Chromagenic Film (Ilford XP2 Super) developed in Caffenol CL

I visited a little village called Harbertonford in the South Hams, Devon, UK and took some pictures of the church in the centre of the village using my Fuji GX680II with Ilford XP2 Super ISO400 120 film (normally C41 process).

The nominal exposure for the images was 1/125 sec @ f22 but this was reduced to 1/60th sec @ f22 as I was using a Yellow filter on the lens to increase the contrast.

I have been experimenting with Coffee based developers and recently after a little experimentation have standardised on a Caffenol CL formula with Semi-Stand development which has given me some outstanding negatives from regular Black and White films, I therefore decided to try the same technique with the XP2 chromagenic film.

The XP2 Super was processed in my version of Caffenol CL using the semi-stand technique for 65 minutes as follows at 21 degrees Celcius:

Formula: Weighed on a jeweller's digital scale and mixed individually into 500mls distilled water in the following order:

8g Sodium Carbonate (anhydrous) aka Soda Ash
5g Asorbic Acid aka Vitamin C
0.7g Pottasium Bromide
20g Tesco Really Rich Roast Coffee

Then after full mixing, left to stand for 10 minutes.

Film initially soaked for 5 minutes in a water prebath, then developer introduced:

Agitations: First 30 seconds, then 3 inversions after a further: 2 minutes, 4 minutes, 8 minutes, 16 minutes and then empty tank after a further 34.5 minutes.

This was then followed by 3 water bath washes prior to 5 minutes of an Alkaline Fix before multiple tank washes of water and a rinse aid to complete.

I was very pleased with the results as the negatives the exhibit a fantastic range of tones, with very fine grain.

Shot with 65mm GX-M at 1/60th sec, f22, yellow filter, slight rise to lose some gravestones.

Harbertonford Church 65mm GX-M by Ed Bray, on Flickr

100% crop of 65mm image 2400dpi



Shot with 125mm GX-M at 1/60th sec, f22, yellow filter,

Harbertonford Church 125mm GX-M by Ed Bray, on Flickr

100% crop of 125mm image 2400dpi

Works for me.

Thank you.

Thanks for sharing, this looks wonderful!!

Gabino said:

Thanks for sharing, this looks wonderful!!

Click to expand...

I am still trying to come to terms with how good these negatives actually are. I can't remember having seen any as good from an ISO400 film previously, they are certainly on a par with slower standard Black and White films such as Ilford FP4+ and even coming close to Ilford Pan F but with an extended dynamic range.

I will have to do some testing, but I am planning on shooting another set of images across 2 film backs, one loaded with XP2 Super and the other loaded with FP4+, I will then process them together in the same tank again using the Caffenol CL formula above and will then be able to judge exaactly like for like.

Hi Ed,

Did You make the comparison between XP2 and FP4+?
I searched but did not find it.

These look great but isn't the real interesting test the difference, if any, in the quality achieved between caffenol and C41 developer.

If caffenol even matches, let alone exceeds, the same neg in C41 developer then this might make those who develop chromogenic films in C41 because that was what is meant for such film, think again

I wonder what Ilford would make of your achievement?

pentaxuser

XP2S can also look rather fine in Rodinal
(this thread is a couple of years old btw )

Thanks I must have missed this first time around.

pentaxuser

ILFORD thinks the images look very good.........!

XP2 Super is an excellent film and of course 'can' be processed in standard monochrome devs such as Caffenol, but I cannot remember ever seeing an example in Caffenol.

The vast majority ( 90% + ) is obviously developed as intended in C41.

XP2 Super is designed for very, very wide exposure latitude, low grain images and is our best scanning film, with the added benefit of being optimised for monochrome printing.

Simon ILFORD Photo / HARMAN technology Limited :

cool!

@ Ed: Me likes. I love Davon. Thanks for sharing your process details as well.

I'm hoping to try some cheaper C41 film with caffenol later. My 1st foray into b&w photography was with XP2S. So I have a soft spot for it, even though Snappy Snaps (near Bond St underground station) scratched some.

@ estevam: Thanks for bumping this thread, as I would've missed it otherwise.

Bests,
Ashfaque

Ed Bray said:

I visited a little village called Harbertonford in the South Hams, Devon, UK and took some pictures of the church in the centre of the village using my Fuji GX680II with Ilford XP2 Super ISO400 120 film (normally C41 process).

8g Sodium Carbonate (anhydrous) aka Soda Ash
5g Asorbic Acid aka Vitamin C
0.7g Pottasium Bromide
20g Tesco Really Rich Roast Coffee

Click to expand...

Ed,

Is that Instant Coffee ?

Does this process stain your equipment a lot ?

Simon

Simon, Caffenol uses the cheapest nastiest instant coffee granules you can find.
It doesn't stain equipment particularly, it does smell a bit.

For more information, caffenol.blogspot.com and www.caffenol-cookbook.com

or just about any post by our very own jnanian

Simon R Galley said:

ILFORD thinks the images look very good.........!

XP2 Super is an excellent film and of course 'can' be processed in standard monochrome devs such as Caffenol, but I cannot remember ever seeing an example in Caffenol.

The vast majority ( 90% + ) is obviously developed as intended in C41.

XP2 Super is designed for very, very wide exposure latitude, low grain images and is our best scanning film, with the added benefit of being optimised for monochrome printing.

Simon ILFORD Photo / HARMAN technology Limited :

Click to expand...

personally i think xp2 super is one of the best 35mm films out there!
as you said it has a very wide latitude, scans like a dream, and the grain rivals low iso films.

now that i know it likes coffee i will save my $$ id give to my lab and use java

other simon
as pdeeh said it has a smell to it but after a while you dont even notice it ...
its fun stuff, easy to find the ingredients, is forgiving ( can use tsp to measure if you like )
and if you have a salt mine nearby you will be all-set for the zombie apocalypse with
a grocery store hoard fixer+developer

have fun
john