Edible Film Developers

[DarkroomExperimente]

Many people have the impression that if a compound already exists in your body then it can't be all that harmful. If you compare the MSDS of Catechol with that of L-Dopa, you can see that

1. Catechol is problematic with regard to skin exposure. Apparently it is absorbed by skin and causes trouble there.
2. L-Dopa is "Very hazardous in case of ingestion", but less of a problem with skin adsorption.

I guess there isn't really all that much advantage to L-Dopa, and in terms of cost it appears to be inferior to Catechol.

thanks....I actually didn't even find pure L-dopa online ( although I did't search very hard for it ) ....but it'll show up in a few days for me to test it

interesting that L-dopa can be hazardous when ingested..and many sources sell it to be ingested

 

[RattyMouse]

Are there any edible fixers? If yes, then the entire monochrome development process could be edible, using citric acid as the stop bath.

 

[Rudeofus]

interesting that L-dopa can be hazardous when ingested..and many sources sell it to be ingested

The famous Paracelsus said: "Sola dosis facit venenum." aka "The dose makes the poison". You can poison yourself with rock salt, and even easier with Potassium Chloride.

 

[Rudeofus]

Are there any edible fixers? If yes, then the entire monochrome development process could be edible, using citric acid as the stop bath.

If you use a Silver Chloride based emulsion, you can fix it with salt brine. For modern Bromoiodide emulsions I don't think there is anything non-toxic which would fix them to archival standards.

Strictly speaking, almonds are edible and contain/release (fortunately minor amounts of) Hydrogen Cyanide, which would be the best fixer there is ... not recommended, though No experiments, please, unless you have proper training and equipment ...

 

[Alan Johnson]

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)
Fixing in warm concentrated table salt solution takes ~24 hrs.

 

[darkroommike]

Use Urine, and get the best of all worlds.

PE

Drinkable not edible but you're right. None of these are edible once you add the carbonate.

 

[darkroommike]

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)
Fixing in warm concentrated table salt solution takes ~24 hrs.

OFF TOPIC but I'll bite. How many films today are actually fixable in concentrated sodium chloride? I don't know but I suspect that TMax 100 and 400 are not on the list of films that can be fixed in salt water.

 

[darkroommike]

The famous Paracelsus said: "Sola dosis facit venenum." aka "The dose makes the poison". You can poison yourself with rock salt, and even easier with Potassium Chloride.

You can even poison your self with plain H2O!

 

[DarkroomExperimente]

some people may question the value of these experiments...

in my defense I'd like to mention that in the process of buying L-dopa off Amazon I learned that I had about $500 in "rewards points" from my credit card that I never knew existed......it only seems to show up at Amazon ( so far )

...not only did I not have to spend a dime to buy the L-dopa...I used the remaining balance to buy a used Tenor Saxophone

SO.....ya might want to log into Amazon...put something in your cart...go to checkout...and without actually buying anything...see if the option to use "bonus points" or "rewards" or something pops up...you might get a pleasant surprise

 

[DarkroomExperimente]

I’m baaaaaack.....going to reexamine sugar based developers and also see if I can make a version of the direct positive process I stumbled onto when testing shallot developers

 

[NedL]

Ha! Welcome back DarkroomExperimenter, this is one of the most fun threads ever on APUG/photrio. You even got me to make a concoction out of shallots but I never saw any reversal. I *think* but am not sure the shallot concoction has been brewing in the garage for a couple years now.... I'll try to remember to go out and look tomorrow.

 

[Truzi]

Sounds fun, but I'd really hate to waste shallots by not eating them

 

[BMbikerider]

I am looking forward to an ID11 sandwich!

It could even be a multi purpose meal, it may even allow me to 'develop' superhuman strength or intelligence or even fantastic patience to put up with daft ideas!

 

[removed account4]

I’m baaaaaack.....going to reexamine sugar based developers and also see if I can make a version of the direct positive process I stumbled onto when testing shallot developers

DING DING DING
I opened my Easter Egg and this post was inside !
looking forward to more edible experiments
John

 

[DarkroomExperimente]

Stuck inside because of covid-19....maybe need to name a developer after it

 

[pentaxuser]

I am looking forward to an ID11 sandwich!

QUOTE]
Fine but what has always puzzled me is : Is there a minimum quantity you need to satisfy your hunger and is it less than is needed in a D76 sandwich?

pentaxuser

 

[grainyvision]

I tried making an ascorbic acid print developer. It required hydroxide to get proper activity levels and would develop fog no matter the restrainer I tried. If you over exposed the print and then pulled early you could get a somewhat reasonable cool brown-black tone results though. Also, since I'm working with food grade ascorbic acid and food grade propelyne glycol as a solvent to make mixing easier (possible to get at least 8%) I decided to taste a drop one time after mixing. Like taking very sour and slightly bitter oil and putting it onto your tongue, and a taste that sticks with you for an hour.

I'm more interested in an edible print developer than a film developer. Ascorbic acid can be powerful enough especially when adding lye, but to control fog you need a bit lower pH and some ingredient to replace phenidone. With AA, phenidone, and carbonate I was able to make a very good neutral tone print developer. Phenidone though is of course not something you want to eat, even if it is less toxic than many other developers. Also, oxalate seems to be capable of making ascorbic acid last longer in solution (kinda as a sulfite replacement) but even if oxalates/oxalic acid is present in many foods, it's definitely not something you want to go out of your way to eat.

 

[BMbikerider]

So long as there is plenty of Worcester sauce it doesn't really matter

​

 

[NedL]

DE, did you test Worcester sauce as a film developer? You probably did, but I can't remember.

 

[DarkroomExperimente]

Nope didn’t test worcester sauce

But I did try McDonald’s fries - didn’t work

Sweet potatoes DID work

 

[removed account4]

persian shallots are different than the ones found in regular supermarkets, they might have something magical in them from the fertile crescent regular shallots lack ( shroud of tourin and all ). I PM'd you a link to a Persian Grocery store if you don't have one near you ( they ship ). If the Mousir don't work for photo stuff, they taste absolutely delicious.

 

[DarkroomExperimente]

There is a fantastic Persian restaurant near me — right next a great Persian restaurant

 

[Donald Qualls]

Hmm. If you can find a food-grade alkali, Caffenol C ought to be safe to drink. I wouldn't -- I like my coffee sweet and light, and not double espresso strength...

 

[DarkroomExperimente]

Going to try a new approach to the sugar-based developers..... instead of heating sugar dissolved in water with sodium carbonate....I’m going to heat dry sugar until it carmelizes (with & without carbonate)

Also seems like heating sucrose to melting splits it into glucose and fructose...so that should be convenient since sucrose itself doesn’t make my developer

got a bunch of dextrose on the way from Amazon too so I can play with that also

 

[laingsoft]

For L-Dopa, it should work according to the rules,right? The two hydroxyl groups are both present, and connected by via a double bound (via the aromatic ring, does that matter?)

Fava beans are a decent source of L-dopa too. Beaninol sounds like a good name too.

I wish I could get my hands on a copy of the Haist books. This thread saved me probably hours of time and hundreds of dollars, because I wanted to try a lot of these.