about 75 feet of Tech Pan film trying out how to develop it using Xtol. Following Ansel Adams' advice in his book "The Negative" turned out to be a mistake, in this case. I was making my negatives way too dense. Anschell and Troop explained why this is, in their chapter on "Document Films". This covers Tech Pan, amongst other similar films. After having read through the book, I revised my working temperature, diluted Xtol to 1+5, changed my agitation style, changed from an acid stop bath to water, and got the fantastic results that I had sought for so long! It's also worked for other offbeat films like Kodak 5302 Positive release film for the B&W slide fans like myself (using Polymax 1+2). If you REALLY want to know what you're doing, and want to save tons of time and money from wasteful trial and error, get this wonderful book. It's really improved my results!

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Could definitely use some figures, July 7, 2000

By	John H. Henderson (Las Cruces, NM, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

This book is what the name suggests - a book of recipes for photographic chemicals. I personally won't be mixing my own developers in the near future, but found the book helpful in choosing my own film and developer from those commercially available. The margin notes are full of informative tidbits (such as the suggestion that tabular grain films only benefit the profit margin of the manufacturers.) The bulk of the book discusses developers, but also includes a chapter on other chemicals, such as stop and fixer. I will, in fact, probably try using the alkaline fixer in the near future.

A background in chemistry would be helpful, but not necessary, but without it, you may glaze over a bit in places.

My biggest criticism with this book is its complete lack of figures. A photo demonstrating grain and acutance like Adams includes in "The Negative" would be helpful, as well as density curves indicating the effects of different developers. Because of this ommision, I would recommend that someone read "The Negative" before reading this book to fill in the gaps.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Information you need that you won't get elsewhere!, May 28, 2000

By	Ken (Granite Bay, California) - See all my reviews

Here is the long and the short of it: This is a wonderful book. I have looked at dozens of photography books, and what seems like hundreds of magazines, and I am positive that none of them contain the wealth of information that Steve Anchell (in collaboration with Bill Troop) puts in this book (or in Steve's other books for that matter). If you are interested in making the most of your black and white photography, you need to know what your film if composed of, what it reacts to, and how to achieve the effects that you want to get out of it. You don't have to be a darkroom guru to use it, you don't need a lot of equipment, and you don't need an elaborate setup. I think anyone will improve his or her results after reading and using this book. I have always believed that the magic in black and white takes place in the darkroom, and even if you don't have a darkroom, your control of the film development process will make you a better photographer. This is a great way to get it right.