# Home dev vs lab development



## Evertking (Dec 3, 2022)

I been developing my own film at home for about a year now and I got the c41 kit and the water heater that keeps it at the right temp, let my chems come to temp... The whole thing but my images never have the same color as the lab scans I get. Am I fooling myself in thinking I can get the colors of a lab?


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## ac12 (Dec 3, 2022)

Can it be your scanning process, rather than the film developing process?


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## Evertking (Dec 3, 2022)

Could be...  But I have tried flatbed and DSLR scanning.. and I know that I can ways get varying results but I get amazing colors from any lab compared to my wonky self dev&scan I can get ok results but than get a scan back and be blown away with the beautiful colors.
To the point I only home dev B&W and send C41 to Memphis film lab.

Also I wanted to add that I bought negative lab pro and that did help but nothing at all like the lab.. night and day really


Thanks for your help


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## 480sparky (Dec 3, 2022)

Are you using fresh chemicals?


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## Evertking (Dec 3, 2022)

480sparky said:


> Are you using fresh chemicals?


Yes, when I get to the computer I will post my work vs the labs. The lab just gets much nicer colors.


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## webestang64 (Dec 4, 2022)

I wish I had some advice. I have no skill at home C-41 dev. I have always worked at a pro-photo lab with commercial grade equipment so my C-41 and scans are flawless.


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## petrochemist (Dec 4, 2022)

I've heard C41 is rather fussy about the temperature during development. Because of that I plan to stick to black & white for my home developing.
I would expect a wide spectrum of skills for both home & lab development, the best home developers will be much better than the worst lab developers, but on average the lab developers will be better from having more sophisticated equipment & lots more practice.


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## RAZKY (Dec 4, 2022)

Evertking said:


> I been developing my own film at home for about a year now and I got the c41 kit and the water heater that keeps it at the right temp, let my chems come to temp... The whole thing but my images never have the same color as the lab scans I get. Am I fooling myself in thinking I can get the colors of a lab?


Try scanning some lab-processed negatives at home. You might also have the lab scan some of your home-processed negatives to compare.


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## RAZKY (Dec 4, 2022)

Evertking said:


> Could be...  But I have tried flatbed and DSLR scanning.


You cannot scan with a DSLR - you can copy negatives with it, though.


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## Rickbb (Dec 7, 2022)

Also, depending on the flatbed scanner you can get really bad results from neg/transparency scanning.


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