Film Souping

Steve@f8 · Apr 16, 2021

This is something I’d like to try.
Shoot it with film https://shootitwithfilm.com/7-awesome-film-soup-recipes/ provides recipes for starters, but the idea of dunking an exposed canister in the soup, then washing and drying and waiting for weeks, possibly, until it’s dry, then finding it’s not quite dry but sticky doesn’t sound fun.
Is the drying process really important, or can you soup it a regular film developing tank, wash then develop as *‘normal’?

*normal not being normal, obviously, otherwise it would be a waste of time.

pentaxuser · Apr 16, 2021

I have a feeling that none of us will know, Steve. Otherwise someone here who does know will surely have started a thread. Most if not all the advice needed seems to be on the site to which you link and there is help from Amazon, I note, which is always a comfort.

I await the various responses you get here with some anticipation, trepidation, and as many other "ations" as I will be able to think of in the next few hours

Will you learn anything useful? I doubt it. Will you have a good time reading the responses? You betcha, as long as you read them in the "right spirit" as they say. or is that with the right spirit I keep my spirit in a bottle and regret allowing it out of the bottle every morning after

pentaxuser

Steve@f8 · Apr 16, 2021

pentaxuser said:
I have a feeling that none of us will know, Steve. Otherwise someone here who does know will surely have started a thread. Most if not all the advice needed seems to be on the site to which you link and there is help from Amazon, I note, which is always a comfort.

I await the various responses you get here with some anticipation, trepidation, and as many other "ations" as I will be able to think of in the next few hours

Will you learn anything useful? I doubt it. Will you have a good time reading the responses? You betcha, as long as you read them in the "right spirit" as they say. or is that with the right spirit I keep my spirit in a bottle and regret allowing it out of the bottle every morning after

pentaxuser

Thanks for replying pentaxuser. Sure I will read any replies that come, always in the right spirit.

Finn lyle · Apr 16, 2021

I'd imagine you could just wash it as normal after and not worry about drying, especially If your doing your own developing. Then the "soup" would just be peculiar pre-, prewash.

koraks · Apr 17, 2021

Steve@f8 said:
Is the drying process really important, or can you soup it a regular film developing tank, wash then develop as *‘normal’?

You could do the prewash "soup" in a development tank if you don't mind it being occupied for a week and if it's perfectly light tight. So short answer "yes". However, the artifacts are likely to come out differently; more even and probably without the distinct bubbles/dots and waves you see in the example because the soup has more even access to the emulsion. So it may not give the desired effect.

Steve@f8 · Apr 17, 2021

koraks said:
You could do the prewash "soup" in a development tank if you don't mind it being occupied for a week and if it's perfectly light tight. So short answer "yes". However, the artifacts are likely to come out differently; more even and probably without the distinct bubbles/dots and waves you see in the example because the soup has more even access to the emulsion. So it may not give the desired effect.

Ah, that’s a good point. It hadn’t occurred to me and I knew if I started the thread there would be good observations coming forward. Thank you.

AgX · Apr 17, 2021

Well, I do not "soup" my films, I "bath" them instead...

R.Gould · Apr 17, 2021

I don't soup my film's I don't think that I would get any negatives in soup, give me good old id11 or rodinal, develops my film nicely

koraks · Apr 17, 2021

R.Gould said:
give me good old id11 or rodinal, develops my film nicely

Results with color film may be underwhelming however.

Nicholas Lindan · Apr 17, 2021

So how come nobody is using soup - chicken, mushroom, beef barley, ...? What about putting the film in fermenting beer or wine? Cooking it with the Sunday roast?

Does left-over morning coffee and baking soda count as soup?

R.Gould · Apr 17, 2021

koraks said:
Results with color film may be underwhelming however.

Maybe, but the orice it is I prefer to let a lab take the strain

koraks · Apr 17, 2021

R.Gould said:
Maybe, but the orice it is I prefer to let a lab take the strain

Yes, I can imagine that. Where I live development is less than $5 per roll (135/120). The only reason I develop at home is because I don't want to wait for ca. 1 week for my film to get back from the lab.

Steve@f8 · Apr 17, 2021

Nicholas Lindan said:
So how come nobody is using soup - chicken, mushroom, beef barley, ...? What about putting the film in fermenting beer or wine? Cooking it with the Sunday roast?

Does left-over morning coffee and baking soda count as soup?

Great ideas there, Nicholas; made a note.

R.Gould · Apr 17, 2021

koraks said:
Yes, I can imagine that. Where I live development is less than $5 per roll (135/120). The only reason I develop at home is because I don't want to wait for ca. 1 week for my film to get back from the lab.

We are lucky in that we have a Fuji parlour that still has a working mini lab, so only an hour or so for the odd colour film I use, which is mainly for my Classic car club, for my sins I became club photographer back when I joined, a good few years ago now, and no one else wants the job, it has to be film unless they buy me a digi as that would be the only use it has

koraks · Apr 17, 2021

R.Gould said:
no one else wants the job, it has to be film unless they buy me a digi as that would be the only use it

Sounds like they shouldn't complain (and probably don't). If someone wanted me to do something like that and also wanted to decide for me how to do it I'd kindly suggest them to find someone else...

R.Gould · Apr 17, 2021

They leave me to get on with it, it was that a member suggested at the agm (back in 2019, before Covid got in the way) but I said if they wanted digital then get someone else, as far as colour goes, the shots go into our club magazine, which is now colour, but for many years was black and white, and on our website, plus it gives me something to do other than speaking to the people looking at our various old cars about them, mind you it is 2 years since our last show, october 2019,covid, but from our little island, 3/4s of the 100,000 people are now vacinated and things are getting back so I will be getting out my colour camera again later this year

grat · Apr 19, 2021

Looking at the sample images, I'm thinking you could accomplish much the same by picking up some heavily expired color film.

Sirius Glass · Apr 19, 2021

Do not use soup for film. Use developer, stop bath, and fixer. Soup is only to eating.

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