How to Develop T-Max 100 35mm Film Negatives

A versatile fine-grained black and white film

Kodak T-Max is a versatile panchromatic black-and-white film which produces fine-grain images even at higher film speeds. It can be processed successfully with most black-and-white film developers. The secrets to successfully developing any black-and-white film involve handling the film in complete darkness, either in a photo darkroom or with a light-tight changing bag, and controlling the concentration, temperature and time of the developing chemicals.

Things You'll Need

• Light-tight developing tank with 35-mm film reels
• Scissors with blunt ends
• Bottle opener
• Photo thermometer
• Measuring cup or beaker, about 500 ml, graduated in milliliters
• Stopwatch, timer or clock with a sweep-second hand
• Light-tight changing bag large enough for you to comfortably handle the tank and film cannisters
• 3 1-gallon plastic jugs
• General-purpose black-and-white film developer
• Acid stop bath
• Photo fixer, or "hypo"
• Running water
• Clothespins and string

Instructions

Prepare the Chemicals

1. Mix the developer, stop bath and fixer in separate one-gallon jugs. Add hot tap water to ensure the chemicals completely dissolve, and allow several hours for the solutions to cool to room temperature.

2. Label the jugs with the names of the chemicals and the date you mixed them.

3. Mix a final concentration of developer in the measuring cup, just before you are ready to process the film. Kodak recommends using 1 part T-Max developer to 4 parts water. Only mix as much developer as you will need to fill the developing tank. Assuming your tank needs 500 ml of solution, pour 100 ml of developer into the measuring cup and fill with 70-degree Fahrenheit tap water to 500 ml. Use the stop bath and fixer right out of the jug with no additional dilution.

Turn Out the Lights and Load the Film

1. Place the developing tank, reels, film cannisters, scissors and bottle opener in the changing bag and seal the bag. If you are working in a darkroom, lay these items out on a work bench so you can find them in complete darkness, then turn out the lights.

2. Pop off one end of the metal 35-mm film cannister with the bottle opener and remove the film. One end of the roll will be taped to a small plastic spool and the free end will have a narrow leader about 3 inches long.

3. Snip off the leader with the scissors. Feel the cut end to make sure there are no jagged edges, especially around the sprockets near the edges of the film. These can cause jamming when loading the film onto a reel.

4. Load the film onto a reel. If you are using plastic reels, push the cut end of the film roll into the guides at the outside edge of the reel until you feel resistance, then twist the top and bottom of the reel back and forth repeatedly. This will grab the film and progressively push it onto the reel. Loading a stainless steel reel takes a little practice. Attach the free end of the film to the clip at the center of the reel. Hold the reel in your left hand and the film in the right. With your right thumb and index finger, bow the film slightly in the direction of the emulsion. The film will naturally curl this way, anyway. With your left hand, turn the reel counterclockwise. The film will load onto the spool from the inside out.

5. Snip off the tape and spool at the end of the roll.

6. Place the loaded reel into the developing tank and attach the light-tight lid.

Turn on the Lights and Develop the Film

1. Pour the developer into the tank, via its baffled, light-tight pour spout. Start the timer or note the time on your clock when you start to pour. Snap the lid on the tank's pour spout to avoid spilling.

2. Hold the tank in one hand with your arm extended and invert it repeatedly by twisting your hand back and forth 180 degrees. Kodak recommends inverting the tank in this manner five to seven times within 5 seconds. Tap the bottom of the tank firmly on your work bench to dislodge any air bubbles on the film or reel.

3. Repeat this agitation once every 30 seconds throughout the development time. According to Kodak's technical sheet F-4016, T-Max 400 film should be developed for 6.5 minutes at 70 degrees F with T-Max developer diluted 1:4.

4. Pour out the developer 10 seconds before the time is up. The diluted developer cannot be reused, so pour it down the drain or, preferably, into a recycling bucket.

5. Pour stop bath into the tank and agitate as described above. After one minute, pour the stop bath back into its jug.

6. Pour the fixer into the tank and agitate as above, every minute. Fixing times vary based on the age and temperature of the fixer, but about 15 minutes at room temperature should do. After about 2 minutes of fixing, your film is no longer light sensitive and you may remove the lid of the tank to inspect your film. When T-Max film is under-fixed, it has a slightly pink tint. Leave your film in the fixer until this tint is gone.

7. Pour the fixer back into its jug and wash the film, on the reel, for at least 20 minutes in running tap water.

8. Remove the film from the reel and, using string and clothespins, hang in a relatively dust-free environment for several hours to dry. Attach a clothespin to the bottom of the film to minimize curling.

Tips & Warnings

• Loading a 35-mm film reel can be tricky. Waste a roll of film and practice with the lights on. Once you can load your reels with your eyes closed, you are ready to turn out the lights.

• T-Max film can be developed in almost any commercially available black-and-white film developer. Check with the manufacturer for suggested development times and temperatures.

• Used developer contains a large amount of silver compounds. If you do a lot of film developing, look into recycling firms that will reclaim that silver for you.

• Chemical contamination is one of the most common sources of failure. Load your film tanks in a "dry" area separate from where you mix your chemicals and make sure there is no chemical residue on your hands. Black-and-white film development is a three-step process: develop, stop, fix. Forward contamination (developer to stop bath to fixer) will cause no problems, but backwards contamination (fixer to stop bath to developer) will ruin the chemicals and your film.

• Don't shortcut on fixer and wash times or your film may fade over time.

References

• Kodak: Kodak Professional T-Max Film
• Kodak: Black-and-White Tips and Techniques for Darkroom Enthusiasts

Resources

• Digital Truth Photo: Database of Film/Developer Combinations
• Kodak: Publication J-300