Film Development - A 15 Year Hiatus

Yesterday I got the new (old) Leica M7. After I got home and did an unboxing video (likely I'll post it tomorrow in case you're interested). Impatience got the better of me, and I loaded up an old and expired roll of Kodak TMAX 400 (TMY); it expired back in 2002 if I recall the box I grabbed it from. I went and shot some stuff last night, and I finished off the roll today as I went for a bit of a walkabout.In the mean time, I also restocked my photochemistry from Glazers, a local shop.Shopping list:

  • Kodak XTOL - Film developer
  • Ilford Ilfostop - Stops the developer (keeps the fixer good longer)
  • Ilford Rapid Fixer - Removes unexposed silver from the film

The rest of the hardware was retrieved from the attic:

  • Developer tank (with the easy-to-roll reel)
  • Changing bag (a darkroom in the palm of your hands)
  • Graduated cylinders (three, one each for the chemicals above)
  • Bottles to store everything
  • Film Squeegee
  • Bucket for mixing the chemistry (still marked from the last time I used it!)

Even though it was around 15 years ago since I last did this, the muscle memory kicked in just fine. The last time I did darkroom work was back when Ennie and I were in the apartment in Willoughby.And it worked!!Looking at the result: I did that!

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Leica M7 - Unboxing (used from Japan) and thoughts

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Another in the stable