First time developing C-41

[Marc Estalella]

Hello!

Would like some advise of C-41 kits. I want to develop C-41 film for the first time and I don't know which kit to pick.

I'm interested in chemistry that lasts long time open (6 months more or less).


Thanks!

 

[roblopes]

Hello!

Would like some advise of C-41 kits. I want to develop C-41 film for the first time and I don't know which kit to pick.

I'm interested in chemistry that lasts long time open (6 months more or less).


Thanks!

Both Tetenal C-41 and E-6 kit working solution (mixed and ready for use) are dead after 8 weeks. The opened non-mixed / non-working dies when it says it does on the instructions. Learned the hard way Many suggest using Argon (or something like that) to top off the unused non-working chemistry bottles for longer shelf life.

I'm interested in seeing what others suggest too.

 

[Donald Qualls]

If you use separate bleach and fixer, your bleach can be regenerated by bubbling air through it (an aquarium pump and air stone will work); bleach likes oxygen, and won't fail due to air exposure. Fixer is fixer -- any rapid fixer will clear your bleached film, and fixers keep pretty well when not combined with a bleach (as well as being inexpensive). That leaves the color developer life as an issue.

One possibility for color developer with good life is Dignan's two-bath C-41 process. Much like Diafine or other two-bath black and white developers, you first soak the film for some period of time (instructions give a minimum, longer does no harm) in Bath A, which soaks into the gelatin and carries over a controlled amount, then without stop bath or wash the film goes into Bath B, which is generally just the alkali (or alkali and preservative, in some cases). This activates the carried-over developing agent, which develops to exhaustion -- and again, there's a minimum time, but leaving the film in for longer does no harm. After Bath B, you would wash, bleach, wash, fix, wash, and final rinse as normal for a non-blix C-41 process.

In the case of the Dignan C-41 formula, the (reusable) Bath A has the developing agent, preservative, anti-fog -- and Bath B is just a sodium carbonate solution. Bath B is almost free, and Bath A has enough preservative to keep well (and is reusable, within reason, with no increase in process time; the only exhaustion is in the carried-over developer that gets discarded with the Bath B). As long as you develop at high enough temperature (Dignan recommends 75F as a minimum, but anything up to regular C-41 temp of 100-102F is said to be fine), for at least the recommended times in each bath, you'll get a good results. I've used this, and found that if you develop near the bottom end of the recommended temperature, you may get some magenta cast in your scans or prints, but it you develop above 80F you'll get what you'd get with commercial C-41 at 102F.

So: Dignan 2-bath color developer, stop/wash, bleach, wash, fix, wash, final rinse, and hang to dry. Everything in this process should either keep for several months or be cheap enough to replace when needed without great pain.

Minolta Easy-View AF Date, Ferrania 400, Dignan C-41.

 

[Sirius Glass]

I use the UniColor 1 liter kit from FreeStyle for many years and never had a problem nor needed to add anything to the kit.

 

[jamesaz]

I processed some C-41 a few weeks ago in unicolor I mixed last July. I do not recommend doing this if you are seeking perfection, or planning to make RA-4 prints, but you will get something. Good luck.

 

[koraks]

I'm interested in chemistry that lasts long time open (6 months more or less).

That's a tricky one. The 2-bath approach mentioned by Donald is interesting, but it's not the "official" approach and you may or may not run into problems with contrast, saturation, crossover and grain. It's a bit of a gamble, but certainly interesting. However, I wouldn't recommend it to a beginner, partly due to the somewhat more difficult availability of chemicals for bath A (if you'd like to try, send me a pm; I've got quite a bit of CD4 that I likely won't use).

Another option is to go with Kodak's or Fuji's minilab chemistry. These come in much larger volumes than the DIY kits, but the per liter/gallon costs are very low. In my experience the mixed (working stock) developer if stored in entirely full glass bottles (no air on top of the liquid!) with a tight fitting cap will easily last 6 months, ready for use all the time.

Finally, the small volume DIY kits may or my not last in working form - again, a bit of a gamble. But they come in small quantities that you can use up in a few weeks especially if you save up your film fo color processing.

As Donald explained, the storage concern applies mostly to the developer. Bleach lasts undefinitely as either concentrate or working solution. Fix generally keeps well as a concentrate for a few years, or a few months in mixed working solution.

As always, storage conditions are a significant factor. Full glass bottles (so no need for a purge gas) stored at room temperature tend to give the best longevity.