Bellini reversal kit with Kodak Tri-X 16mm

O-o-frili · Jun 30, 2024

Hi there!

I'm interested in hearing if anyone has tried the Bellini B/W reversal kit for Kodak Tri-X 7266. After some research it seems almost impossible to find all the chemicals for mixing the right developer and bleach at home (D-94 dev + R-9 bleach), so now the only realistic option (apart from sending it to a lab) is trying this kit.
I don't want to use Foma R100 as they use permanganate bleach instead of dichromate and that has too big a risk of lifting or clearing the emulsion.

Bellini's product sheet says it works well with Agfa, Rollei, PAN F... but it doesn't mention Tri-X. Has any of you tried this?

Thanks in advance!

dokko · Jun 30, 2024

I never used the Bellini B/W reversal kit, but developed a lot of Tri-X reversal in my life.
my first guess was, that the Bellini kit includes a permanganate bleach as well, since a Dichromate bleach would be tough to sell in a lot of places.
the safety data sheet confirms this:
https://www.macodirect.de/media/pdf/32/fc/3d/BEREVBK1_Sicherheitsdatenblatt_d_4.pdf

It seems to be a pretty standard kit similar to one you could mix yourself, but cost wise it seems to me that you wouldn't save anything compared to just sending the film to Andec (the kit costing around 50euro per liter, which per data sheet would be barely enough to develop one 30meter roll of 16mm - ignoring the fact that it will be physically hard to get it submerged in 1liter).

personally I use the Kodak process but with D-19 as first and second developer. If you use a diluted paper developer instead, the only chemicals that you'd need is for the bleach and the clear batch, which are not difficult to get.

The R-10 bleach is indeed a lot less tolerant than the R-9. I found the most important thing is to do a lot of agitation in the bleach and a good wash between the baths. I also use demineralised water for the bleach and don't store it more than a couple of days, which might be over cautious, but better safe than sorry.

O-o-frili · Jul 1, 2024

Thanks !
Good to know it also uses permanganate (read differently somewhere).

Do you mix D-19 yourself? Or do you know where to get it?
And are you saying that you can use a paper developer to use as 1st & 2nd developer in this process ? I guess it has to be a stronger dilution than when developing paper?

guangong · Jul 1, 2024

dokko said:
I never used the Bellini B/W reversal kit, but developed a lot of Tri-X reversal in my life.
my first guess was, that the Bellini kit includes a permanganate bleach as well, since a Dichromate bleach would be tough to sell in a lot of places.
the safety data sheet confirms this:
https://www.macodirect.de/media/pdf/32/fc/3d/BEREVBK1_Sicherheitsdatenblatt_d_4.pdf

It seems to be a pretty standard kit similar to one you could mix yourself, but cost wise it seems to me that you wouldn't save anything compared to just sending the film to Andec (the kit costing around 50euro per liter, which per data sheet would be barely enough to develop one 30meter roll of 16mm - ignoring the fact that it will be physically hard to get it submerged in 1liter).

personally I use the Kodak process but with D-19 as first and second developer. If you use a diluted paper developer instead, the only chemicals that you'd need is for the bleach and the clear batch, which are not difficult to get.

The R-10 bleach is indeed a lot less tolerant than the R-9. I found the most important thing is to do a lot of agitation in the bleach and a good wash between the baths. I also use demineralised water for the bleach and don't store it more than a couple of days, which might be over cautious, but better safe than sorry.

D-19 is also my developer for TriX movie film. Easy to make. You gave excellent advice.

dokko · Jul 1, 2024

O-o-frili said:
Do you mix D-19 yourself? Or do you know where to get it?

Unfortunately Kodak stopped selling a premixed package quite a while ago. I don't know of anybody selling it, but it's quite easy and cheap to mix yourself.

O-o-frili said:
And are you saying that you can use a paper developer to use as 1st & 2nd developer in this process ? I guess it has to be a stronger dilution than when developing paper?

yes, I used Dokumol 1+9 sometimes, which works ok, but unfortunately Tetenal stopped production recently. I also tested Eukobrom, PQ Universial and Dektol - all worked, but the results where not quite as nice as with D-94a or D-19. I prefer D-19 because it's easy to mix with easy to handle chemicals, and also the developing times are better suited for manual processing (around 6mins at 20deg C).

if you want to optimise the results you could add a bit of DTOD to the first developer only (it will give you clearer highlights), but first first experiments you can also do the simple version without.

O-o-frili · Jul 3, 2024

Thanks for the great advice! I'll definitely try mixing D-19 if I can get the chemicals in Sweden.

Any experience if Fomadon R09, Ilford Perceptol or multigrade works too?
Still not completely understanding the difference between all the developers. Guess I just have to cut the film in pieces and develop each piece with another developer to see the difference

dokko · Jul 3, 2024

O-o-frili said:
Any experience if Fomadon R09, Ilford Perceptol or multigrade works too?

I haven't tried those three, but basically any b/w developer will "work", but usually won't give you optimal results.

negative developers (like Perceptol and Fomadon R09) will give you low contrast. I'd try higher than recommended concentration and a lot of agitation, but it usually still not give you the nice bright images of normal reversal process.

print developers (like Multigrade) will usually give you higher contrast, bigger grain, and less shadow detail. you can try diluting more and minimal agitation, but again it won't be possible to fully compensate.

by the time you run all the test needed to get somewhat ok results you ight be better of just mixing D-19

I can get all the chemicals from my local pharmacy.

Bellini reversal kit with Kodak Tri-X 16mm

O-o-frili

dokko

O-o-frili

guangong

dokko

O-o-frili

dokko

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