C-41 developer do you use it 1 shot or do you replenish?

[destroya]

title says it. just wondering what everyone who does their own color c-41 development does with their developer. I'm talking about seperate chemicals, not the color kits like the tetenal or press kits. im talking kodak c-41 LORR and the like

does it matter to you the amount of film you might develop?

thanks

john

 

[Rudeofus]

I definitely do reuse my process chems, and I am fully aware, that my results may deviate quite a bit from correctly processed negatives. Stefan Lange, who formulated C-27 and C-29, the best home brew formulas I have seen so far, was strictly against reuse, but I can't justify throwing five grams of CD-4 at two rolls of 120 roll film.

 

[bvy]

I reuse the color developer at most one time. 600ml might develop one 120 or two 35mm rolls. I always reclaim it and might use it a second time to develop what I consider less critical stuff -- snapshots, test rolls, expired film, cross processing, etc. But that's as far as I'll push it.

 

[EdSawyer]

I use it one-shot. (Kodak regular C-41)

 

[1kgcoffee]

What is the difference between something like a reusable arista kit and one shot? Am I getting 'worse' results than I otherwise would the longer it stays in use?

 

[Rudeofus]

All C-41 CD are very similar, both in composition and in action, so it doesn't matter whether you use kit chems, minilab chems or home brew. Goal is, that all three color layers are developed in lock step and to target speed&contrast. This is very likely to happen accurately the first time you use the CD, and then it becomes less and less accurate as you reuse and extend dev time. It is up to you to decide, at which point desire for accurate results beats desire to be cost effective. Since minilab chems and home brew is typically a lot cheaper than small kits, that threshold moves towards fewer reuses depending on user.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Even with separate chemicals, one liter of developer is enough to develop up to twelve to sixteen rolls either all at once or one at a time. Why use it as one shot? Either replenish or throw out after to limit is reached.

 

[bvy]

Even with separate chemicals, one liter of developer is enough to develop up to twelve to sixteen rolls either all at once or one at a time. Why use it as one shot? Either replenish or throw out after to limit is reached.

PE recently posted Kodak's compensation times for C-41 developer reuse. Those of who wet print like consistency and repeatability, and you lose that when you start reusing developer and adjusting development time. Of course if you get results you're happy with, there's no right or wrong answer.

 

[GBS]

PE recently posted Kodak's compensation times for C-41 developer reuse.

Forgive me for reviving an old thread. Someone else mentioned this info/chart in another thread. I have searched and searched and searched for PE's post using all combinations of terms I can imagine. This is exactly what I am looking for, yet I cannot find it anywhere.

Can someone retrieve this link and share it?

Thanks!

(If you successfully use the "Advanced" search feature to find PE's post, I'd appreciate knowing how, so I can understand what to do next time.)

 

[Donald Qualls]

When I've processed C-41, I've either reused packaged color developer at the recommended rate (for most kits, 6-8 rolls per liter, though some suggest more rolls with an increase in time after so many), or used a home-mixed two-bath in which the Bath A lasts almost forever (it doesn't exhaust because, like other two-bath developers, there's effectively no development during the Bath A time; the developer carried over in the gelatin is activated by the alkaline Bath B).

Seems to me I recall Kodak recommended an extra 0:15 per roll past the 8 rolls they recommended for a liter, but I could have recalled that incorrectly.

 

[GBS]

Seems to me I recall Kodak recommended an extra 0:15 per roll past the 8 rolls they recommended for a liter, but I could have recalled that incorrectly.

Thanks @Donald Qualls! That's a good start. I realize it will require testing and does not yield official or accurate results across all films/developers/etc. However, PE's compensation times/chart has been mentioned a few times and I want to find that. I've found one for Fuji Hunt and one for Cinestill, both on other sites, but cannot find the one mentioned here for the life of me.

PE recently posted Kodak's compensation times for C-41 developer reuse.

If anyone can locate this--or teach me how to locate it, I would be much obliged!!

 

[MattKing]

IIRC, PE's post was of a scan of a page of a printed instruction sheet.
The search function doesn't work on images I'm afraid.

 

[Donald Qualls]

I'm pretty sure I found the 0:15 per extra film recommendation in one of Kodak's publications that was referenced in another thread here within the last 3-4 weeks.

 

[GBS]

IIRC, PE's post was of a scan of a page of a printed instruction sheet.
The search function doesn't work on images I'm afraid.

Thanks for following up. I was afraid of something like that. Still, the post or thread should've contained at least some searchable text, right? Is it possible to search for posts and replies "by user & with attachments"?

 

[GBS]

I'm pretty sure I found the 0:15 per extra film recommendation in one of Kodak's publications that was referenced in another thread here within the last 3-4 weeks.

If you can point me to that publication, I would be much appreciative. I've searched well into the night the past 2 days, and can't seem to get it.

 

[MattKing]

One of the fascinating things about many of PE's posts is that they are difficult to search for if you don't know the particular terms he was using.

 

[GBS]

One of the fascinating things about many of PE's posts is that they are difficult to search for if you don't know the particular terms he was using.

This made me giggle. I'm still so sad he's no longer with us.

Alas! I think I found it!

https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/kodak-c41-chemicals-and-availability.59953/page-2#post-859945

I've been clicking and searching and clicking and searching so I'm not sure how it happened, but I think I did an advanced search for his username and the keyword "compensation." I had to sift further, but maybe the rest was simply serendipity.

@Donald Qualls This roughly matches the :15/roll.

 

[MattKing]

Alas! I think I found it!

https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/kodak-c41-chemicals-and-availability.59953/page-2#post-859945

Good detective work.
The reference in that scan to one pint, along with Kodacolour II, may give you some sense how old that document is.
It was good that you found it, because it made me think - check my 1982 Kodak Colour Darkroom Dataguide.
Here are pages 12 and 13, both as jpegs and pdfs:

 

[GBS]

The reference in that scan to one pint, along with Kodacolour II, may give you some sense how old that document is.
It was good that you found it, because it made me think - check my 1982 Kodak Colour Darkroom Dataguide.

Hey--that's awesome! Also, very helpful!!! I think I was taking photos on a Kodak Discman back then.

Now the big question: I see on p13 of your dataguide that the two film types listed back then have a different max capacity. Where would you put modern films? Using 135-36 as an example (per pint in the chart), the max is 10, and 8. Would modern films be able to exceed that by, say, one "process" to 12? I'm speaking theoretically as a starting point for tests, not definitively.

Thanks a lot!

 

[MattKing]

First, I've started a new thread to make these easier to locate: https://www.photrio.com/forum/threa...flexicolour-time-compensation-ca-1982.176603/

I see on p13 of your dataguide that the two film types listed back then have a different max capacity. Where would you put modern films? Using 135-36 as an example (per pint in the chart), the max is 10, and 8. Would modern films be able to exceed that by, say, one "process" to 12? I'm speaking theoretically as a starting point for tests, not definitively.

I have no idea - I've never done this myself.
I think I would ask people who are currently processing old film whether they notice their chemicals exhausting more (or less) when used with old film than with current film.

 

[GBS]

I think I would ask people who are currently processing old film whether they notice their chemicals exhausting more (or less) when used with old film than with current film.

Cheers--thanks @MattKing!! Ultimately I'm looking for a starting point for time-increase and exhaustion rates when processing modern films in C-41. I realize I'll need to test my workflow once I get the starting point. I'll check the other thread. Thanks again!

 

[Donald Qualls]

Well, I'm glad that turned up. I believe I'd read Publication z131, which (when I dig it up and look again) in fact doesn't give any information about time compensation, but the Data Guide confirms 8 rolls of 135-36, with time compensation actually less than 15 seconds per roll (thinking about it, that may have been the Cinestill kit that had that figure).

 

[GBS]

the Data Guide confirms 8 rolls of 135-36, with time compensation actually less than 15 seconds per roll (thinking about it, that may have been the Cinestill kit that had that figure).

I saw that. It's within the margin of error with a hand tank, so 15(ish). Ha. The Cinestill kit dictates 2% more time per roll up to 24 rolls (with 1 L of mix), which, I believe, compounds with each successive roll. Cinestill pointed me here for a time chart (I hope this dude got a few rolls of free film and a free kit for his effort). I'll likely experiment with their extension method with hommeade mixes at some point and report back. But that's down the line.