Best c41 home development chemicals

[Filmfan101]

Hi, I’ve been developing C41 at home in a manual tank for about a year and a half, I’ve used the Bellini c41 kit and the Adox c41 kit but keep getting inconsistent results with both in different ways. What are people’s thoughts on best chemicals for home C41 dev. I’m in the UK so will need to be available here.

Thanks

P.s @koraks i imagine you’ll have some good input cheers.

 

[ChrisGalway]

In what respect are the results "inconsistent"?

Assuming your chemicals are in date, not over-used or poorly stored, and you are following the instructions to the letter (especially Colour Dev time and temperature), and are doing exactly the same procedure every time, I don't understand why the results should be inconsistent. In my experience, these kits (Bellini and Adox) give excellent results ... every time. So there's something amiss with your processing regimen, I think.

 

[thomasossi]

I started developing color film at home about 2 years ago. I now do E6 as well and have pretty consistent results. I tried the Cinestill, Bellini, Adox and Flic film C41 kits before finally just settling in on the Arista 1Gal kit. At first I was worried about chemical degradation as I mix up about 500ml per month to develop 6-8 rolls of film with. Im on my second kit and have had very consistent results with quality. First kit was used for almost 8 months and comparing the negatives between the first and last batch I really can't tell a difference. It is also very economical to use if you buy the full gallon and just mix out 500-1000ml at a time. Hope this helps!

 

[Spektrum]

P.s @koraks i imagine you’ll have some good input cheers.

If you're looking for advice, first show us your results, which you think are inconsistent. Don't post finished scans, but photos of the negatives against a light background (preferably a white wall). These can be photos taken with your phone. Thanks to the white wall, the automatic WB on the phone won't go crazy.

The Bellini C41 kit and the Adox C41 kit are among the best kits. Adox C-41 is a 100% replacement for the legendary Tetenal Colortec C-41. Bellini uses chemicals in their kits that they produce for professional labs. There's no way the results would be inconsistent due to these chemicals.

I haven't seen your results, but are you sure you're maintaining a constant temperature while 3.15 min developing ?

 

[djdister]

Hi, I’ve been developing C41 at home in a manual tank for about a year and a half, I’ve used the Bellini c41 kit and the Adox c41 kit but keep getting inconsistent results with both in different ways. What are people’s thoughts on best chemicals for home C41 dev. I’m in the UK so will need to be available here.

Thanks

P.s @koraks i imagine you’ll have some good input cheers.

We're just shooting in the dark unless you provide a lot more details:

What film?
What kind of tank and reels?
What method of agitation? Inversion, rotation, continuous?
What kind of temperature control?

 

[mshchem]

Hi, I’ve been developing C41 at home in a manual tank for about a year and a half, I’ve used the Bellini c41 kit and the Adox c41 kit but keep getting inconsistent results with both in different ways. What are people’s thoughts on best chemicals for home C41 dev. I’m in the UK so will need to be available here.

Thanks

P.s @koraks i imagine you’ll have some good input cheers.

Once mixed and partially used, C-41 developer has a shelf life of about 2 weeks in a full bottle.

Check temperature etc.

Are the negatives inconsistent or are you struggling with scanning?

 

[Filmfan101]

I’m developing in a jobo 1520 tank (120 film) using hand agitation, if people can let me know their processes when using the Bellini and Adox kits that’d be handy, I’ve been following instructions that come with the kits.

 

[Pioneer]

I have been using the Cinestill 1 Liter Developing kit for a few years. It really isn't any different than most of the others but all I have to do is call Blue Moon Camera and they can get a couple of kits to me pretty quickly.

I don't even mix my color chemicals until I have 10 rolls waiting to be developed and then I develop them 5 rolls at a time in my Jobo tank, usually in two, or at most four days. After that I am done and dispose of the chemicals. I could probably get more films through but I know after a few years of use that I can get very consistent developing by doing it this way.

No muss, no fuss. I am done in a couple of days and I don't have to worry about the results. That is what I like.

 

[ChrisGalway]

I’m developing in a jobo 1520 tank (120 film) using hand agitation, if people can let me know their processes when using the Bellini and Adox kits that’d be handy, I’ve been following instructions that come with the kits.

How are you controlling the temperature (to +/- 0.5C)? And exactly what agitation, given the Col Dev time is only 3min15sec? Are you re-using solutions? If so, how long between films, and how many films in total per litre (or 500ml)?

In my opinion, it all about the details. They are important, and every time you process you should be doing exactly the same as last time, unless you are deliberately pulling or pushing the Col Dev.

As others have said, both the Bellini and Adox kits are excellent ... if used in date.

 

[koraks]

P.s @koraks i imagine you’ll have some good input cheers.

I agree with the others that in order to solve problems, it helps to understand them first.
AFAIk there's nothing about the chemistry you use that is inherently problematic; either should work fine. So odds are that it's a process parameter that's not under control, and switching chemistry will be a hit & miss (likely the latter) guess.

 

[Pioneer]

I have an old Jobo machine. The rotation no longer works but the heater maintains temp pretty consistently so I rotate the tank by hand. I have several different tanks. Usually for color I use my Multi-Tank 5 which requires 640 ml of solution. I do the normal 3m15s for the first five films and then increase the time to 3m45s for the second 5 rolls. Seems to work out ok. For the seond tank of 5 films I mix the used developer with remaining unused and take the 640 ml out of the mix. As I remember the directions say to increase the time after the first two rolls but since I am doing 5 rolls at a time I increase the time for the second tank of 5 rolls.

 

[Samu]

Any of the "standard" variants, with separate bleach and fixer is good in my opinion. These are mostly professinal line chemistries repackaged and starters added- I personally have used Fuji Hunt Film X-press, because the size is good for my requirements, and it is very eaisily available here in Lithuania. As far as I know, also the Bellini products are excellent. The only issue for me is that they are only available in 1 liter size, which is too small for me. Also, using professional chemistry, such as Fuji Hunt´s Environeg, is also a possibility.

For now, I use Fuji Hunt´s Film X´press kit for C41
For RA-4, I use Fuji Hunt Enviroprint 160 MP and Bleach Fix 108 AC
For E6, my choice is the Jobo kit.

 

[BurntOutElectronics]

All I will say here is, please for your own sake do not use simple Blix kits. Use only kits that utilise separate bleach and fixer stages.
Cyan dye formation will be absolutely hampered without proper time in bleach, as is coming out of the colour developer it is very clear and forms its final coloured state in the bleach.

 

[koraks]

Cyan dye formation will be absolutely hampered without proper time in bleach, as is coming out of the colour developer it is very clear and forms its final coloured state in the bleach.

You may be confusing the pH-dependent color of the dye with the formation of the dye as such. The dye is really formed in the developing step, not the bleach step. pH of subsequent steps can/will affect the hue strength of the dyes, but the dyes do not chemically change after they've been formed as a result of the color coupler linking with the oxidized functional developer group.
A simple diagnostic to disprove your statement is the fact that bleach-bypass processed film has well-formed cyan dye. Overall saturation is less (across all color channels0 due to the presence of metallic silver, which acts like a bit of black paint mixed in with a color paint, which will reduce saturation (and increase density).

 

[ChrisGalway]

All I will say here is, please for your own sake do not use simple Blix kits. Use only kits that utilise separate bleach and fixer stages.
Cyan dye formation will be absolutely hampered without proper time in bleach, as is coming out of the colour developer it is very clear and forms its final coloured state in the bleach.

Evidence? The Tetenal/Adox C41 kit has Blix, and I've never seen any evidence that this gives inferior results. Sure, there a lot of opinions out there both ways, but where are the facts? (I've always used this kit, never had any problems, but I have not critically and objectively compared it to the full process kits.)

 

[BurntOutElectronics]

You may be confusing the pH-dependent color of the dye with the formation of the dye as such. The dye is really formed in the developing step, not the bleach step. pH of subsequent steps can/will affect the hue strength of the dyes, but the dyes do not chemically change after they've been formed as a result of the color coupler linking with the oxidized functional developer group.
A simple diagnostic to disprove your statement is the fact that bleach-bypass processed film has well-formed cyan dye. Overall saturation is less (across all color channels0 due to the presence of metallic silver, which acts like a bit of black paint mixed in with a color paint, which will reduce saturation (and increase density).

Yes dyes are pH sensitive, but their formation is also oxidation sensitive! I would not describe bleach bypassed film as having "well formed" cyan dyes. So much so that pro labs back in the day would handle beach bypass with caution and actually duplicate the negs and bleach bypass that rather than the originals.

What I am referring to here is leuco cyan dyes, that are formed in development and are converted with further oxidation in bleach. Both cyan dyes and leuco cyan dyes will be present after colour developer resulting in a weak non linear density that is only corrected for in a proper period in oxidised bleach.
Such oxidation is rushed to completion and often isn't in blix configurations. This results in muddy optical prints which I have experienced first hand.

Also, blix raises the likelihood of residual silver being left also resulting in further image issues. Blix is not a stable mixture, and being used beyond a one shot should be cautioned. I would not recommend it at all.

This is all well documented here on this website and others, Ron himself has written lots about it over time.
I suggest you do further research.