List of What I use for Home Developing Film
I made them links to places you can buy them, but you can scrounge ebay for used or whatever by searching the names. This is all just my opinion - other people will recommend other stuff and swear by it because it is what works for them.
This is for doing up to 4 rolls of 35mm film at a time.
You only need a dark room for loading the film from the canisters on the reels, plop the reels in the tank and close it. Everything from there can be done in full light.
For a tank, I've used Paterson (and still do for 4x5 film), but Jobo is better Jobo Multitank 1540
This isn't needed for rinsing film in the tank. It is supposed to work better. Jobo Cascade Washer
For reels, the cheapest way to go is to add 3 more of the plastic ones (1 comes with the tank): (3) Jobo 1501 reels (they also sell them in a 2-pack) ~> I hate these reels.
I greatly prefer the metal Hewes reels. They are expensive, but they are by far the easiest to load and will last forever. This is the purchase that hurts the most.
(4) Hewes reels for Jobo 1500
I've used different developers and there's a ton out there I've never tried, but this is what I use now for the sheer simplicity. Cinestill Df96 Monobath powder - Once you mix it they say a 2-month shelf life and up to 16 rolls of film. That is a lot of film to shoot in two months for me, so I try to get some shot and ready before I mix up a batch then shoot the rest in the two months. I have used it after the recommended two months though, out to like three months, with no apparent problems.
For doing color, it is a different set of chemicals. Three different ones. The process is basically the same, but temperature control is more important.
For storing the developer/fixer. You squeeze down to get all the air out before you close it to make your chems last longer.
Collapsable 1liter
A "Sous Vide" isn't required, but it really makes getting chemicals up to temperature EASY. Companies take and slap their sticker on them to re-sell. You can just buy one through Amazon or whatever, they are literally the same thing. Cinestill TCS-1000
You'll want a way to hang the film to try, and a place to do it. I've been using small binder clips. Zip tying them to a shower curtain rod is a common thing to do. A small funnel is handy for pouring chems back into the storage container.A thermometer of some sort is handy for checking temps. A pair of scissors and a "church key" bottle opener for taking film out of the canisters. Use distilled water to mix the chemical powders. Also for the final rinse at the end of developing.
From there you have the task of scanning the film! That is a whole other project. I use a dedicated scanner, but it is really slow and kind of crotchety. If you have a decent digital camera and a macro lens already, I'd look into doing "DSLR scanning" instead. There's a FB group about it. Digitizing film with a digital camera
For inverting & editing digitized film, Negative Lab Pro rocks. It is a LR plugin. Negative Lab Pro Users
For film, the cheapest stuff I would recommend is Arista EDU 400. It is fine really, especially if you're still learning. There's a weird green dye on it that discolors your developer, but it doesn't hurt anything. Next up, which is actually a really good film for the price, is Kentmere 400. It is pretty much indistinguishable from HP5. Otherwise, you can't go wrong good old Ilford HP5 Plus and Kodak 400TX Tri-X
That should do it! I wouldn't recommend going down this path unless you're sure you're going to commit to messing with film on a regular basis. For the money, you can get quite a bit of film processed by companies that specialize in it. That said, I personally enjoy it - though at times I HATE it. It is a lot of time and effort for results that don't always turn out.
Thank you,
Dan Maki
Mandaki Photo LLC
http://mandakiphoto.com