black and white film developing
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Developing and printing your black and white film, with Wessex Photo.

With the rise of digital photography, analogue photography has become a forgotten art. Especially shooting with black and white film. Here at Wessex Photographic we are still hand developing black and white film for our customers. We can develop all different film stocks ranging from HP5 all the way to more obscure films such as Rollei Infrared IR400.

Film photography has seen a recent rise! Younger generations are wanting to experience a new way of taking photos, and generations that grew up with film photography want to go back to their roots. So why not try out shooting with black and white film!

Bergger Pancro 400 shot on a Yashica Electro 35 GTN

But which black and white film should you purchase?

There are so many black and white film stocks, it can get overwhelming to choose! Some of our favourites at Wessex Photo are:

  • Ilford HP5 400. A high-speed ISO 400 film that has a very wide exposure latitude. Great for beginners! Available in 35mm, 120 and sheet film.
  • Ilford FP4 125. A lower speed film rated at 125 ISO. Better for long exposure shooting and daylight shooting. Available in 35mm, 120 and sheet film.
  • Kodak Tri-X 400. A high contrast film that is very versatile, ideal for any situation. Available in 35mm and 120.
Bergger Pancro 400 shot on a Yashica Electro 35 GTN

When you come to get your black and white film developed at Wessex Photo, we can offer a 24hr service for black and white film! (Blandford branch only). There are many options we can offer for your black and white film developing, Such as:

  • Development only.
  • 6×4, 7×5 or 8×6 prints with or without a border.
  • Digital scans to CD, USB, or Email.
  • High resolution scans for larger prints.

When developing our black and white films, we use Ilford’s own chemicals in liquid concentrate form. For our developer, we use Ilfosol 3. Which is a liquid concentrate solution diluted 9+1, ensuring fine-grain across any film stock. When it comes to fixing our black and white films, we use Ilford’s Hypam fixer. Which will ensure your film is fixed correctly, ready for archiving. We also use Ilford’s wetting agent. This allows the film to dry evenly and prevent any drying marks from forming on your film.

Bergger Pancro 400 shot on a Yashica Electro 35 GTN

So, try shooting some black and white film! We will be happy to process your images at Wessex Photo and bring your memories to life!

Blog by Callum