During this lockdown I decided to look for a daylight film processing solution and came across a product called Lab Box by Ars-Imago. It has the ability to load and process 120 or 35mm film in daylight without a darkroom. You can either process using traditional chemicals or use a Mono-bath solution such as DF-96 from Cinestill.
I decided to try out the Cinestill DF-96 on a roll of 120 TriX 400 film that I shot on an old Mamiyaflex around my neighbourhood whilst out and about on my daily lockdown walks. I shot this handheld and although this is a cumbersome camera for 'street' photography I still managed to get a few decent shots to test the Box with. This is a single chemical process allows you to process 16 rolls of Black and white film. You can see some examples in this article that were "scanned" using my mobile phone for lack of a scanner at home so the actual quality once I get the film properly scanned will be better).
Anyway, back to the Lab Box... Overall the process of using it was pretty easy and the results with the DF-96 chemicals were surprisingly good, nice grain and detail as well as decent contrast. You do need to set the Lab-Box up properly when loading the film... it is tricky to do due to appallingly faint markings on the spindle. It took me about 15 minutes of messing around to get it right so be warned! Here is a video that will help you understand the intricacies... The Box allows you to load and process film in daylight. There are two modules available 120 and 35mm and the optional crank is a must. Its not the cheapest solution but if you don't have access to a darkroom then its a nice solution particularly with the DF-96 mono-bath.
All you need to process Black and White Film at home in daylight.
Comments