Maybe Film Photography Is Not For Me After All

In reply to Chris Tropea :

Here's what I'm using for developing;  AP developing tank (Arista branded, you may find this for a better price elsewhere, I like this tank and reel setup), $40  - https://www.freestylephoto.com/5042-Arista-Premium-Single-Reel-35mm-Developing-Tank-with-One-Reel

500ml beaker - $10 from anywhere - used for mixing water + developer before dumping into the tank

10ml graduated cylinder - $10 or less from anywhere - for measuring liquid developer accurately 

Developer - Legacy Pro L110, pint - $17 - basically a copy of Kodak HC-110 but more like the old formula which lasted a long time on the shelf after being opened.  This is a pint bottle, I use 5 ml to develop a roll of film, there's almost 500 ml of liquid in a pint.  So about 100 rolls of film worth of developer using HC-100 Dilution H - https://www.freestylephoto.com/10190-LegacyPro-L110-Liquid-Film-Developer-1-Pint-(Makes-2-Gallons)     - Something to note, I mix this developer on an as-needed basis for each roll.  Kodak's suggestion was to mix this stuff up a gallon at a time, but that will have a shelf life of a month.  I see no advantage to doing this that way.

Stop-bath - "Free" - I just use tap water as a stop bath and it seems to work great.  This is commonly done.

Fixer - Clayton RF19 Rapid Fixer, quart - $12 - probably enough fixer for 20 or 25 rolls of film, I dump just a little each time I develop a roll and then pour the rest back into the fixer mix bottle (you mix this with water and keep that as a stock solution, it lasts a long time) - https://www.freestylephoto.com/366191-Clayton-Rapid-Fixer-(RF19)-1-Quart

Wetting Agent - Arista Flow, 4oz - $7 - I use Tetenal Mirasol wetting agent at the end of the rinse at the very end of developing to try and remove water spots.  A couple drops and one last tank fill with distilled water and I get few water spots if any.  Unfortunately Tetenal is out of business so I picked another brand. Probably last you a decade.

Distilled Water - $2 from anywhere - I mix developer and rapid fixer with distilled and there's the final rinse at the end.  Figure a gallon is good for 7 or so rolls of 35mm film.

I use a couple stainless steel funnels and a 1 liter brown plastic bottle for holding the fixer in.  Shop around, $10 for all of it should do there.   I also hang the negatives from a shower currtain rod using "boot clips" which cost me $7 for a pile of them, you need one at the top and one at the bottom as a weight to keep the film from wrinkling as it dries.  These things are super useful in general; https://www.amazon.com/dp/B096RLN1ST?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_2&th=1

Fast math and adding some for tax etc that's about $120.  After that it gets cheap, like $1 a roll cheap.  

In reply to pres589 (djronnebaum) :

Are you scanning your negs, too? If so, what scanner are you using? 

In reply to David S. Wallens :

As much as I don't need to buy another camera, I would love to give a Fuji a spin. From everything you have said it sounds like a nice mix between film and digital. 

In reply to David S. Wallens :

I create digital copies of my negatives with a Pentax K-5 II and a Kino Precision 105mm f2.8 Macro.  I have a cheap no-name LED light box to shine light through the negative and I use a tripod that lets the center post be inserted from the bottom so that the camera faces down onto the negative.  

I think a 50mm macro would be better; with an APS-C sensor & a 105mm lens, to fill the frame the lens is not focused that closely.  

I convert the digital raw file of the negative into a positive via Lightroom 6 and Negative Lab Pro.  Lightroom 6 on my Windows 11 PC is not the happiest setup with odd faults when trying to open files in external editors from Lightroom.  Negative Lab Pro only works as a Lightroom plugin.  I don't want to get into a newer version of Lr and have to deal with the subscription situation.  I'm still looking for a solution to all of this but I can muddle along on my current low volume of images.  If I made money with photography I'd be working hard to get onto some other workflow.

In reply to Chris Tropea :

I *really* like shooting with my Fuji X-H1.  I'm only selling it due to it being APS-C.  It's nice for adapted lenses with aperture rings, there's lots of good native X-mount glass for these cameras as well.  I like the ISO and shutter speed and exposure compensation dials + the top deck LCD display.  The X-H2 and 2s are technically even better cameras but they don't have the same dials and I think Fuji screwed up by not using the exact same dials again.  

I only ever shot RAW images with my X-H1 so the "film simulations" didn't apply to what I was doing.  I know some people love them, I just prefer to work with RAW's.