c-41 porta 400 film pulled to 25 Help!

Kyle DiPilla · Mar 10, 2018

This was my first time shooting with color and went with portra 400 by the good reviews. I thought I was pulling my black and white film but mistakenly did it with this roll. I have my own darkroom and can process the film but I would like input from the community about approaching this. I know I will have to up my processing times but if any one has experience with pulling this film please pass it on so I can process it correctly the first time. And also recommendations on color processing kits that don't cost an arm and leg being this is my first roll. I am trying to find a time chart but can not seem to find it. if anyone can help with these I would highly appreciate it. here is what I was shooting:
4 - 8 seconds
f-16 - f22
iso 400 pulled to 25

Svenedin · Mar 10, 2018

You have basically overexposed the film by 4 stops. Amazingly (perhaps) you will probably get away with this if you intend to scan the film. If you intend to optically print the negatives are going to be very dense and so will be hard to print.

Regarding kits, it depends how much colour film you intend to shoot. You may find that it is more economical to have your C41 lab processed (e.g mail order) than to develop a few rolls with a kit and have the chemicals go off before they are used to capacity. It depends on your costs (the lab I use in the UK is very cheap). I develop all my own B&W but now I have a lab develop (but not print or scan) my C41. I used to do C41 (and E6) myself but I don't shoot enough of it to make it worthwhile.

adelorenzo · Mar 10, 2018

Process normally. There are plenty of tests online, Portra can take +4 stops overexposure no problem.

WilmarcoImaging · Mar 10, 2018

I would process normally. For C-41 this means develop for 3 minutes 15 seconds at 100 deg F. I recommend Kodak Flexicolor chemicals. There is a sticky in this forum instructing which products to buy and where they can be purchased.

Kyle DiPilla · Mar 10, 2018

Svenedin said:
You have basically overexposed the film by 4 stops. Amazingly (perhaps) you will probably get away with this if you intend to scan the film. If you intend to optically print the negatives are going to be very dense and so will be hard to print.

Regarding kits, it depends how much colour film you intend to shoot. You may find that it is more economical to have your C41 lab processed (e.g mail order) than to develop a few rolls with a kit and have the chemicals go off before they are used to capacity. It depends on your costs (the lab I use in the UK is very cheap). I develop all my own B&W but now I have a lab develop (but not print or scan) my C41. I used to do C41 (and E6) myself but I don't shoot enough of it to make it worthwhile.

I do my own black and white processing as well as alternative processes in my home darkroom. I never messed with color due to the huge room for mistake but I am going to try to start some more

MattKing · Mar 10, 2018

FWIW, you haven't pulled anything - "pull" is a reference to a change in development only.
What you have done is increased your exposure - by 4 stops. Most likely that means you have overexposed your film, but that isn't likely to be fatal.
Portra 400 tolerates overexposure well.
The results will most likely yield a fairly dense negative. The film grain will be a bit more obvious, and if you are scanning, you may have to do some extra work, but you might just end up liking the results from normal development.
In case you were wondering, the reason to pull (or push) development is actually to control contrast. If your photographs were of an extremely contrasty subject, it may have been in order to decrease (pull) development a moderate amount, and to increase exposure slightly in conjunction with that development change.

removed account4 · Mar 10, 2018

Kyle DiPilla said:
This was my first time shooting with color and went with portra 400 by the good reviews. I thought I was pulling my black and white film but mistakenly did it with this roll. I have my own darkroom and can process the film but I would like input from the community about approaching this. I know I will have to up my processing times but if any one has experience with pulling this film please pass it on so I can process it correctly the first time. And also recommendations on color processing kits that don't cost an arm and leg being this is my first roll. I am trying to find a time chart but can not seem to find it. if anyone can help with these I would highly appreciate it. here is what I was shooting:
4 - 8 seconds
f-16 - f22
iso 400 pulled to 25

i regularly over expose black and white as well as color film ( both slides and print ) 4-5 stops
develop it in caffenol C with about 1 oz of stock print developer ( whatever you want it doesn't matter )
develop it for about 8 mins you will have useable black and white negatives.

good luck !
john

ps i have been using caffenol like this for IDK 11 years, i am not type of person who suggests something i don't do myself.

Sirius Glass · Mar 10, 2018

jnanian said:
i regularly over expose black and white as well as color film ( both slides and print ) 4-5 stops
develop it in caffenol C with about 1 oz of stock print developer ( whatever you want it doesn't matter )
develop it for about 8 mins you will have useable black and white negatives.

good luck !
john

ps i have been using caffenol like this for IDK 11 years, i am not type of person who suggests something i don't do myself.

Caffenol C may be good for black & white film, but the OP shot color film. Shooting at EI 25 is just within range for normal development, but do not make a habit of it.

Kyle DiPilla · Mar 10, 2018

thanks everyone for all your help I'm gonna give this a try this week. I will post the result back once I get it developed!

Rudeofus · Mar 12, 2018

This is the test some folks were referring to. If I interpret this test correctly, +4 stops overexposure are an absolute non-issue for Portra 400 ...

c-41 porta 400 film pulled to 25 Help!

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