Re: development - I've started shooting film for the first time recently and have been developing B&W film in my kitchen using Caffenol, a mixture of instant coffee, washing soda, and vitamin C tablets, all things you can get at the grocery store.
https://www.caffenol.org/recipes/ (I've been using the standard "delta" recipe, I don't do any temperature control, whatever my room temp has been has been fine)
I 3D printed a film development tank, and bought some "glassware" at a thrift shop to mix things up. The first couple rolls I did, I put a towel tightly over the window and closed the door and used my bathroom as a darkroom. I've since gotten one of those little "dark bags".
You still technically need a real fixer, but B&W fixer isn't all that bad compared to the whole slew of chemicals needed for color processing. I'm using the powdered Kodak Professional fixer.
Here's some of the shots off my first roll (Ilford HP5 shot on an Olympus Pen EE2) https://postimg.cc/gallery/fL5HvXV This was my first time using the film scanner I got, and I had the settings ALL wrong, they're too bright and too low contrast. I've since figured it out and scans look way better now, I just don't have any of those on my work computer.
I can't help with the film costs, though...
I 3D printed a film development tank, and bought some "glassware" at a thrift shop to mix things up. The first couple rolls I did, I put a towel tightly over the window and closed the door and used my bathroom as a darkroom. I've since gotten one of those little "dark bags".
You still technically need a real fixer, but B&W fixer isn't all that bad compared to the whole slew of chemicals needed for color processing. I'm using the powdered Kodak Professional fixer.
Here's some of the shots off my first roll (Ilford HP5 shot on an Olympus Pen EE2) https://postimg.cc/gallery/fL5HvXV This was my first time using the film scanner I got, and I had the settings ALL wrong, they're too bright and too low contrast. I've since figured it out and scans look way better now, I just don't have any of those on my work computer.
I can't help with the film costs, though...