Unpopular opinion: hitting 100 rolls of film developed at home isn't worth celebrating

I hit 100 rolls of film developed in my bathroom last month. Everyone in the forums acts like this is some big milestone, but honestly I think it's overrated. I saw way more improvement between roll 10 and roll 20 than I have in the last 50 rolls. Most of that hundred was just me repeating the same process with the same chemicals. I kept notes too, and my temperature control got better after about 30 rolls, but since then it's been flat. The real milestone for me was when I fixed my first sticky shutter on an old Pentax K1000 using a tiny screwdriver and some lighter fluid. That mattered more than any number of dev cycles. Am I the only one who thinks hitting big numbers doesn't mean you're actually getting better?

2 comments

2 Comments

holly_gonzalez611mo ago

Gotta say I disagree with the part about your improvement going flat after 30 rolls. I think there's a difference between getting good at the process and actually understanding what your chemicals are doing to different films at different exposures. Like I shot the same HP5 for my first 50 rolls and yeah it got boring, but then I switched to pushing Tri-X and suddenly everything I thought I knew about times and temps went out the window. The 100 roll thing is just a number but the real growth comes when you start messing with variables not just repeating the same thing. Maybe try some stand development or different dilution ratios, that'll shake up that flat line real quick.

sagey691mo ago

Everyone in the forums acts like this is some big milestone" - i mean yeah they do but why does it matter so much? its just a number. people get hyped about hitting triple digits like its some kind of photography merit badge. i get what youre saying about the actual learning curve flattening out after a while though. most of the real skill development happens way earlier when youre still figuring out what not to do. fixing that shutter with lighter fluid sounds way more useful than just pumping out rolls of hp5 like a machine. honestly the whole 100 roll thing feels like something people post for the dopamine hit of replies. not hating on the work you put in but lets not pretend its a huge accomplishment.