The rising cost of color chemicals, especially the Kodak bleaches, has caused me to reduce the amount of color film, C-41, that I use.

I just returned from a weekend trip to Denver and a visit to Denver Pro Photo. I discovered that they are carrying a set of chemicals for C-41 process and RA-4 process that are much cheaper than Kodak's. Denver Pro Photo is using these chemicals for their own C-41 processing and printing. Their results are excellent. The company producing these chemicals is CPAC.

Needless to say I bought a set of C-41 and RA-4 to try out when I exhaust my supply of the Kodak. As a cost comparison, the price of Kodak's C-41 Bleach has jumped from around $28/gallon to $47/2.7 liters this year. This is the working solution. The CPAC Bleach for C-41 is $31.16 for a liter of bleach to mix a working solution of 5 liters. The Kodak Bleach costs $17.40 per working liter while the CPAC Bleach costs $6.23 per liter.

In the hope that you will find the information helpful, I have worked out the following table to give an indication of the costs for CPAC chemicals. I did not purchase the C-41 stabilizer because I have a sufficient supply of the Kodak Stabilizer. However, here is the list of the other chemicals from my invoice:

C-41 Chemicals

Chemical ................. Cost ... Size ... Working Volume ... $$$/WV
-------- .................. ---- ... ---- ... -------------- .... -------
Starter* ................. $3.13 ... 1 l. ... .............. 40 l. ... $0.04/l.
Developer/Replen ..... $6.10 ... 3 part ................ 5 l. ... $1.22/l.
Bleach III .............. $31.16 ... 2 l. ... ............... 5 l. ... $6.23/l.
Fixer ...................... $4.75 ... 1 l. ... ............... 5 l. ... $0.95/l.

RA-4 Chemicals

Starter* ............... $12.34 ... 2 l. ... .............. 80 l. ... $0.16/l.
Developer/Replen**. $19.12 ... 1 l. ... .............. 10 l. ... $1.91/l.
Blix*** ................. $16.60 ... 2 l. ... .............. 10 l. ... $1.66/l.

* The starter adds 25 ml per liter of developer.
** The RA-4 developer I bought is RT for roller transports.
*** The Blix is not a two part as Kodak. This may affect length of storage.

While I have been using the C-41 chemicals as a one shot process, I plan to recycle the bleach because it does not seem to deplete as rapidly as the developer. I have been recycling the C-41 Bleach since the price increased.

I also purchased 10 sheets of Ektar 100 ($27.95). It is looking like more of my color photography will be with the 120 films. When you are on a fixed budget it is nice to have alternatives.