Examine the expense for creating your own film processing darkroom

From lowest to highest cost, setting up a darkroom to process and develop black and white still film comes in at the low end followed by a color lab, then black and white movie film and then color movie film. Knowing the fundamentals of the black and white still darkroom is a great foundation for any other film processing and developing desires, but you certainly don't have to start there.

I recommend: B&H Photo has 35mm and 120 film darkroom supplies along with 16mm film needs. Read about what is involved and needed to process 16mm motion film through the 8mm Film Format Metadirectory.

Study film processing technology before creating your own darkroom

Know everything that is involved, including the costs of equipment and chemicals before embarking on the time consuming task of processing film and being your own film developer. Take a class to learn the technique behind camera film processing; a benefit is the ability to use the darkroom for your own projects.

I recommend: Photographer's Formulary offers traditional and alternative process still film onsite workshops from June through October in Montana. Find a local film school through FilmSchools.com to learn movie film processing and developing.

Use a lab to minimize in-house cost and time for 16mm film processing

Developing 16mm movie film is an involved process that can be done in a home darkroom, if desired, but it may be more convenient to let professionals do the work so you can delve into the creative task of editing that much sooner. The process is similar to 35mm film processing, however the expensive equipment, different chemicals, and amount of time needed to process a roll of film ranging from 100- to 400-feet roll are different.

I recommend: The experienced staff at Spectra Film and Video offers reasonable rates and some packages on black and white as well as color 16mm film processing. Cinelab offers a variety of straightforward per-foot pricing for processing your 16mm film.