First attempt with C-41 home developing

Asha

Asha

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Asha
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Some results from my first attempt at C-41 home developing of an Agfa Vista Plus 200 iso film.

Without doubt it's a little more difficult than b&w deving in so far of temperature control especially using a large washing up bowl containing hot water...Keeping the developer at 30°C wasn't so hard tbh, but I think the Blix was out by a couple of degrees at more like 28°C

Next time I'll have to find a better way to organise my bottles etc.

There is a definite red tinge to the original scans....this may be due to the temperature error although from what I've read, it could possibly be at scanning stage.

Either way it only took just a slight desaturation of reds in PP along with a sharpen to compensate for the scanner.

Tbh I am very pleased with the results





1.
26colourtp.jpg


2.
6colourtp.jpg


3.
24colourtp.jpg


4.
2colourtp.jpg


5.
17colourtp.jpg




And some more that I used for my collage in the "January Treasure Hunt":


treasurehuntcopie.jpg
 
I'll be chuffed if mine come out even half as good as those.

That vista is surprisingly good I think.
 
Great job Asha. Love the simplicity of #1 and the chaos of #5.

Keep it up.
 
VirtualAdept said:
I'll be chuffed if mine come out even half as good as those.

That vista is surprisingly good I think.
Click to expand...

Well I've cross processed it in b&w chems, pulled and pushed it, and now C-41'd it.....all with good or at least acceptable results......I've no complaints with it.
 
trevorbray said:
Great job Asha. Love the simplicity of #1 and the chaos of #5.

Keep it up.
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Thanks Trevor.....That shop in No 5 is on the local pedestrian precinct amongst all the tourist bars, restaurants and other shops......It is indeed complete chaos inside and out.

I am personally very organised yet I love the total dis array.....Nigh on impossible to handle anything for fear of something else falling down as all is piled on top of each other.

Even better is calling in with my better half as it makes her feel "decidely poorly":D
 
Much better results than i managed Asha :thumbs: I've since stopped developing and using C-41 so I'll be looking to offload my Jobo soon
 
robhooley167 said:
Much better results than i managed Asha :thumbs: I've since stopped developing and using C-41 so I'll be looking to offload my Jobo soon
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I seem to recall you had magenta tinge probs didn't you??....but was that not at scanning stage?

Ooo Jobo.......now where could I store one of those....get rid of the mrs will free up some space!!.....ok ok so she's the butt of most of my jokes but I know I can out run her!! :D :D
 
Those look good Asha. Which kit did you buy? I'm still unsure whether to try C41 or just leave it to Asda. Relying on Asda does mean sticking with 35mm which is a shame as 120 colour film comes up cheap quite regularly.
 
Asha said:
I seem to recall you had magenta tinge probs didn't you??....but was that not at scanning stage?

Ooo Jobo.......now where could I store one of those....get rid of the mrs will free up some space!!.....ok ok so she's the butt of most of my jokes but I know I can out run her!! :D :D
Click to expand...

I had every problem with C-41, just couldnt find an emulsion i could work with or get to like, they all left me feeling a bit empty so i went to slide film, less forgiving but much more rewarding to shoot.

I'm not sure where you'd put it, but I can take a guess at where she would tell you to stick it :nuts:
 
steveo_mcg said:
Those look good Asha. Which kit did you buy? I'm still unsure whether to try C41 or just leave it to Asda. Relying on Asda does mean sticking with 35mm which is a shame as 120 colour film comes up cheap quite regularly.
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Thanks Steve.....I bought this kit from a local supplier.

There seems to be a little debate over wether to mix the complete 1 liter solution ... I calculated the quantities to make a 300ml solution for a 35mm film, storing in concertina bottles afterwards. The rest of the concentrates are still in their original bottles.
 
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robhooley167 said:
I had every problem with C-41, just couldnt find an emulsion i could work with or get to like, they all left me feeling a bit empty so i went to slide film, less forgiving but much more rewarding to shoot.
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Shame you came across so many issues.....perhaps give it another go before letting the jobo go.....you never know it may work out a second time around with some different film or technique.:shrug:

I wouldn't rush into getting rid ....regrets and all that.

robhooley167 said:
I'm not sure where you'd put it, but I can take a guess at where she would tell you to stick it :nuts:
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She tells me i don't need a jobo if i can get results like these without one......Darn it, I knew it was a mistake to show her the shots:bang:
 
I think these have come out great. I've been curious about c41 since ive started shooting 120 colour. How long was the entire process for that roll?
 
Asha said:
Thanks Steve.....I bought this kit from a local supplier.

There seems to be a little debate over wether to mix the complete 1 liter solution ... I calculated the quantities to make a 300ml solution for a 35mm film, storing in concertina bottles afterwards. The rest of the concentrates are still in their original bottles.
Click to expand...

So you make a reusable solution and that'll do a couple of rolls, presumably you could make up a 500ml for 120.
 
KayJay said:
I think these have come out great. I've been curious about c41 since ive started shooting 120 colour. How long was the entire process for that roll?
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Thank you .....certinly more satisfying ( for me anyway) than sending off to a lab.

Not including making up the solutions nor waiting for them to come up to temperature, the times were:

6 mins prewash/preheat of tank

8 mins dev

6 mins Blix

6 mins rinsing

1.5 mins stabilizer

I then chose to rinse again briefly and finish with mirasol.

If you ( or anyone else ) need more detailed info ( agitation etc) then just ask....I'm more than happy to help if I can.
 
steveo_mcg said:
So you make a reusable solution and that'll do a couple of rolls, presumably you could make up a 500ml for 120.
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Yes you could make up any amount you wish .....how many rolls the made up solution will develop I don't know yet.....I've yet to find out how to know when the dev is exhausted ( besides finding out by sh****ng a film up)

From what i understand from the instructions the USED developer solution has a "life" of 6 weeks whilst the other chems have 24 weeks.

Once the concentration has been opened, they will stay "good" for 12 weeks ( developer) and 24 weeks for the other two chems.


EDIT: Just found a little info here regarding re using the chems.

If I'm figuring this correctly it seems that the full 1 liter solution will potentially process 12 - 16 films.

Therefore having made up a 300 ml solution ( approx 1/3 of 1 liter), it would appear that i could get a third of the amount of films devd with that soup (ie 4 or 5 films)
Obviously this is assuming they are processed during the "lifetime" of the developer but it makes sense to me.....anyone else think differently??:shrug:
 
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Very impressive Asha, once I have done a little more b&w I would like to try colour. Maybe a lot more b&w - I have only done two rolls!

Mark
 
Threeracers said:
Very impressive Asha, once I have done a little more b&w I would like to try colour. Maybe a lot more b&w - I have only done two rolls!

Mark
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You've had some good results from them too.....I guess you won't be alone in having an urge to try C-41 at home
 
Great use of the Tetenal kit Asha. They really do work well and its not that hard to do as you have posted.
I've found that once open the chems do degrade quite rapidly, even when not diluted.
I tend to have batches of shooting colour and then process a few films one after another.
Next you need to try the E6 kits, they work just as well and give great results.

Sefton Palm house Velvia 50 5x4

7956550930_b9f9366726_z.jpg
[/url] palm-house4 by Marvin d martian100, on Flickr[/IMG]
and again

7956561188_860d57f83a_z.jpg
[/url] palm-house5 by Marvin d martian100, on Flickr[/IMG]

Mart
 
Just one point Asha - don't rinse after the stab. - part of it's job is a preservative, so don't rinse it off, I used to give it the "finger squeegee" trick just to reclaim as much of the chemicals as I could, then hang to dry.

When I was procesing with the Tetenal, I'd mix up a half-litre at a time (so I could dev 120 as well as 35mm), giving the concentrate bottles a spray of protectan and resealing. The half litre would pretty much do around 8 "units" of c41 without any noticeable problems. I say "units" because 1 unit = 1x36exp 35mm 100 iso film. 400 Iso depletes the chemicals maybe 2 units worth, 1600ISO call it 3. After 8 units on a 500ml batch, I'd relegate it to e6 cross-processing. Also, I found I needed to allow longer processing times (particularly the dev and blix) on a sliding scale depending on the number of films put through that batch of chemicals. I've got my "cribsheet" somewhere in the garage which I can dig out if you want...
 
TheBigYin said:
Just one point Asha - don't rinse after the stab. - part of it's job is a preservative, so don't rinse it off, I used to give it the "finger squeegee" trick just to reclaim as much of the chemicals as I could, then hang to dry.
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+1
 
Marvin d martian said:
Great use of the Tetenal kit Asha. They really do work well and its not that hard to do as you have posted.
I've found that once open the chems do degrade quite rapidly, even when not diluted.
I tend to have batches of shooting colour and then process a few films one after another.
Next you need to try the E6 kits, they work just as well and give great results.


Mart
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Thanks, you too have a very nice couple of shots there Mart.

Fortuanatley I have plenty of colour film atm to hand and the local carnaval starts this coming friday so a perfect opportunity to get several rolls shot.

In the event that i don't get the full 12 / 16 roll quota out of this kit, then no big deal, it will have been a learning curve, however I will take on board your comments about processing batches.
 
TheBigYin said:
Just one point Asha - don't rinse after the stab. - part of it's job is a preservative, so don't rinse it off, I used to give it the "finger squeegee" trick just to reclaim as much of the chemicals as I could, then hang to dry.
Click to expand...

robhooley167 said:
+1
Click to expand...

Ah ok.....I wasn't 100% sure wether too or not ...I saw it on a Utube vid....the guy on there didn't seem over sure himself actually, stating that it's not mentioned in the tetenal instructions but he did it anyway.
 
Wonderful work there Asha, god I love colour. :)
 
Thanks for sharing your experiences Asha - going to try and self dev some holiday snaps.

Will be buying the tetenal kit aswell.

How did you heat the chems up? Just in a water bath? Sounds like the temperature control needs to be spot on as you got colour casts?

If I can manage without buying a jobo or nova processor i'll be thrilled. #savemoney
 
MindofMel said:
Thanks for sharing your experiences Asha - going to try and self dev some holiday snaps.

Will be buying the tetenal kit aswell.

How did you heat the chems up? Just in a water bath? Sounds like the temperature control needs to be spot on as you got colour casts?

If I can manage without buying a jobo or nova processor i'll be thrilled. #savemoney
Click to expand...

Hi Mel,

Yes I just used a water bath, adding additional warm water if and when necessary.
It's a fun, cheap way to have a play at colour.....


I've just posted another couple of C-41 results here

The colour cast isn't too big a deal tbh as it's reasonably easy to shift in pp although naturally it's better if not there in the first place.
 
Good luck, its quite easy really.
personally I keep the rotating in my hands, its quite short times so its easy.

Mart
 
MindofMel said:
Hi Asha,

Got me the tetenal kit as well - in the booklet it mentions rotary processing only.. Did you invert at any particular timing?
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Pre soak the film with water at 30°C for approx 5 mins

Empty tank

Pour in dev at 30°C

Agitate 20 seconds then 2 gentle inversions every minute thereafter for the 8 mins dev time.

Same agitation for the Blix for the 6 mins required

Like b&w deving, I tapped the base of the tank after each agitation to release any bubbles attached to the film.

Hope this helps.

Btw, contrary to the instructions, I rinsed as I do b&w with several changes of water over a period of 6 mins as against a continual flow......all at 30°C or as close as i could keep it!

You may find more than one water bath works better than trying to do everything in one.....for instance I left the Blix, Rinse water and Stab in the water bath whilst maintaining the dev temp in a seperate water bath in the wash basin.

The Stab is much easier as temp is not so critical.

In addition a larger volume of water takes longer to cool down......something worth considering when preparing your bath as the whole process takes the best part of half an hour.
 
ah - i did a more agitation (2x@30s) because I was running at the book figure (38c) and the times were shorter accordingly... definitely with the "tapping" as well. Also did the rinses "a-la-ilford method" using some of the tempering water from the waterbath
 
MindofMel said:
Hi Asha,

Got me the tetenal kit as well - in the booklet it mentions rotary processing only.. Did you invert at any particular timing?
Click to expand...

I read somewhere that, with the timings being for a rotary processor, the 'alternative' timings, also in the instructions, were more suited to those doing it by hand.
 
TheBigYin said:
Also did the rinses "a-la-ilford method"
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Hope you were wearing suitable european/french dress code including a béret on your head whilst performing this action :lol:
 
VirtualAdept said:
I read somewhere that, with the timings being for a rotary processor, the 'alternative' timings, also in the instructions, were more suited to those doing it by hand.
Click to expand...

I chose the "alternative timings" as my thermometers only go up to 30°C !
 
Hi Mel

Where did you get the Tetenal kit from ?
Most places I have tried are out of stock.

Cheers C
 
Bear in mind that many labs often advertised 45 minute/1 hour processing, they wouldn't have been able to offer it if the drying took a long time.
 
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