First run in Caffenol-C

[Anthony J. Martinez]

I'm nearly out of DD-X (and money), but I've got quite a lot of film I need to shoot. I figured I'd give Caffenol-C a shot, and aside from smelling at least 90 times worse than any other darkroom chemical I've encountered thus far it seems to work just fine.

Agfa APX 400 in Caffenol-C for 8.5min @ whatever temperature the tap water was (probably somewhere near 75F).


Living room by Anthony J. Martinez, on Flickr


Guitar by Anthony J. Martinez, on Flickr


Houston Camera Co/op by Anthony J. Martinez, on Flickr


Park Bench by Anthony J. Martinez, on Flickr


Abbey, not attacking the camera for probably the first time ever. by Anthony J. Martinez, on Flickr

 

[threemilesfinal]

looks like good results to me!

 

[MetaGeorge]

yeah, very nice. You might enjoy the Coffee Developers group!

 

[pgomena]

I'm impressed! I'd think, though, that for the price of enough CafC to develop "a whole bunch of film," you could find a pint bottle of HC-110, which would be a whole lot easier and better smelling, economical, long-lasting, and consistent. Whichever way you go, have fun. I really am impressed by your results.

Peter Gomena

 

[jp498]

Good results! I have used it and had fun with it, but found xtol or pmk to be a little less expensive. For the wide-ranging tone thing like your living room or sunny outdoors, pmk would also be a good choice and would provide a little finer grain.

 

[Anthony J. Martinez]

Thanks folks. I know it's not the most economical approach, though I've calculated the cost at less than DD-X which is what I've grown used to. I admit to not having tried HC-110 yet, but I'm sure at some point I give it a try along with other developers.

It's all done in fun, and as long as it stays fun I'm going to keep on doing it!

 

[jm94]

have you ever given rodinal a try? i did and never looked back. i had a go with coffee myself, only to find the washing powder i had bought did not contain sodium carbonate, but the one at my friend's house did! any "activator" (alkaline) can be put in place of the sodium carbonate as long as it doesnt react in a way to null the developing properties! it isnt a "fine grain" developer by the looks of your results, but good! nice look, goes well with the third image! i use rodinal 20ml to 980ml water, shake like mad and then pour into my 1L tank. stand develop for 20 minutes. cheap as chips. some use dilutions like 1 + 100, and even 1 + 300! i never got luck with 1 + 300 and some dont appreciate the long developing times. i don't understand what vitamin C's role in caffenol is, many people say they have done it without it.
http://www.firstcall-photographic.co.uk/products/503/rollei-r09-film-developer-rodinal-formula-500ml £11 for one 500ml bottle or 3.98 or whatever for 300ml, in a caprisun like "softpack".
i use 1 + 50 and 1 + 75 dilution personally. it is a one-shot developer although some have re-used it, but for the price you pay for it, what is the point unless its an experiment, which i intend to try at some point just to see the results, but the cost of film prohibits that! but the developer is awesome. it has become my favourite developer. but, you mix it, you use it within 24 hours for best results, aparently it doesnt keep even if unused once mixed but developer concerntrate last decades, even when exposed to air.

anyways, good work

 

[Anthony J. Martinez]

Haven't tried Rodinal, but it's on my list of things to do.