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Are there any image quality benefits to developing black and white film in coffee or beer? If not, what is the allure?
The allure for me ( I use home roasted sumatran beans for caffenol, and I add in a small amount of dektol or ansco 130 ) was my gallon + 1/2 ( or whatever my giant Tupperware ware container holds ) lasts for hundreds of roll and sheets of film, and hundreds of sheets of paper without replenishment. I develop everything in the same developer, even cross processing c41 and e6 to develop it as plain old b/w film. It would give me a density and stain on my film that I could contact print it on anything from silver to cyanotype, and it was the perfect developer for paper negatives seeing paper is sometimes contrasty in certain situations. eventually I turned left and split processed all my film 1/2 the time in dektol or ansco130 and 1/2 the time in the caffenol mixed the same way and processed everything for the same time and temperature no matter the exposure, or iso of my film, like a universal developer. it worked for well for me for about 15 years. I don't process enough film these days to have a giant vat of coffee and washing soda on my darkroom sink so I just use sprint film developer now, its easy and locally made.
For me there were a few reasons for using beer. I travel a lot for work and can't always take chemistry with me so I wanted a way to develop with stuff I can get at the grocery store. That's why I experimented with doing a salt fix but so far I have always found a way to bring fix or purchase it locally. The salt fix does work so I can always do that in a pinch. I like to minimize the amount of toxic chemicals I use. I can just dump the Beerenol down the drain when I'm done. I don't have to worry about water quality that I'm not familiar with,beer is always consistent wherever I get it. Plus, I think I get good results with it. I do use Rodinal and HC-110 occasionally.Are there any image quality benefits to developing black and white film in coffee or beer? If not, what is the allure?
So why not continue with the coffee concoction even though you are shooting less? Instead of filling up a gallon plus plastic container, just mix up a quart?
So why not continue with the coffee concoction even though you are shooting less? Instead of filling up a gallon plus plastic container, just mix up a quart?
did you see the link for metol ? there's a difference between plant based developing agents like tomatoes or rosemary or mint or pine needles or chlorophyl and metol which is bad for you and bad for the environment.Just tried it, works faster with some baking soda sprinkled on the tomato first: Tomatonol. So tomatoes have dangerous phenols in them - I suppose the responsible thing would be to place a wild hysterical call to a bio-hazmat removal team to come dispose of my tomatoes.
Maybe for some image quality isn't a high priority, but for others it is ... like everything else? people just post images to the internet for fun, and a problem with the internet is that if you post images that are "high quality" sh*theads steal them so its a catch-22 (BTDT).. I guess these photographers deserve shade cause they like to enjoy themselves, bought trunks full of film when the industry almost tanked, and aren't hung up on gear worship &c., you know enjoying a glass of white zin, on the bearskin rug and fireplace with a ebony...(I miss Jonathan Cook's posts! )"Image quality" never struck me as a high priority around here - what with Holgas and negative scans made with cell-phones.
In any case, it is something to amuse oneself with while waiting to die. Like listening to music, going to the movies, going to a family reunion, catching Covid...
Why do you say that ? How often have you used these developers often enough to have such a strong opinion ? or are you like Nicholas Linden suggesting that its pretty much a waste of time like using a Holga or ... have ever seen Stephen Schuab's figital revolution site?No. It’s the opposite.
Good morning. Today I tried for the first time to develop a film at home. The problem was that at the end of the development, finding a sink occupied by water and various containers, taken by haste, I emptied the liquid into the left sink where there were also dirty dishes. I threw the liquid into the drain hole, not over the plates, but now I'm worried. I washed everything twice with dish soap and cleaned the sink. Can I rest easy or do I have to do some Further cleaning?
Well I wish such warnings (and a general attitude of being cautious at chemical training) had been there when I started processing. I learned my lesson the hard way, that being cautious may not be enough. .
I think you have captured in one sentence what may be termed a "recipe for life in general"I have always thought it pays to be careful, but it's also important to not overdo it, and above all not to overthink it too much.
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