Economic colour processing for occasional use...

[xtolsniffer]

Hi all,
I've been developing and printing black and white for some years now but have been eyeing up colour for a while. I mostly use colour for family holiday snaps and the like, but increasingly I'm finding that I like to make larger copies of a few and with increasing use of the RB67 using Ektar and Portra, I'm getting interested in colour as an artistic medium rather than just using monochrome. To date I've used commercial labs for developing and print packages - for holiday snaps I simply don't have the time to print that number to go into an album, and I don't imagine that changing. For special prints I've been scanning 35mm and 6x7 and using online lab services which gives pretty good results, but I'm now thinking of going all analog for those.

Developing the film doesn't worry me too much, I've done E6 in the past (using the bath to keep temperature) and used to develop Ilford XP1 in C-41 chemistry, but keeping temperature during printing is more of a concern. I don't want to invest too heavily as it will be for occasional use, something like a few 12"x16" prints a month, so I'm looking for ideas on keeping temperature for print processing, suggested chemicals and so on.

I have a darkroom (a small shed) with (occasional) hot and cold running water, electricity, an LPL 6700c enlarger and all the usual kit for monochrome. I don't even know if I'm crazy thinking of doing this as I'll still have to scan my E6 velvia to send out for prints anyway, so could do my negs at the same time, but I do enjoy a challenge.

 

[perkeleellinen]

Since our boy was born I've been an occasional printer (usually two weeks in early September and one week over Christmas). I mostly print colour.

For temperature control consider a Nova from SDS; I buy all my Kodak colour chemistry from AG Photographic. I then mix up the lot and store it in one litre pop bottles with the air squeezed out. I've printed successfully with 4 year old RA4 chemistry this way.

Once you've got a handle on printing and thinking about colour balance it's easy (especially if you use the same film all the time) and it's a great buzz to pull colour prints out of your darkroom!

 

[xtolsniffer]

Thanks Steve, do you mean one of the Nova heated slot processors?

 

[perkeleellinen]

Yes, that's right. I can see that SDS currently have a 12x16 quad. They're the best: the chemicals can be left in overnight, they heat up in around 30 minutes and there's very little smell.

 

[bvy]

It's not hard. Use print drums and a motor base. They take up little space, you can process in room light, and you're not whiffing chemical fumes. With the Kodak Ektacolor chemistry, the requirement is to keep the temperature at 94F for one minute. This isn't hard to do in a drum, and even so, the process is very forgiving with regards to temperature and drift. I warm the developer in a water bath, put it in the drum at about 95F, and let it run for 50 seconds (pour in and pour out times bring it to a minute). I also do a couple of prewashes at the developing temperature or slightly above to temper that drum and paper.

Others process at cooler temperature with extended times. You'll want to pick a process, chemistry, and developing temperature and stick to it, so that your filtrations aren't all over the place.

A Nova processor is great, but it's a big investment if you're only printing color occasionally.

 

[MattKing]

FWIW, Ron Mowrey (Photo Engineer) does his RA4 printing in Kodak chemistry at room temperature (20C).

 

[RPC]

If the fumes don't bother you, you can develop in trays at room temperature (68-75F) using Kodak RA-RT Developer/Replenisher for 2 minutes. Bleach-Fix too. I do this and much prefer it to drums and temperature control--makes it as easy as b&w printing and very inexpensive.

 

[mshchem]

It's not hard. Use print drums and a motor base. They take up little space, you can process in room light, and you're not whiffing chemical fumes. With the Kodak Ektacolor chemistry, the requirement is to keep the temperature at 94F for one minute. This isn't hard to do in a drum, and even so, the process is very forgiving with regards to temperature and drift. I warm the developer in a water bath, put it in the drum at about 95F, and let it run for 50 seconds (pour in and pour out times bring it to a minute). I also do a couple of prewashes at the developing temperature or slightly above to temper that drum and paper.

Others process at cooler temperature with extended times. You'll want to pick a process, chemistry, and developing temperature and stick to it, so that your filtrations aren't all over the place.

A Nova processor is great, but it's a big investment if you're only printing color occasionally.

I totally agree with BVY. You can get a few print drums for next to nothing pre heat the drum to 38 to 40 C, preheat the chemicals to 35 to 40 C. Develop for a minute (it will be developed completely in a minute. If you go beyond that no big deal. No need for fancy processor for RA-4. I find color printing with RA-4 so much easier than scanning and dealing with clogged inkjet cartridges.
Give it a go
Best Regards Mike

 

[RPC]

Even with high temperature processing in drums, the total processing time is no faster than trays at room temperature, and is actually longer, when you consider the time it takes to load the paper into the drum, pour all the solutions in and out of the drum, and wash and dry the drum before the next use. This is why I switched to trays and room temperature, faster and much more productive (much desired when you are learning to color balance prints). But use whatever works for you.

 

[bvy]

I would challenge you there. I can run a test print using drums in three minutes.

A hot water rinse is sufficient to clean a drum between uses. Drums do not have to be bone dry, especially if you're using a prewash. In fact, for smaller drums, fill the drum with water at the developing temperature before loading. There's your first prewash.

For me the greatest advantage over trays is not inhaling chemical fumes in a confined place. I'm using 60ml of developer to process one 8x10 print; 120ml for 11x14. Small quantities, one shot processing using fresh developer, and good consistency.

 

[RPC]

bvy, your drum must be different than the one I had, since loading it with water in it, it would have leaked out the end if positioned vertically and would have been a hassle to load with water in it, especially in the dark. Therefore my drum had to be bone dry before loading or streaks would likely result. My drum would only hold an 8x10 sheet sheet of paper and small test prints could not be made easily. So different users have different drums and it appears the ease and speed of drum use can depend on what drum you use.

Good ventilation can help with the problem of fumes. Also, for those who don't mind scratch-mixing their own chemistry, I have found simple RA-4 formulas to use that give results virtually indistinguishable from Kodak's that have no fumes.

All in all, I still advocate room temperature and trays as the easiest, cheapest way to process RA-4.

 

[pentaxuser]

I think that bvy has made a good point about pre-wash to soak the print paper initially before developer. The problem with coloured streaks on the paper arose in my case if I hadn't completely dried the drum. Then the water could run down the paper before the developer covered it. If the paper is saturated all over with water then the developer is covering all of it when the paper has the same degree of wetness all over

pentaxuser

 

[chrisaisenbrey]

Yes, that's right. I can see that SDS currently have a 12x16 quad. They're the best: the chemicals can be left in overnight, they heat up in around 30 minutes and there's very little smell.

I can also recommend the NOVA slot processor.

I use one (smaller 1 liter version) for RA-4 for printing; ~ one evening a week. The chemicals are quite stable in there over weeks since the air contact is small especially with the round lits. I replenish after each session so the lits fit again for developer and blix.

The heating takes a while until it is stable. So I simply plug it in 1-2h before starting.

 

[perkeleellinen]

Just want to add that room temperature in trays may not be the best solution for the OP as they're printing in a shed in Yorkshire, UK - not known for it's warm climate!

 

[RPC]

It has electricity--but no heat?

EDIT: After re-reading the above post I wondered whether you meant it was cold there or hot?

 

[perkeleellinen]

It has electricity--but no heat?

EDIT: After re-reading the above post I wondered whether you meant it was cold there or hot?

Bit cold, tomorrow is forecast to be around 52F. I suppose the shed could be heated. I suppose the concern is if the temperature fluctuates widely the colour balance could be difficult to maintain.

 

[geirtbr]

I use the one-part kodak developer, normal dilution, and it works fine in room temperature. About 2 minutes developing time. Tray process.
I also use a safelight, not the correct one but a amber 3w LED bulb in a darkroom lamp with a yellow "OC" filter. Works fine when indirect and a few meters away.
Oh and normal c41 bleach (flexicolor) seems to work well if you dont have bleach-fix around. Between 30-60 seconds, a short 10 sek rinse bath, and then regular fix bath for 30 sec or more works for me.
The challenging part with tray process is that you must know your darkroom well, because the safelight is very weak and you have to move about in darkness.