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Thread: C-41 at home

  1. #21
    http://www.spiritsofsilver.com tgtaylor's Avatar
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    Re: C-41 at home

    Quote Originally Posted by al olson View Post
    Wow, Thomas, this is very good to know, but I don't do enough processing to use the five gallon quantities. And two hundred fifty dollars for 12.5 gallons of bleach would be outside of my entire color budget for the year. For me that is a lifetime supply. In fact buying chemicals by the five gallon lot would be extreme as I only use 5 to 10 liters each of C-41 and RA-4 during the year.
    Yes, 5 gallons of Flexicolor developer replenisher does go a long way but the good news is that the cost is low, $33.99 is what I paid the local Calumet for the kit I am currently working out of, and it lasts for quite a while after opening without having to fill the containers with marbles or gas. For example I first opened the kit I am still using on 1/1/2011 (I write the date on the box and erred when I said May in the earlier post) and as of today there has been no change in the color of any of the components. I think that it's Part C that will oxide first and change to a dark color telling you that it needs to be tossed. But I generally use the kit long before that happens.

    As for the bleach, $250 was also out of my bleach budget at the time. But the thought of paying $40 for less than a gallon motivated me to scrape up enough funds for the purchase. But that is now out of the way and I now have enough bleach to last a lifetime. I mix one gallon of working tank solution with starter at a time and use it in the same manner as I did using the ready mixed product. Kodak says that a given quantity will process twice the number of rolls/sheet as the developer so if my run requires 1L of developer, I'll just pour out 500mL of bleach and toss after processing.

    Thomas

  2. #22

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    Re: C-41 at home

    Quote Originally Posted by photobymike View Post
    I have been using Tetenal c41 for 2 years now...

    So here are a few of my thoughts. This c41 kit is really great stuff... 5 liters is just over a gallon..The 5 liter kit all liquid very easy to mix, i use distilled water to mix..i use it over 3 months...unless you have a jobo processor or equivalent processor; process at 87 degrees or 20 cel..... temp easier to control ... i use a Beseler roller so i over heat chems by a couple of degrees, seems to work great......Tetenal c41 dev process is panthermic with some restrictions on time and temp. The negs have more contrast than Kodak process. The negs really scan well with my v750 Epson. Fuji 160 not so good...Kodak Ektar is the best film to use with Tetenal... you will really like Ektar for scanning.. very good dynamic range with really great shadows... With some fuji films the shadows are a different color balance.... Chemicals toxic so handle with caution...use rubber gloves if your skin is exposed rinse well.... dev make my skin itch.....
    That's the kit I got, the liquid one.
    Let's see if I got this right. I can make a 1 liter out of the 5 liter kit, that meaning I am not mixing the whole 5 liter kit (I don't have that much film to process anyway.)

    This 1 liter solution (developer, blix, stab) is used and returned to the bottle up to 12/16 rolls of (say) 120 film for a period of three-four months?

    What happens to what's left of the 5 liter kit? How long does that keep fresh once I've opened the bottles?

  3. #23
    Unwitting Thread Killer Ari's Avatar
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    Re: C-41 at home

    Quote Originally Posted by Ramiro Elena View Post
    That's the kit I got, the liquid one.
    Let's see if I got this right. I can make a 1 liter out of the 5 liter kit, that meaning I am not mixing the whole 5 liter kit (I don't have that much film to process anyway.)

    This 1 liter solution (developer, blix, stab) is used and returned to the bottle up to 12/16 rolls of (say) 120 film for a period of three-four months?

    What happens to what's left of the 5 liter kit? How long does that keep fresh once I've opened the bottles?
    That's why I got the one-liter kit; I shoot about 15-20 sheets of colour per week, and the 1-litre will be enough for my use.
    Based on what I've read on the Tetenal, you can exceed its stated capacity by 30%-50%, and if stored in the fridge, the shelf life is extended as well.
    I just got mine, so I'll let you know how it goes.
    Good luck to you.

  4. #24

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    Re: C-41 at home

    Hi Ari,

    I have not read the entire thread, but C-41 at home is a breeze.
    If your Jobo set up is not tempered, I would go the old fashion way, stainless tanks.
    Big rubber maid type tub, fish tank pump and heater, the pump does make a big difference, have it move the water around thru the entire cycle.
    Search FeeBay for an old photo heater made by DevTec out of Florida, they were the best.

    Before Digicams came along, I was processing C-41 in hotels, bathrooms, press centers, shower rooms at sports complexes etc etc for years this way, never lost a film.

  5. #25

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    Re: C-41 at home

    You're giving me hope, Allen -- I have to spend the first 6 months of the year living in an RV and figured no more C-41 developing for me.

  6. #26

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    Re: C-41 at home

    The powder kit also seems to be the only thing we can get shipped to Canada without going through a middle man.

    You really can exceed the stated capacity by up to 100-200%. I keep meaning to put up a test I did. I just happened to have twelve sheets taken of the same subject from the same shoot with the same set-up once, so I divided the processing up between a fresh kit and an old one. Never did scan those to compare. I also kept one sheet undeveloped to send to a lab for further comparison.

    By the way, Ari, one thing I didn't mention before is that you should add a little Photo-Flo to your stabilizer. There either isn't any or isn't very much of a wetting agent in there.

    Ramiro, I've heard those liquid concentrates can last quite a long time if you completely evacuate the air from them and keep them sealed. I think as much as a year in some cases. I'm not sure if cold storage is advisable. Do a search, it's been discussed quite a bit before, especially on APUG and even Flickr. I like those two sources of information because, generally, APUG will give you the more conservative safe viewpoint and Flickr is full of younger amateurs who don't mind really pushing things and experimenting.

  7. #27
    Unwitting Thread Killer Ari's Avatar
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    Re: C-41 at home

    Quote Originally Posted by Allen in Montreal View Post
    Hi Ari,

    I have not read the entire thread, but C-41 at home is a breeze.
    If your Jobo set up is not tempered, I would go the old fashion way, stainless tanks.
    Big rubber maid type tub, fish tank pump and heater, the pump does make a big difference, have it move the water around thru the entire cycle.
    Search FeeBay for an old photo heater made by DevTec out of Florida, they were the best.

    Before Digicams came along, I was processing C-41 in hotels, bathrooms, press centers, shower rooms at sports complexes etc etc for years this way, never lost a film.
    Thanks, Allen; I'll be using the Jobo 2553 with 12 sheets and atub filled with 38˚C water. I'm kind of tired of spending money lately.

    Quote Originally Posted by J_Tardiff View Post
    You're giving me hope, Allen -- I have to spend the first 6 months of the year living in an RV and figured no more C-41 developing for me.
    You have to spend 6 months in an RV?
    Man, I'm trying desperately to spend the winter in one of those; you wouldn't need to force me.

    Quote Originally Posted by tbeaman View Post
    The powder kit also seems to be the only thing we can get shipped to Canada without going through a middle man.

    You really can exceed the stated capacity by up to 100-200%. I keep meaning to put up a test I did. I just happened to have twelve sheets taken of the same subject from the same shoot with the same set-up once, so I divided the processing up between a fresh kit and an old one. Never did scan those to compare. I also kept one sheet undeveloped to send to a lab for further comparison.

    By the way, Ari, one thing I didn't mention before is that you should add a little Photo-Flo to your stabilizer. There either isn't any or isn't very much of a wetting agent in there.

    Ramiro, I've heard those liquid concentrates can last quite a long time if you completely evacuate the air from them and keep them sealed. I think as much as a year in some cases. I'm not sure if cold storage is advisable. Do a search, it's been discussed quite a bit before, especially on APUG and even Flickr. I like those two sources of information because, generally, APUG will give you the more conservative safe viewpoint and Flickr is full of younger amateurs who don't mind really pushing things and experimenting.
    Thanks tbeaman; I had that fact written down already.
    If you do get results from your tests, do let us know; I'll be seeing how many 4x5s one liter of Tetenal will process satisfactorily.

  8. #28
    Unwitting Thread Killer Ari's Avatar
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    Re: C-41 at home

    I just wanted to add a page from B&H's website; one reviewer was kind enough to provide detailed instructions.

    Rather than repeat the previous reviewers' comments about how easy this kit is to use and the great results it produces (it is, and it does), I'm going to give a few tips about using it.

    1. Your kit may come branded "Tetenal," "Jobo," or "Unicolor." They're all exactly the same kit, so don't worry about the name on the box.

    2. Get a good thermometer. The Weston dial thermometer elsewhere on this site is excellent.

    3. To mix up the solutions, I microwave a jug of distilled water until it reaches the recommended temperature, then mix each solution in a 1L graduate and pour it into an opaque plastic bottle. Wash and rinse the graduate and any other glassware thoroughly before mixing the next chemical - a drop of blix in the developer, for example, will kill the developer.

    4. Unlike the Kodak and Fuji C-41 chemistry, the Tetenal stabilizer does not seem to include a wetting agent. To fix that, I add a few drops of PhotoFlo to the stabilizer after mixing it up. Without this addition, I get water spots all over the negatives.

    5. To start processing, put the developer, blix, and a 1L bottle of water in the microwave on "high" for 3 minutes, check the developer temperature, then microwave some more if necessary, until the developer is up to about 40-41 degrees C. The other solutions will be around the same temperature at that point, and only the developer is really critical. Once they're warmed up, leave them sitting out with the thermometer in the developer bottle, so you can monitor its temperature.

    6. While microwaving the solutions, get your film loaded onto your reels and into the tank. I use the Samigon plastic tank and reel system, which is also available from B&H.

    7. Fill a plain plastic dishpan with very hot tap water. If your developer cools down too quickly, you can set the solutions in there to warm them back up.

    8. When the developer is at 39C, pour the heated water into the tank for the pre-soak, and follow the instructions the rest of the way through the process. I find a three-way digital kitchen timer very handy, but you could use any timing device if you're careful. Start pouring out the previous solution about 15 seconds before its time is up, so you can add the next solution exactly on time.

    9. As others have noted, the kit is pretty forgiving about times and temperatures, so don't pitch a fit if the developer cools a half-degree too low or you take a few seconds longer to fill the tank with blix. I haven't tried doing this with developer at room temperature, but others say that works with a slight adjustment to the time.

    10. The stabilizer is supposed to be at room temperature. I think that's to keep it from evaporating too quickly.

    11. DO NOT rinse the film after the stabilizer. The stabilizer's main function is to coat the film with an antimicrobial compound (hexamine, I think). Color negatives without this coating will rot, so don't rinse it off. That's why I add the PhotoFlo directly to the stabilizer, rather than put it in a separate rinse as I would for black-and-white film.

  9. #29

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    Re: C-41 at home

    I think I remember reading that exact review when I was first getting into this.

    Quote Originally Posted by Ari View Post
    If you do get results from your tests, do let us know; I'll be seeing how many 4x5s one liter of Tetenal will process satisfactorily.
    I'll see if I have enough time tonight to do something preliminary on the Epson. One of the reasons I've put off doing it is that I've wanted to use a good enough scanner to be able to see into the grain.

    And it won't be the most rigorous test. The sheets done in the fresh batch sat for awhile longer unprocessed in the fridge than the others, and it's expired film, but I suppose anything will be better than the anecdotal hearsay we've had to go on so far.

  10. #30
    Unwitting Thread Killer Ari's Avatar
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    Re: C-41 at home

    Quote Originally Posted by tbeaman View Post
    I think I remember reading that exact review when I was first getting into this.



    I'll see if I have enough time tonight to do something preliminary on the Epson. One of the reasons I've put off doing it is that I've wanted to use a good enough scanner to be able to see into the grain.

    And it won't be the most rigorous test. The sheets done in the fresh batch sat for awhile longer unprocessed in the fridge than the others, and it's expired film, but I suppose anything will be better than the anecdotal hearsay we've had to go on so far.
    None of the fridge storage stuff should matter, and any decent flatbed scanner will do, since that's what many of us use.
    Keep us posted.
    Thanks

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