AboutMalcolm Dickinson Expertise Questions about 35mm and medium format cameras, questions about developing B&W film; and questions about making B&W prints.
Experience I've been an avid photographer since 1981 and took a lot of B&W photography classes in college. I've done a lot of medium format work and have always developed & printed my own pictures.
Publications I had several photos published in college magazines and one photograph included in a juried exhibition.
Question Can you develop a normal film in black and white? What is the cheapest way to take and develop 1 film in color and black and white?
Answer There is no "normal" film. There are two kinds of film: color film, and black and white film. If you want to have prints in both color, and black and white, there are two ways to do it:
1. Have two cameras. Put B&W film in one camera and color film in the other camera. Take each picture twice, once with each camera. Have color prints made from the color film and B&W prints made from the B&W film.
2. Take color pictures only. Then when you have the film developed, scan the pictures digitally. (If you have the film developed by mailing it to Snapfish, www.snapfish.com , they will scan the pictures for you.) Then you can chang the digital images from color to B&W, using a photo editing program such as Microsoft Photo Editor. Then you can take your disc or memory card to a photo store or drug store and have prints made in B&W.
The cheapest way is to have two cameras and two rolls of film. It is cheap to get color film developed by a company or photo store, but expensive to have black & white film developed. The cheapest way to develop B&W film is to develop it yourself in a darkroom. If you don't know how, though, or don't have a darkroom, then you will probably want to find a phtoo store that can develop the B&W film for you.
