Quick links to processing chemicals and processing equipment Developing tank for roll film: 35mm, 126, 127, 120, 620 (Yes, you can process your color or black and white 127 film). Spiral reels only (for customers who already own Patterson-type tanks) Dark bags, for handling light-sensitive products without a darkroom. Developer, Bluefire for use with Bluefire Police film Developer, D-76 type for use with conventional, non-tabular black and white films. Developer, 777 Panthermic called the "Life Magazine Developer" because it was the richest, most full-scale developer available to the iconic black-and-white photographers of the golden age of photojournalism. Yes, this is the original Harold Harvey formula, updated with today's environmental goals in mind, yet perfectly reproducing the immensely rich gray scale of the original 1938 formulation. By the way, it works extremely well with the 21st century tabular-grain films like Kodak's T series and Ilford's Delta series. Well worth trying! Emulsion gelatin and related chemicals for making emulsions, sizing paper, alt process work, etc. Wetting agent/rinse aid for spot-free drying of films and photographic papers. New biodegradable antistatic formula.

New product: Bluefire® Emulsion Gelatin Hard (250 bloom), high-clarity, inert photographic gelatin, suitable for making your own silver-halide photographic emulsions (including holographic and Lippmann plates), for alternative processes such as carbon printing, for sizing paper, silk screen work, making photo stencils or pad-printing cliches, and similar uses. You can make your own photo paper at home, relatively easily. Paper is best sized with a 2% solution (20 grams of gelatin dissolved in a litre of water). Most emulsion formulas use 7 to 10 grams of gelatin per litre of emulsion, so a little goes a long way.  Modern photographic gelatins like this one are highly purified. Unlike supermarket gelatins, they contain none of the various salts and trace components that are normal in food but react unpredictably with photosensitive compounds.  Specifications: viscosity, 9 cP; moisture, 12%; pH, 5.7; Methionine, 60 µMole/g. Note this is pure type B ossein photo gelatin only. You must add the chemicals that make it light-sensitive.   Item: BEGEL/250   per 250 grams Use this Add To Cart button to buy:          Item: BEGEL/1000   per 500 grams Use this Add To Cart button to buy:        Bluefire Emulsion Stabilizer (7-Hydroxy-5-mehtyl-1,3,4-triazaindolizin CAS 2503-56-2, Molecular weight 150.14) A stabilizer is an essential ingredient to reduce the tendency of photographic emulsions to form uniform background density (fog) when stored at room temperature. Unstabilized emulsions can fog in just a few days. This product is a derivation of the classic TIA (tetraazaindene) type of stabilizer and is non-hazardous. TIA can also be used as a sensitizer. The amount used for stabilization depends on the amount of silver in your emulsion, the recommended starting point for experimentation being 20mg (20/1000 of a gram) of stabilizer per mole of silver (107.86822 grams).  Packaged 10 grams per package, which is enough for considerable experimentation.   Item: BESTAB   per 10 grams Use this Add To Cart button to buy:        click here for MSDS Item: SI-NI/100 Silver Nitrate is another essential ingredient for photo emulsions. It requires special shipping arrangements and should be purchased locally, if possible. If you have no local source, it is available for shipment from Calgary by UPS ground or Canada Post to Canadian and US addresses only. Hazard class ORMD, "Consumer Commodity." The price is per 10 grams (subject to change), plus shipping. eMail to arrange for shipping and payment.  Coming in November: eosin dye, a spectral sensitizer for making orthochromatic emulsions.  Eosin is a very good sensitizer, and was in regular use by major photographic manufacturers until late in the 20th century. The eosin we offer is a highly purified derivative of the commercially available eosins, which are used for biological stains in microscopy, and which are not pure enough for photographic sensitization. Unsensitized photo emulsions only respond to the blue and ultraviolet portion of the spectrum, and respond poorly to green and red. This accounts for the stark appearance of so many early photographs. Matthew Brady's Civil War work, for example, was made with unsensitized plates. Eosin was the first sensitizer to green light. It was discovered by James Waterhouse in 1875 while he was examining dyes sent to him by Vogel, the discoverer of dye sensitization. Seven years later, the sensitizing action of eosin was patented by Clayton and Tailfer, and for many years eosin-sensitized plates were the only color-sensitive plates used in practical photography.  Eosin-sensitized films were often referred to as "isochromatic" in the early days, which was the trade name for the patented plates. However the term "orthochromatic" is now universally used for materials that are sensitive to blue and green, but insensitive to red. Orthochromatic films and emulsions give remarkably beautiful images.

Liquid Light® photographic emulsion for prints on wood, glass, ceramics, plastics, china, fabrics, metal, stone, paper, artist's canvas, walls — even an egg.  Coat it on glass or thick Mylar to make a very slow film for making negatives in a view camera or pinhole camera. The emulsion will stick if you coat the glass or mylar first with a clear coating that adheres both to glass and gelatin. You can buy spray cans of suitable coatings at stores which sell art supplies. Printing with Liquid Light is the same as with black-and-white enlargement paper. Under amber or red safelight, brush the emulsion onto a surface. Expose with an enlarger or slide projector, or make contact prints from full-size negatives. Process with any standard paper developer and fixer. Prints are archivally-permanent with a full range of tones and transparent highlights that reveal the color and texture of the material underneath. Contrast is medium-high (approximately #3).	Coverage is approximately 1½ square feet per ounce, or about 12 sq ft from this 8-ounce bottle. No fumes, odors or VOC's — Liquid Light is completely darkroom-safe.   Item: RO-LLE/8   per 8-oz bottle Use this Add To Cart button to buy:
Sometimes called the Life Magazine developer, it dates from 1938 when the first version was introduced by the photographer, writer, and chemist Harold Harvey. For decades that developer and its various updates has been the hands-down favorite of many of the most recognizable names in photojournalism, including W. Eugene Smith, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and Andre Kertesz. It was the developer of choice at the Magnum and Black Star agencies. It is characterized by clear highlights, bright, open shadows, and a full, rich tonal range with a tight grain structure. It is well suited to both older style and modern tabular-grain films. Photograph by Harold Harvey, circa 1930's Because it has never been distributed as a mass-market product, it has a reputation as a difficult, cult developer, but nothing could be further from the truth. It is a dependable workhorse that gives outstanding results, roll after roll after roll. It is a solid, beautifully crafted tool for working photographers who cannot afford to waste time on unpredictable, fussy developers. It richly deserves to be more widely known. Click here to download full instructions, including time/temperature suggestions, and replenishment quantities for all common film sizes. Adobe Acrobat Reader is required. If you do not have Acrobat Reader installed on your computer, you can download it at no charge from the Adobe web site. Just click the Get Reader icon:	Panthermic 777 Developer "Panthermic" refers to the fact that this developer can be used successfully over a wide range of temperatures, between 60 and 90 degrees F, and you can develop to a wide range of contrast, without noticeable change to film speed or grain. Once mixed, it has extremely long life, and is meant to be used for months (or years) with replenishment. We recommend you mix one gallon, then divide it into two half-gallon containers. Use one as your developer and replenish from the other, removing old developer and replacing it with fresh developer after each use. Your first half-gallon of replenisher is enough for 42 36-exp rolls of 35mm film (about 60 cents per roll). Every subsequent gallon will process 84 rolls (about 30 cents per roll). Click here to download instructions for using this developer. (Dry powder, mix with water to make one US gallon (approx. 3.8 litres) Product HA777     To order on-line, click the Add To Cart button. When you finish shopping, you can choose from several shipping methods. You can pay on-line with VISA or MasterCard. Or you can print out your order and mail it to us with your personal check or money order.
Bluefire™ HR An ultra-soft developer for long, soft pictorial gradation with ultra-fine grain films like Bluefire Police, Kodak Tech Pan, and microfilms. To learn more about this developer, go to the Bluefire catalog page (click here).	1-litre size Bluefire HR. Packaged in 2-part dry powder form. Mix with tap water to make 1 litre (1 quart) of concentrate. Dilute concentrate 1:16 to make one-time-use working solution (add 15 ml concentrate to 235 ml water to process one roll of 35mm). Sufficient to develop 66 rolls of 35mm film. Product BHR-1L
Bluefire HR 30-ml sample size. Will develop two rolls of 35mm film. Pre-mixed liquid.	Product BHR30
Bluefire™ Micro A high-contrast microfilm-style developer for hard blacks, hard whites, and little if any gray scale from ultra-fine grain films like Bluefire Police, Kodak Tech Pan, and microfilms. To learn more about this developer, go to the Bluefire catalog page (click here).	1 litre size Bluefire Micro, 2-part dry developer powder to be mixed with tap water. Long shelf life and excellent working capacity. Product BMI-1L
Super-76 film developer Concentrated liquid film developer, an improved formula of the Kodak D-76 type. However, Super-76 contains no Metol. Process your film using the same time, temperature, and agitation you would use with Kodak D-76 or Ilford ID-11, for the same excellent grain and tonal characteristics. You get the benefit of D-76 without the metol and the complication of mixing up powdered chemicals.	For standard D-76-type development, dilute 1:1 with water. For development equivalent to D-76 1:1, dilute 1:4 with water. For high contrast, use full strength. Product NA-129 1 quart of Super-76 concentrate   Note: The Metol in ordinary D-76 type formulas can cause dermatitis in some people and is no longer widely used. Super-76 contains no Metol. Need stop bath? Use ordinary household vinegar, diluted 1 part vinegar to 5 parts water.
Bluefire SpotStat™ wetting agent 15 ml (1/2 oz.) bottle Rapid drying, anti-static, anti-streaking.  A wetting agent is essential to reduce or eliminate water spots on negatives, even if you rinse in distilled water, and this product is not only economical, it's extremely effective. Compounded with safe, biodegradable ingredients and an antistatic agent that promotes dust-free drying. Use two drops in 400 ml of water for film, or four drops in a tray of water for rinsing 8x10 resin-coated photo papers.	Product NA-369

 

These AP tanks can be used to process black and white, color, or  infrared film. Interchangeable with Patterson processing tanks and reels. But there is a good reason to prefer these to Patterson products. Here's the reason. The spiral reels included with these tanks feature extra-large, thumb-sized tabs where the film-feed entry is located. There is a tab on top, and a larger tab on the bottom. They're dead easy to locate in the dark, and make it very unlikely you'll be trying to feed the film in backwards.  Film loading bag Elastic sleeves (above) and strong double zipper (below) exclude all light This is a well-made double-layer fabric bag for handling light-sensitive materials, such as film, in daylight. It features a large double-zippered opening on one end, and elastic-lined wrist holes on the other. Totally light-proof. Use it, for example, to load film onto spiral reels, and then into your processing tank. Makes it possible to develop film at home, with no darkroom, or while traveling.  Small bag, 17 inches square. More than adequate for the 35mm photographer. Product BAG1717   Medium and large format film bag, 27 x 30 inches. Truly a portable darkroom. Product DL-0188   Denki® 1 Metal Thermometer 2-1/4" diameter darkroom thermometer for developing tank or tray. Calibrations are in 1° Celsius and 2° Farenheit increments. Total range from -32°F to 100°F for all color/black and white developing and printing. Durable and accurate. Product DL-0559   ea.

AP Compact Developing tank with two easy-load spiral reels. Chemical-resistant plastic. Process color or black and white film, 35mm, 126, 127, 120, 620, and 220.  Product APTAN    ea.   AP Compact style spiral reels only. These fit standard Patterson tanks as well as AP tanks, but feature greatly improved film-loading flanges which considerably simplify film loading in the dark. The only quirk is that to remove processed film conveniently, you should pull the reel apart rather than simply pull the film out. Product REEL    ea.   Personal note: my experience makes it clear that these Compact style (wide-flange) reels are significantly easier to load in the dark than Patterson and Jobo reels. A roll of curly 120 can take me ten minutes with a Patterson reel, and I worry about kinking it. It rarely takes even 30 seconds with one of these. David Foy DELTA 1 Glass Thermometer Crystal clear, hermetically sealed, 6" darkroom thermometer for developing tank or tray. Calibrations are in Fahrenheit and Celsius in 2° increments.  Specifically marked and calibrated at 68° by an easy-to-see  triangle. Total range from -20°F to 120°F for all color/black and white developing and printing. Floats. Product DL-0559   ea.   Cassette Opener DLC Cassette Hand held Opener This cassette opener will open your 35mm cassettes without damaging the cassette. Use only in darkroom Product DL-6060    ea.

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