Colors of C41 chemicals after first batch ?

[LarsAC]

Hello APUGers,

just finished my first batch of CN films in Fuji Hunt chemistry. Films look quite good (by eye), but I'm not an expert.

What bothers me is that chemistry came out in strange colors after processing: developer turned into some rose color (light red), bleach turned dark amber and fixer into some medium orange. Fixer might have changed color because I forgot to wash between bleach and fix.

Questions:

1. Are the described color shifts normal ?
2. Can I still use this batch of chemicals for further films (especially fixer) ?

Regards,
Lars

 

[Photo Engineer]

The developer color shift is normal. The bleach color shift indicates a lot of carryover and tending towards exhaustion but is still ok. The fix may be toast due to the lack of wash between the bleach and fix. The fix will begin going really bad by getting cloudy. At that point it should not be used.

PE

 

[LarsAC]

Thanks a lot for the prompt answer ! Will try my next roll and report

Lars

 

[LarsAC]

Did 2 more batches of 2 rolls of Portra each and things look ok.

Maybe I should discard the chemicals - gained 7 rolls and a lot of experience from it.

Lars

 

[mts]

You should definitely use a stop bath following the developer. Use 2% acetic with bisulfite to neutralize the developer dye couplers and follow with a rinse/wash before the bleach. This procedure will protect the bleach giving it a longer lifetime. Follow bleach with another rinse to alleviate the fix from carryover, for the same reason.