Couple of colour developer questions...............

Harry Stevens · Jul 4, 2017

Just started trying some C41 colour developing this summer (B&W since 1980s) and just wondered what are the signs of the developer becoming exhausted is there any tests you can do or signs to watch out for or do you have to trash a film ?

Secondly has there ever been a one shot colour developer equivalent of say HC110/Rodinal or is it possible to use Kodak Flexicolor for one shot use ?

Siompa · Jul 4, 2017

What kind of colour developer are you using?

In my case it says on the packaging how many films the Tetenal c-41 1L kit does. Usually you can get a little more but you will get more and more faded negatives. i´ve never had a developer just die all of a sudden as long as you dont have it on your shelf for a year.

Hope it helps!

mhanc · Jul 4, 2017

+1 -- each kit lists the number of films it will process. some detail development times for films processed later in the "life" of the chemicals -- example here.

have been thinking of doing my own c-41 developing as well... follow-up question: do those using the 1L or 2L c-41 kits find their results on par with good lab processing? any recommendations on which kit -- i see tetenal is pretty ubiquitous, but was wondering about others?

twelvetone12 · Jul 4, 2017

I have had excellent results with the Tetenal 1L kit, both developing by inversion and using a Jobo processor. I mix 500ml of solution (good for 8 films < 400 iso), and process them in blocks of 2 or 4, following the times on the datasheet. Super easy and they come out very well. If I have some throw-away roll I develop that after I used up the 8-roll capacity, normally with good results.
I'm looking to get the Bellini C41 kit that has separate bleach and fix, but unfortunately the distribution networks seems quite small.

Siompa · Jul 4, 2017

mhanc said:
+1 -- each kit lists the number of films it will process. some detail development times for films processed later in the "life" of the chemicals -- example here.

have been thinking of doing my own c-41 developing as well... follow-up question: do those using the 1L or 2L c-41 kits find their results on par with good lab processing? any recommendations on which kit -- i see tetenal is pretty ubiquitous, but was wondering about others?

I've gotten good results so far using a jobo cpe-2 with 2 rolls at a time. Haven't seen any color casts or anything yet.

I did have a really bad experience with the rollei digibase c-41 kit. However i used it at 20c° (it said it would work fine) and longer times, but i had 2 rolls come out completely blank without framenumbers. So i changed to tetenal which have worked so far

Rudeofus · Jul 4, 2017

All color developers I have used so far don't suffer from sudden death, but deteriorate slowly. You will, if you don't space your dev runs too far apart, notice a tendency towards reduced density (negative type materials) or increased density (positive type materials) as the developer exhausts. These can be easily corrected in both optical and hybrid enlargements. If you insist on perfectly accurate negs, test strips and per-run-adjustments are your only hope.

Harry Stevens · Jul 4, 2017

Siompa said:
What kind of colour developer are you using?

In my case it says on the packaging how many films the Tetenal c-41 1L kit does. Usually you can get a little more but you will get more and more faded negatives. i´ve never had a developer just die all of a sudden as long as you dont have it on your shelf for a year.

Hope it helps!

I have updated my OP post it's C-41 but it's not a kit I have some AGFA developer and I make the rest of the chemicals myself. I thought the last two rolls of 35mm negs looked just slightly less punchy and it got me thinking about exhaustion of the developer. I think you guys have answered my question.

ewbank1 · Jul 4, 2017

There is a sticky about color chemicals and where to get them in the color forum. bvy has a list from Unique photo

Kodak Flexicolor C-41 Complete Chemical List

I've used it and the developer is relatively inexpensive this way and therefore I use it one shot to be consistent.

darkroommike · Jul 4, 2017

If you use a rotary processor you can cut way back on the amount of chemicals required per roll and use them with pretty good economy "one shot". It's also possible to reuse your blix (or bleach and fix if that's the way your kit is made) for more economy and use just your developer one shot.

dale116dot7 · Jul 4, 2017

I've used the Arista C41 liquid kit except mixed as separate bleach and fix. There are instructions on doing that somewhere here on APUG. I use it one shot and get through it all in about 12 weeks. It never gave me any problems and the Jobo uses not much chemistry per roll so I think I can get around 30 rolls. The Fuji Hunt C41 kit has a separate bleach and fix so I probably will switch to that for convenience. I have found that the Fuji Hunt E6 kit does go bad after about 10 weeks giving brownish blacks. I usually use up 4 or 4.5 litres of the 5 litres. I use both C41 and E6 one-shot.

dmr · Jul 5, 2017

dale116dot7 said:
I've used the Arista C41 liquid kit except mixed as separate bleach and fix. There are instructions on doing that somewhere here on APUG.

Do you (or anyone) have any pointers to the post or do you know how to do this? I searched and did not find it.

The kit I have is apparently the same as the Arista kit and I would sure like to try separating the bleach and fix if at all possible.

Thanks.

Truzi · Jul 5, 2017

You can try this resource:
(there was a url link here which no longer exists)
While there, click the "Discussion" tab for more details and answers.

dmr · Jul 5, 2017

Truzi said:
You can try this resource:
(there was a url link here which no longer exists)
While there, click the "Discussion" tab for more details and answers.

Thank you!

dmr · Jul 7, 2017

Shoot! That looks a bit complicated! I was hoping it would be more like mix A B and C in different proportions but looks like it isn't.

I guess I'll just continue to use blix, and really, my processing so far has been coming out great. Thanks anyway for the pointer.

sfaber17 · Jul 7, 2017

It starts out very light color, then straw colored after a use. When it gets dark amber I would be careful, although I've never re-used the developer myself. The color does seem to be a good indicator.

Couple of colour developer questions...............

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