I finally got round to developing some film again. The smell of fixer and developer on my fingers is still prevalent and I cant get rid of it. But it’s a good smell. It is a testament to successful processing and and a reminder of the excitement of what may be on the rolls I shot a few days or even weeks ago.

Two rolls of Ilford Delta 3200 (out of date since 2017), a roll of Ilford Delta 100 and a roll of Kodak TriX 400. The latter being 35mm and the others of the 120 format. Yes, I pulled out the ole’ Rolleicord again. The beauty I had serviced by a former technician of the original Rollei factory.

The final results turned out fine...well, I could have exposed the outdated 3200 for a little longer...but the detail is there, even though it is a little dark.

Now I need to cut, scan and store the negatives.

I am by no means a specialist in processing B&W film. I have perfected my workflow...call it the sequence of it all...but I am not one to experiment. My images are far too precious to me to potentially ruin the result. I have, once or twice, pushed TriX to ISO 1600 but was not really impressed with the result. There was just not enough detail in the shadows.

Now some of you may call out that I must have messed up the temperature or not developed long enough...well, maybe. I am however much more impressed with the results if I stick with the intended ISO.

What I am really impressed with is the fine grain of the Delta 100 film. The scan is amazingly sharp, even though I shot the images on an old 1950s Rolleicord, which is not really known for best lens quality.

At the end of the day I find it important to also decide what my images will be used for. Am I going to print extremely large posters? No! Will my exposures be subjected to pixel peeping? No! So to be honest, I am really happy with the results...and I can edit, too. The digital scan can now be altered to be perfect without having to utilise an expensive dark room.

Make up your own mind.