Cibachrome Processor & Chemicals

Alienated · Mar 9, 2020

I have discovered a hoard of darkroom stuff and am looking to sell for a good price. It includes a Cibachrome -A processor as shown, model CAP 40, and literature on its use, magazines on Cibachrome processing, 2 16"x20" Cibachrome paper, one unopened 8"x10" Cibachrome paper package, lots of Cibachrome chemicals & 7 packages of Cibachrome bleach.
Although these are over 20 years old and have not been kept in temperature controlled environment, they might still be of use to someone who loves Cibachrome, and I would appreciate hearing from exp erts who could tell me if this stuff still has value.

Toasty · Mar 9, 2020

Oh man I wish I was local, there are parts available to re-gear these to make them usable for b&w and RA4 work. There have been some on eBay and local craigslist and they have always sold quickly, shipping is an issue though because it's so heavy.

MattKing · Mar 9, 2020

What intrigues me is that the OP lists location as Port McNeill. Who would have thought to look there for that Cibachrome material!

Alienated · Mar 9, 2020

Shouldn't come as a surprise, as I taught high school there and had a small sideline business as a photo lab going for years. Got into Cibachrome naturally because of the inherent beauty of the process and sold hundreds of Ciba prints to locals. Got a fellow teacher who was into underwater photography interested (it was his CAP40 processor I inherited when he moved east) and I gradually found my health & eyesight limiting the time I could spend in the lab, so stored everything. Really, really would hate to dump everything in the trash!

DREW WILEY · Mar 9, 2020

The processor could probably be repurposed for RA4. The paper itself is probably useless. But the mylar sheeting itself makes excellent cutout mask material, or could be fixed out and repurposed for a coating base of some alt process perhaps. The P30 bleach powder is probably still good, while fixer and developer could be improvised. Finding paper that's still usable is a long shot.

MattKing · Mar 9, 2020

Alienated said:
Shouldn't come as a surprise, as I taught high school there and had a small sideline business as a photo lab going for years. Got into Cibachrome naturally because of the inherent beauty of the process and sold hundreds of Ciba prints to locals. Got a fellow teacher who was into underwater photography interested (it was his CAP40 processor I inherited when he moved east) and I gradually found my health & eyesight limiting the time I could spend in the lab, so stored everything. Really, really would hate to dump everything in the trash!

I'm not surprised that you were able to make use of Cibachrome to render the beauty of an area like Port McNeill.

Wayne · Mar 10, 2020

Toasty said:
Oh man I wish I was local, there are parts available to re-gear these to make them usable for b&w and RA4 work. There have been some on eBay and local craigslist and they have always sold quickly, shipping is an issue though because it's so heavy.

Or just look for an ICP-42 or Thermaphot equivalent (they made them all) which comes ready for RA-4. They are a little harder to come by. The CAP machines come up several times a year on ebay.

I'm pretty sure the bleach formulation changed several times over the years, but I don't know if that affected one's ability to use it on paper from different eras. Point being, would the most recent paper even work at the highest quality level with such ancient bleach? Maybe, I dunno. I started Ilfochrome in 1996 and those kits appear to predate that.

DREW WILEY · Mar 10, 2020

The amateur P30 bleach used powder sulfamic acid. The pro P3 was primarily composed of liquid sulfuric acid, so had stricter shipping regulations. There was also a P3X made for faster high temp processing. Roller-transport processors had to be specially made of much more corrosion-resistant components than RA4 processors. Plastic processing drums aren't affected by acid, so almost any of them will work. The developer was changed when self-masking Ciba was introduced way back in the 70's, but the bleach kits remained the same.

mshchem · Mar 10, 2020

When I was forced to relocate due to a pending divorce (my wife told me she would leave me penniless and broke if I didn't move to town !). I was reassembling my darkroom and managed to drill a 1/8" hole (only part way ) through a 20 x 24 box of Cibachrome paper . It was outdated, it was a blessing of sorts. Nothing nicer than Cibachrome, but time to move on.

That machine is pretty darn cool!

DREW WILEY · Mar 11, 2020

Current Fujiflex Supergloss has a very similar look and is a much easier product to work with. But it's RA4 for color neg optical printing. Stunning results from Ektar. And it only comes in large rolls, so has to be cut down into sheets. I've also printed internegs from large-format older chromes, but that's a more involved skill set.

jtk · Mar 11, 2020

mshchem said:
When I was forced to relocate due to a pending divorce (my wife told me she would leave me penniless and broke if I didn't move to town !). I was reassembling my darkroom and managed to drill a 1/8" hole (only part way ) through a 20 x 24 box of Cibachrome paper . It was outdated, it was a blessing of sorts. Nothing nicer than Cibachrome, but time to move on.

That machine is pretty darn cool!

We all wonder why the divorce ?

DREW WILEY · Mar 11, 2020

No, we don't all wonder. This isn't a gossip column.

JIH04 · May 14, 2020

CAP40 hmmm fascinating... Is it still available?
I'm not familiar with the forum but I'd like to ask you a couple of questions about the unit. How do we proceed?

Alienated · May 15, 2020

JIH04 said:
CAP40 hmmm fascinating... Is it still available?
I'm not familiar with the forum but I'd like to ask you a couple of questions about the unit. How do we proceed?

Yeah, I still have the lot, it's still for sale. Anything you need to know?

Alienated · Dec 18, 2021

Alienated said:
Yeah, I still have the lot, it's still for sale. Anything you need to know?

UPDATE: Have sold the unit to UK buyer, who got lucky in seeing this ad.

John Wiegerink · Dec 18, 2021

I really do miss Cibachrome and still have a pile of paper left. I don't know why I've kept it all this time? Must be a hoarder thing I guess. One of my best color prints is a Cibachrome. Hey, maybe the Chinese will bring it back? They'll call it Chinachrome process! JohnW

Pitotshock · Dec 20, 2021

Oh man, who checks all of the adds from one and half years ago to see if the machine is still there. Kudos to them!

Who else is hiding one of these looking to unload it???

Ernst-Jan · Dec 23, 2021

Alienated said:
UPDATE: Have sold the unit to UK buyer, who got lucky in seeing this ad.

For the buyer: a Dutch camera store still seems to have "new" / unopened chemicals in stock:

https://www.kamera-express.nl/ilford-bleekbad-deel-a-2l

Cibachrome Processor & Chemicals

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