So far no answer for you. Because I have no answer for you just a few questions: What do you want to photograph? Is your image worth the extra mile for working with a format that is unusual today? Do you think it will ad something to your work?
I want to photograph landscapes, but chances are that I suck and still do so in ten years
. However, I have the luxury of being amateur so I can do whatever I want without being worried about what others think of it, I do all for myself. I do have some artistic ambition, but it is not life-or-death.
I'm actually more interested in the compositional process using a view camera with movements and fine-tunings than of using film, which enters just because there is no other affordable option. I still look for an old but usable digital back to do some stitching in some occasions, but film would be the main medium.
I'm fascinated by the process from where I decide that "I'm going to make a picture of this piece of nature" to framing everything in a suitable way, where small adjustments change how the elements in the picture interact. I think the hardest part will be to get used to see everything upside down
Anyway it is as much about the process as the results. Making compositions using a nice well-built view camera = fun. Developing film = not so fun. The result is still important though, I'm a resolution junkie and like large sharp prints, so I would not do this if it the result would be a lofi film look.
I plan to get a modular view camera, so format can be changed, so I can go to larger formats later if I get hooked. 4x5" seems like a good starting point, since I then also easily do medium format 6x9 and 6x12 rollbacks which is good low-cost way to get the necessary training in the technical aspects of exposing film.
So it was a long answer. What I think it will add to my work is a composition process that better suits my mind, and higher resolution input to my digital post-processing workflow. From all the responses I've got in this thread it does not seem that developing the film on my own would add any significant to this (just a larger risk to mess up), so I'll just use a lab.