The Film Developing Cookbook (Darkroom Cookbook, Vol. 2)

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!

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.

I practically memorized the original edition of this book. It was THE definitive guide to black and white film and developing processes. Then, for a number of years, I was out of the B&W scene, and my copy disappeared. Recently I rejoined the B&W film world; upon reviewing current books on B&W films and processing, I discovered that this book is STILL the definitive work. I read through it enough to tell: it IS still the best single reference for DIY B&W photography

This book is exactly as the title describes. I had just finished up a photography class and we did both film and digital. We learned how to develop film and make out own prints, but I did not know there was many options and variables. It makes me appreciate the trouble the authors went through to gather all the information, as well as all the struggles to make photography what it is today.

Excellent resource for anyone developing its own film. It describes the characteristics of all developers available by the time the book was written. Also provide the formulas for making them in case they’re discontinued.

I bought this book as the other books I have are now a bit dated. As the understanding of film development is always evolving, I thought this book would give me the latest ideas and knowledge.It does to some extent, but I could not help feeling the authors did not take the time to fully research and comprehend the details. Where they have quoted chemists / researchers the details are clear. However where they have tried to interpret or discuss aspects in some places it appears they do not clearly understand what they are trying to explain. The result is that they contradict themselves, fail to make things clear, or just plain get things wrong. They also only seem to address research by Kodak and a few independent researchers. The book thus misses out on research done by Fuji, Agfa, Ilford, etc. which is a significant omission in my opinion.So is the book worth it ? I think that I would still buy it as there are very few sources of up to date information available. And to be fair, they seem to have taken care in reproducing the formula. However, I would be sure to read some of the older books on developers, and cross check the information before relying on it.

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.