Bad News for C41ers

hpulley · Jan 21, 2011

Short tape just in the middle, hmm. If I could remove the factory tape that might work. Thanks!

Local labs won't sell me C41 chems from their machines.

A 1L kit that lasts 6 weeks would be fine if you only shot 2 rolls per week. I shoot more than that at the moment but not all the time.

EdSawyer · Jan 21, 2011

I disconnect the first roll from the spool (in the dark of course), but leave the tape connected to the end of the first film. Then I use that tape to make the butt-joint connection with the beginning of the 2nd film. As long as the joint is square, it loads fine. You can tell by touch pretty easily if it's a square joint.

-Ed

michaelbsc · Jan 22, 2011

hpulley said:
Short tape just in the middle, hmm. If I could remove the factory tape that might work. Thanks!

Local labs won't sell me C41 chems from their machines.

A 1L kit that lasts 6 weeks would be fine if you only shot 2 rolls per week. I shoot more than that at the moment but not all the time.

I fold the factory tape over if it is stuck tight like Ilfords. I pull it off if it coming apart already like Shanghai.

Hold the two butt ends, head and tail, emulsion to emulsion so you can square it up cleanly, the fold your piece of masking tape over the two. Unfold the two pieces and they are square and attached.

At least this is how I do it. I don't use a changing bag. I lay things out on a table in a dark room. It might be pretty difficult in a changing bag.

michaelbsc · Jan 22, 2011

hpulley said:
Short tape just in the middle, hmm. If I could remove the factory tape that might work. Thanks!

Local labs won't sell me C41 chems from their machines.

A 1L kit that lasts 6 weeks would be fine if you only shot 2 rolls per week. I shoot more than that at the moment but not all the time.

I can't get the local guys to sell me chems either. Not sure what their problem is. But it isn't worth struggling any more. I'm just looking for my own supply.

hpulley · Jan 22, 2011

michaelbsc said:
I fold the factory tape over if it is stuck tight like Ilfords. I pull it off if it coming apart already like Shanghai.

Hold the two butt ends, head and tail, emulsion to emulsion so you can square it up cleanly, the fold your piece of masking tape over the two. Unfold the two pieces and they are square and attached.

At least this is how I do it. I don't use a changing bag. I lay things out on a table in a dark room. It might be pretty difficult in a changing bag.

Yeah, I'm trying to do this in a bag and so far it isn't worked out. But thanks for the advice, I might need to try to do this in the darkroom instead. Mine is light tight enough for B&W prints and I've used it in an emergency for film changing but if I'm going to use it regularly I'll want to improve it.

hpulley · Jan 22, 2011

michaelbsc said:
I can't get the local guys to sell me chems either. Not sure what their problem is. But it isn't worth struggling any more. I'm just looking for my own supply.

Yes, my one lab wondered where I'd got chems when I told him I was doing C41 myself. B&H in NY I say... He probably wonders if it is worth it to keep his C41 line in operation... was already running it just a few times a week.

I only really go there now to buy stuff I should have planned ahead for but need that day: film, chems and paper which are only cheap there if they're expired, or the odd frame which he has on clearance prices are all I really buy now when I go there rarely which is sad. I used to go there at least weekly if not daily for almost ten years.

Henrys has better selection and fresher stuff but they stopped developing film in the local stores long ago. Do they develop in Toronto? I don't know. Henrys lists some C41 and RA4 chems in their online catalog but it is all stuff they don't stock and I don't know that they can actually bring it in. Their ordering system just sits there on your order forever if they can't bring it in.

Both make their money from digital cameras and printers now. My local shop does digital printing as well, they might make money from that, I'm not really sure.

guyjr · Jan 23, 2011

Here is the link to the latest document I received from Kodak. I haven't looked too closely at each table, but it appears that this one document covers all three processes - C-41, E-6, and RA-4! I believe there is enough information in here to split in any amount needed (the examples they provide are for 1L, so should be straightforward to scale up & down).

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2221088/cis49-1.pdf

Now I just need to go back through this thread and see about getting some authentic Kodak Flexicolor chemicals.

Hope this helps!

michaelbsc · Jan 23, 2011

guyjr said:
Here is the link to the latest document I received from Kodak. I haven't looked too closely at each table, but it appears that this one document covers all three processes - C-41, E-6, and RA-4! I believe there is enough information in here to split in any amount needed (the examples they provide are for 1L, so should be straightforward to scale up & down).

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2221088/cis49-1.pdf

Now I just need to go back through this thread and see about getting some authentic Kodak Flexicolor chemicals.

Hope this helps!

This is pretty good. It does look like it has "all the stuff" even though it's going to take just a bit of work to make it "cookbook" instead of a math problem.

The list I scarfed was for E6, but somewhere I noted a list of C41 stuff, just not quite as well organized. I think on the Pakor.com web site.

MB

MattKing · Jan 23, 2011

Here is the Kodak website location where one might find the link to the CIS49 document (and others):

http://wwwcaen.kodak.com/global/en/professional/support/databanks/filmDatabankChemicals.jhtml?pq-path=13700/14472/14477

Note that some Kodak links re-direct depending on your location.

engineerchris · Jan 24, 2011

Just to add another possible method of sourcing Kodak C-41, here is a thread about my quest to use the F1 and F2 processor "box" packs of chemistry.

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

I think it could be a good option for someone to get in the game on a scale larger than the 1 Liter kits but smaller and cheaper than the individually packaged bulk Flexicolor. I have already bought one F1 box and three F2 boxes, but I am still working through a set of Rollei chemistry. FWIW I have not yet contacted Kodak for an official set of directions or guidance in using them on a 1-2 liter batches, so I don't know if they would be willing to help with a recipe for the soups.

Mark Antony · Jan 25, 2011

I use the Tetenal 1L kits (they do larger) you can buy two kits and combine the the bleaches leave the second developer for another batch bleach and fix will be separate. It works out at around £1 per film.
Bleach can be revived by introducing air (shake in a half filled bottle) before use, and adding a little acetic acid say 5% after 10 rolls or so.
Fuji make Pro kits, so try Fuji Hunt if you need larger kits-they are excellent:
http://www.ag-photographic.co.uk/fuji-hunt-c41-x-press-kit-5l-680-p.asp

The above 'Pro' kit (is available in Europe ring Fuji-hunt for your country) works out for me at about £1 a film also.
Here is my cheap method:
http://photo-utopia.blogspot.com/2011/01/processing-your-first-colour-negative.html
Mark Antony

mtjade2007 · Jan 26, 2011

I just checked B&H web site. They still offer Kodak C-41 chemicals. Was it a rumor that they stopped selling C-41 chemicals? I wonder how it got started. It's not true. They seem to have more varieties of chemicals than last time I checked last year.

Diapositivo · Jan 27, 2011

OMG, if I understand correctly this Kodak document gives volumes in tenths of a millilitre to prepare 30 L of working solution. That's a precision of 0,000033% if I do the math right.

Anybody using this kind of precision in mixing chemicals?

And by the way, when it says "always read mixing levels at the bottom of the meniscus" the illustration seems to indicate the top, and not the bottom, of the meniscus. The bottom of the meniscus should be the lowest liquid level (for an upward curved U shape, e.g).

http://chemistry.about.com/od/chemistrylabexperiments/qt/meniscus.htm

Fabrizio

Bad News for C41ers

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