From 0 to 151 rolls: how RafLabs came to life after 4,601 frames

I started 2025 never having shot film. I ended it running my own lab. Here's what the data looks like for 2025.

On January 1st, 2025, I had never shot a single roll of film in my life.

That changed when my mom brought me my uncle’s old Nikon camera. The moment I held that mechanical body and heard the shutter click for the first time, something clicked inside me too. By the end of this year, I had developed 151 rolls of film and scanned 4,601 frames in my own home lab.

This post explains that, told through numbers.

If you're reading this and not yet subscribed to Camera Clara, now's a good time. I write about film photography, gear reviews, and the real process behind shooting analog in 2025. No fluff, just honest takes from someone who went from zero to 151 rolls in twelve months. Subscribe below to follow along.

Why I built my own lab

After shooting my first few rolls, I took them to a professional lab. Beautiful results, awesome community, but the math was a brutal: lab development and scanning runs around $40 per roll on average. At the pace I was shooting, I’d be spending over $6,000 per year just on dev+scanning.

So I invested in Negative Supply equipment, a Fuji GFX for scanning, a sous vide machine, and an AGO Film Processor for consistent development. The AGO handles temperature control and agitation automatically, removing the variables that can ruin a roll. I could now process color negative film at home using CineStill C-41 chemistry for a fraction of what labs charge.

After the initial investment in equipment, my average cost is around $1 per roll in chemicals (including Kodak Photo Flo). The 151 rolls I processed this year would have cost me a fortune. Instead, I spent roughly $150 in chemistry.

That decision gave birth to RafLabs. I’ve been tracking every roll, and the statistics tell an interesting story.

The numbers behind the year

Film stocks

CineStill 800T dominated with 32 rolls, followed by CineStill 400D (25 rolls) and Kodak Portra 400 (14 rolls). The medium format CineStill 400D accounted for 12 rolls, while Kodak Gold 200 and Kodak Ektar 100 rounded out the top at 9 and 7 rolls.

I tested 30 different stocks throughout the year, from Fuji 400 to exotic emulsions like Kodak Ektachrome 100, Amber D100, and Phoenix 200. Part of running Camera Clara means testing film for readers, so experimentation was baked into my workflow from day one.

Cameras

The Leica M7 saw the most action because it's the one I brought on my trip to Japan: 37 rolls, 1,369 frames. Its aperture-priority automation makes it my go-to for street shooting.

My Voigtländer Bessa R2A came second with 23 rolls (851 frames) because it was the first one (the M7 came in April), followed by the Leica MP (which came in June) at 22 rolls (814 frames). The Canon AE-1 handled 10 rolls, proving great cameras don’t need to cost thousands.

Medium format also showed up strong! The Mamiya 7ii accounted for 35 rolls but only 350 frames, since each 120 roll gives me just 10 shots. I also ran film through the Leica Minilux, Canon WP-1, Hasselblad X-Pan, and Hasselblad 500 CM (hello, Brian!)

Monthly rhythm

January started slow with just 1 roll as I learned. May peaked at 35 rolls, the aftermath of my Japan trip in April where I shot heavily and came home with stacks of exposed film to process. The slower months (April, July, November at 7 rolls each) aligned with periods focused on writing rather than shooting.

Why CineStill dominated the scene

The CineStill family took 76 rolls combined, roughly half my year.

CineStill 800T is by far my favorite, purpose-built for low-light conditions. Its tungsten balance handles mixed artificial lighting beautifully, and the signature halation around bright lights gives night scenes a cinematic quality other stocks cannot match. For street photography after dark, this is my first choice.

The 400D filled a different role: daylight balance, forgiving exposure latitude, my everyday carry film. The medium format version through the Mamiya 7ii produced some of my favorite images this year.

What I learned

When I started, loading film onto the development reel in darkness felt impossible. I ruined rolls. I miscounted time. The changing bag felt like a teenager's nightmare trying to put a condom in the dark (lmao). I thought about giving up.

But film forces you to confront your errors. Every scratched negative becomes a lesson that sticks.

By mid-year, the process had become second nature. The 151 rolls represent 151 opportunities to refine a craft that demands patience and precision.

What comes next?

I used a specific tool to track all this data. In January 2026, I’ll reveal details about this tool and how you might use it for your own practice.

Numbers in a nutshell

151 rolls. 4,601 frames. 30 film stocks. 14 cameras. One year.

I started 2025 having never shot film. I end it running a home lab that processes everything you see on Camera Clara.

Now it's your turn!

If you’ve been thinking about developing your own film, do it. The learning curve is real, but so is the reward. You’ll save money, gain control over your images, and connect with the craft in a way that sending rolls to a lab never allows.

Got questions about home development, equipment, or anything else? Join the community! Drop them in the comments or join the chat. I’m happy to help you get started.