C41 in BW chemicals?

[BetterSense]

I'm testing a camera for focus and tranport, and I'm using up a bunch of color print film I have lying around. I don't have any color chemicals though so I used BW chemicals. The negatives developed pictures, but they don't look like they are fixed. They are much darker and milkier than machine-processed C41 negatives. Is there some special way to fix the negatives?

 

[hrst]

C-41 films may have antihalation and filter layers made of silver which is bleached in C-41 processing. So, that's why it looks dark. In addition, you still have the orange mask.

It can also be a fixing issue (if they are "milky"), C-41 films have many layers (thicker emulsion) and it's harder to fix. You can try to re-fix with 30-40% more concentrated fixer and for a longer time (7-10 minutes?). But they still probably remain dark because of the first-mentioned reason.

 

[Photo Engineer]

If they are still wet, they will look milky. They become clear upon drying.

OTOH, they do need a pretty strong fixer, truly film strength, and up to 10 minutes at 100F (38C).

And, you should not use acid fix.

PE

 

[BetterSense]

Will the acid fixer not work, or is it just unarchival? I don't care about the negatives at all; except that I may want to enlarge them to test for focus. What I am testing for is focus and if the film transport in my homemade camera is holding the film steady. I could use BW film but I have a big bag of old color film and the idea was to use that for testing and just look at it with a loupe or enlarge it onto BW paper for a close look. I will be throwing the negatives away when I am done. I only did one roll and used HC110 1:50 for about 15 minutes at 20C. I will try heating up my fixer in the microwave next time.

 

[hrst]

IIRC, it's unarchival for dyes, but you don't have a dye image but a silver image anyway.

Maybe it's also a problem that it's harder to fix and requires a longer fixing and washing times, but if you have only acidic fixer available, then use it, it works better than nothing . If you have to go to buy something, then you could buy simply the C-41 chemistry.

 

[Photo Engineer]

Dye images can be partially retrieved from B&W processed color negative films. BUT..... Often not in the case where an acid fix has been used. There are a number of other errors that can mess this up.

PE