I've got my Sinar F kit put together and took it and the roll film back out to do some tests to understand movements and macro. I tried Fuji Acros with Caffenol-C-L doing stand development. The results were not unexpected but I'm wondering if anyone else here can quickly point me to what I need to do "next time"?
I used the recipe almost exactly. I substituted Iodized Salt for KBr (but I think I got too much) thinking that would help with uneven development. This is pure stand development. Gentle agitations at the beginning then 70 minutes in the soup.
I had to adjust the curves quite heavily as this gave me a very dense and dark negative. You can see the unevenness in the development, though. I assume I will have to do semi-stand next time with some real agitation rather than simply spinning the spindle which moves the reel up-and-down just a little in the container.
I will adjust the recipe to use 750ml instead of 1l with some left over.
Any other thoughts on why the negative would be so dense? I feel like I lost a lot of dynamic range given the amount I had to adjust the curves. If I can get the development even, I think I'll really like the tonality, though. The Acros I love anyway but the Caffenol does do something unique to it.
Is the salt really needed in the C-L variation doing stand or semi-stand?
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