c41 home devloping?

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pingu666

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just wondered how many people here do it, and is it worth it? i enjoy doing the black and white, but the need to get the stuff to quite warm temps rather than room temp + time correction, plus the fact i can get stuff done at boots, or sent away, specialy for the 35mm make it a unsure thing for me, specialy with the chance of funky colours and stuff :/

ag photographic are doing 35/120/220 for 2.99 each for c41, so maybe id be better off building up a batch of e6/c41 and posting them away?
 
I started c41 devving last year and I find it fairly straightforward. The only tricky bit is getting the Chems up to temperature but so far I've probably done 100 rolls and not messed any up yet. I did have a jobo but it broke so I just use a washing up bowl filled with hot water from the tap which gets it up to about 36 degrees then I boil a kettle to push it up to 38.
Give it a go, its no more difficult than black and white.
 
I think there are chems for C41 that can be used at lower temperatures. Digibase ones seem to have times on the back for 20C.
 
I use a Jobo with the DIgibase chemicals, and it is very straightforward. I have always developed at 100c - I don't think it is any more difficult to maintain a constant 100 degrees than it would be for a lower temperature
 
srichards said:
I think there are chems for C41 that can be used at lower temperatures. Digibase ones seem to have times on the back for 20C.
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I think they all can - trouble is the times start getting ridiculously long at lower temp. I like to do mine at 40 degrees and get it over with!
 
Kevin Allan said:
At least I can make a cup of tea with the left over chemicals [Health and Safety Disclaimer - I am joking. Do not do this]
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yep you can't beat a mug o' Blix .....ask @steveo_mcg :ROFLMAO: (I guess I best put one of them there Health and Safety Disclaimers....DO NOT CONSUME BLIX !)
 
Back on topic, as Andysnap says, C-41 isn't much more difficult than b&w home developing tbh ......If you're only shooting an occasional roll of colour film then perhaps stay with labs. I don't shoot loads of colour and have to batch the films until I have about 10 before starting a C-41 kit, however using labs here would cost me an awful lot more than home deving. Besides i like the involvement of doing it myself.

Try it ...if it's not for you then you'll soon find out and can easilyreturn to using labs.
 
Asha said:
Back on topic, as Andysnap says, C-41 isn't much more difficult than b&w home developing tbh
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I'm glad you said that, I've just got a Tetenal kit to give it a go myself. :)

Have to go out and shoot some more film to make up a decent-sized batch first though.
 
I don't think it's any more difficult than B&W, and in some ways easier as it's a standardised process. You don't have to worry about which developer to use and for how long etc. The only critical bit is the dev stage which should be bang-on temperature and time. The rest can be a few degrees either side and it's good to give the bleach and fix more than the recommended time. The bleach (or blix) likes to be aerated, so shake the bottle well before use. Go straight from dev to bleach or blix (depending on kit). You don't need a stop bath. I add a few washes between bleach, fix and stabiliser stages (water at 38C). Don't get the stabiliser on yourself as it contains formaldehyde.

Have fun - an afternoon of C41 is great...particularly with a beer or two :-)
 
Now there's something I didn't know, I shall give my blix a good shake before use and a bit longer for my next rolls. Cheers J.(y)

Andy
 
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Kevin Allan said:
I use a Jobo with the DIgibase chemicals, and it is very straightforward. I have always developed at 100c - I don't think it is any more difficult to maintain a constant 100 degrees than it would be for a lower temperature
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chuckles said:
I think you must mean 100ºF - 100ºC is boiling point ;)
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While I agree with Barry that Fahrenheit is more likely, 100°C is possibly easier to maintain accurately without a thermostatic tank! C would probably be a bit excessive for devving though and reticulation would almost certainly be a problem if tap water was used to through-rinse!
 
Yes maintaining boiling point my possibly easier but the temperature of boiling point depends altitude and/or barometric pressure.
 
69°C, so well within the limits!!! ;) Off you go to do it. (I would but you see, I have this bone in my leg.)

And yes, the boiling point is altitude and pressure dependent but 100°C is close enough to make very little difference at normal altitudes.
 
And I was thinking of including the barometric pressure parameters but, then thought, that's just pedantry ;)

Maybe I should've realised 'this is in Film & Conventional' ...... :beer: -
 
Nowt wrong with a bit of pedantry! IIRC, it can pay to be as precise as possible when doing C41, although when I last did it, it was doing XP1 when it was first released. I can still remember the shock of getting grain the size of marbles (compared to the golf balls I was used to!) at 4 figure ASAs.
 
I did C41 for a little bit, but I didn't really shoot enough to make the most of the chemicals before they expired. I found it easier than B&W in that you don't have to mix a developer each time and the timing's much easier as it's a standarised process (3.15 every time with fresh chems). It's more time consuming to get the water bath to the temperature though, and maintaining it can be a bit of a pain. I used an old cool box as the water temp dropped slower and it made it a bit easier. I don't dev my own C41 now as I've found a lab which is great value and gives you your images the next day, but if I was to start developing them myself again I think I'd look at using an aquarium thermometer to maintain the temp, or perhaps splashing some cash on a Jobo (I'd have to do some reading first as I know nothing about them)
 
ChrisR likes this.

I do not Chris,I think we may have an
Agent provocateur.

:)
 
steveo_mcg said:
I really hope you mean a undercover agent and not the bordering on NSFW underwear that returns the first hit on google.
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It's even worse if you use the image search. Apparently, so I've been told. :tumbleweed:

And whatever you do, don't add "Kylie commercial" and search for videos ... :jawdrop:

Now, what's this thread about again?
 
Damn, my cover is blown (and one of those nice frilly French lace numbers, too!)...

:)
 
steveo_mcg said:
I really hope you mean a undercover agent and not the bordering on NSFW underwear that returns the first hit on google. Don't let Roberts search for that he'll get all flustered again, last time he spilled my whisky.
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But shirley that's where Roberts shops for his Solomons?
 
I bought the Rollei/Digibase Maxi kit (or whatever it's called) which makes about 5 litres. The stock chemicals keep for years. The only one you need to watch is Dev part C which lasts 1 to 2 years depending on storage conditions. It should be yellow and turns red when it's gone off. You can buy that separately, so no need to chuck it all out.

I wait until I have four or five films to process, then mix about 500ml of working chems and then dispose of them. It means you should get 40 to 50 films from the pack which works out around 80p per film.
 
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