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Comment by Finnucane | Hacker News Reader

processing b&w film at home doesn't require a lot of space. A tank and a dark box to load it are all you need. And it's _way_ cheaper than a lab.

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And if you get into stand development, you're only using 5mL of Rodinal per roll... and instead of agitation every 30 seconds for 10 minutes, you just agitate when you add the developer and let it sit for an hour, maybe agitating once halfway through.

+1 what all above said. I myself self develop b/w and sometimes even C41 which is much easier than everyone talks/write about. The only problem with self-development imho is if you want to digitalize it. I have an Epson V500 scanner which is fine for b/w but almost useless for color. Labs tend to have much better scanners and experience in removing the color layers etc.

Yeah, I have a V550 and it's a pain to use. Slow to load, slow to scan, and dust is incredibly apparent. Then you have to go through and process the negatives. I honestly prefer wet printing with the enlarger; once you've got the baths set up, it's quicker per image than scanning & processing!

... and much more rewarding to say at least!

I've got a V750 and these days I can get a better scan with my Nikon D850 and a good macro lens.

I don't know if I'd say hand-printing is faster, but I guess it depends on how fussy you are about prints. I mean, you've got to do your test prints, your 'straight' print, then figure out your dodging and burning, though once you've got a good print then making copies is fairly straightforward. But oh man, paper is expensive these days.

Rodinal is always worth keeping around because it lasts practically forever, which makes it great for occasional use.

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