C41 developing saturation

trythis · Oct 11, 2015

I just developed 9 rolls with a new batch at 38 Celcius with great results (to me) and replenished my blix half way through (I have enough leftover dev for 500ml more but no blix, oh well)

The bleach then fix adaptation of blix solutions are probably awesome but the cost just ruins the whole point for me... That would be saving money over paying a lab $7.50 a roll.

I can tell that to get perfect results I would have to develop one shot. That would make it cost way more than the pro lab or walgreens for that matter.

I will try a unicolor powder kit next which is cheaper.

I am using a stop bath before fixing, btw

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sfaber17 · Oct 11, 2015

If you can invest over $100 for 10 liters of Kodak RA bleach from Unique, you could
do 8 rolls per liter and then re-use it once to get 16 rolls. The fixer is only $10 for 25 liters - use once. The CD is pretty cheap especially if you mix it yourself as mts. Then you are down to
less than $3 a roll.

Rudeofus · Oct 11, 2015

trythis said:
The bleach then fix adaptation of blix solutions are probably awesome but the cost just ruins the whole point for me... That would be saving money over paying a lab $7.50 a roll.

You do realize that my BLIX-->bleach conversion is not very expensive and gives you a bleach which will easily outlast your CD. TF-5 is again not very expensive, its strength can be easily monitored (clip test is your friend), and alltogether you should end up much cheaper ...

trythis said:
I will try a unicolor powder kit next which is cheaper.

Powder kits have even poorer BLIX than liquid kits. If you already have issues with BLIX mixed from liquid kits, brace yourself for the trouble ahead if you go with powder kits.

Here is how you can save lots of money: Get a decent liquid C-41 kit, some Sodium Carbonate, KBr and Acetic Acid, and a bottle of TF-5. Then take a good look at (there was a url link here which no longer exists) about dilute C-41 CD. Convert your (there was a url link here which no longer exists)h, and process C-41 film after film for next to nothing.

trythis · Oct 11, 2015

Very familiar with those threads and the short shelf life of the powder chems. I am using a good liquid kit and its fine. The problem was that I tried the low temperature option that did mot work.

I have entertained the blix conversion to bleach and tf5 but its added $40 to a $60 kit to buy the bromide, tf5 and acetic acid.

$20 for 8 to 12 rolls done with two uses of unicolor if all done on the day of mixing the film seems like a gamble worth making. If it doesn't work out then I will consider asking my wife where I can store a 10 liter container of photochemicals.

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Rudeofus · Oct 11, 2015

trythis said:
I have entertained the blix conversion to bleach and tf5 but its added $40 to a $60 kit to buy the bromide, tf5 and acetic acid.

I am unable to follow your math on this one: If you get a pound of Potassium Bromide, a pint of Glacial Acetic Acid and a liter of TF-5 concentrate, you've spent about US$ 44 plus shipping on enough chemistry to make 5 l of bleach and 4 l strong fixer, which will both last you for at least 50 rolls of film.

An extra investment of US$ 14 on a second bottle of TF-5 extends this to at least 100 rolls of film, and these 50-100 rolls of film will be properly bleached and fixed to archival standards in a reasonable amount of time!

trythis · Oct 11, 2015

Rudeofus said:
I am unable to follow your math on this one: ...edit...enough chemistry to make 5 l of bleach and 4 l strong fixer, which will both last you for at least 50 rolls of ...

Thats true but I also have to buy 2 or three 50 or $60 C 41 liquid kits to add the $44 worth of chemicals.

I may end up doing that, but I dont shoot large quantities normally. 1 roll a week in color is typical but this last month we had a death in the family in Denmark and I shot 20+ rolls there. It makes sense to buy large batches worth of chemistry if you are shooting a lot. I may do the conversion to bleach then fix after I try the unicolor.

Yes archival is compelling, but keeping my wife happy is also important.

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iulian · Nov 19, 2015

Hi guys!

I also have the same kit on it's way here, but it's the 5L version. From the pictures I guess it's actually two 2.5L kits packed together. I plan to use it in my new (to me) Jobo ATL 3000.
From the pictures on the site I see that it has a three part CD, a stabilizer and that the blix is in two parts, one light and one dark. that (to me) looks like one bottle of bleach concentrate and one bottle of fixer concentrate. Could I use them separately and treat it as if it was three baths?

Photo Engineer · Nov 19, 2015

You have to alter them to use them individually.

The method has been posted here by Rudeofus. See his article on the method.

PE

iulian · Nov 19, 2015

Photo Engineer said:
You have to alter them to use them individually.

The method has been posted here by Rudeofus. See his article on the method.

PE

Bummer

I can't believe I was that dumb... I bought the expensive Fuji six bath E6 kit to avoid blix and just now I realized I bought a blix kit for C41
I guess I'll just use it one shot and be done with it.
In the future I guess I'll use the larger packs of individual chemistry anyway, but with replenished bleach and fix and one shot for the developer. It comes out between 2-4 euro / liter of developer depending on the version you choose and the pack size (with the 2x50L packs being the cheapest ) and the replenished bleach and fix are rather cheap too.
Thanks for the quick answer, I just read the article too

C41 developing saturation

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