First Time Processing Film C41 and soon to be XP2

[Justyjust]

Ok I purchased a Contax 159MM and had been given some M42 lens, I've not messed with film for over 20 year and I've never thought of developing it but I thought I would give it a go.

After a looking around I found the digibase C41 compard three bags of premixed Dev,Bleach,Fix, I also picked up a second hand kindermann stainless tank with one 35mm reel.

So I shot a roll of Kodak Ektor 100 out and about, some shots up London and some near Hampton court 100 iso wasn't a bit slow for these dull days but I worked with it.

I got back home excited unprepared as usual. Over the past week I had been thinking about a film opener and changing bag but never got round to buying it! So I made do with neither making use of my heavy duvet and Leatherman's can opener.

I tried to work out the reel on this kindermann which wasn't straight forward, I had no practice or any other film I wanted to waste trying so.

So under the duvet I go kneeling by the bed with my arms deep under the cover with Leatherman scissors film in tow and this impossible reel, After 10 mins of fumbling around putting the film on and off the reel trying to feel if its on correct so In the tank it goes and hopefully loaded correctly.

I went down stairs to the kitchen sink heated up all the materials tank in all using the hot water from my sink monitoring it for temperature of 112F which was the rapid process. 2 min pre wash, 2 mins Developer, wash 2 mins, Bleach 2mins, wash 2 mins , Fixer 2:30 mins. final wash. Also 15sec upside down then agitate every 30 secs.

Process done with chemical everywhere and a sweat on, I revealed the film with the enjoyment of seeing images on the film but not without some failure, it wasn't my Leatherman or dodgy duvet changing area but my failure to load the film correctly leaving me with parts of the film not fully developed where the film was touching each other.

I'm not overly heart broken as I have images which is far more than I thought I would have on first attempt.

I would appreciate some feedback on your thoughts on how the negatives look, I have no comparison so its difficult to know if I have processed these correctly. I know the film was touching in areas which caused the under development.

Please check out my Lightroom link for full rez images.
https://adobe.ly/39AYIHl

P.s i used my panasonic G9 with olympus 12-40 pro and a led panel 6000k light.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Congratulations! I recommend you buy and use one of these before you cut up your sheets and duvet.

https://www.freestylephoto.biz/25001-Photoflex-Changing-Room

 

[Justyjust]

Congratulations! I recommend you buy and use one of these before you cut up your sheets and duvet.

https://www.freestylephoto.biz/25001-Photoflex-Changing-Room

Cheers good idea

 

[MattKing]

Congratulations.
I think that the negatives may be a bit over-developed, leading to some excess contrast. And working at a non-standard temperature probably means that you will see some colour crossover issues.
Is there any reason you didn't use the recommended standard temperature and time? (100F and 3:15)

 

[Justyjust]

Congratulations.
I think that the negatives may be a bit over-developed, leading to some excess contrast. And working at a non-standard temperature probably means that you will see some colour crossover issues.
Is there any reason you didn't use the recommended standard temperature and time? (100F and 3:15)

No real reason I will slow it down next time and stretch it out, then see what the difference between them.

Now I need to learn how to convert them in lightroom, I sort of worked it out but knowing what it should look like is the difficult part.

Thanks

 

[MattKing]

Now I need to learn how to convert them in lightroom, I sort of worked it out but knowing what it should look like is the difficult part.

It would be really useful for you to take two rolls, shoot them both in similar lighting conditions, and then have a decent lab develop one for you.
Try to include lots of different lighting conditions - contrasty, not so contrasty, sunny, cloudy - and reference items that you can attempt to match in the results.
Skin tones illuminated by high overcast and subjects that range from highlights to shadowed areas are great for this.
The lab developed roll can serve as a control for you.
Ektar 100 is a demanding film when it comes to process controls. If you can achieve good results with it, you can succeed with other, more forgiving films, although no colour film is very forgiving.
I share this image, because it serves as a good example of something useful for evaluating colour balance and contrast and exposure:

 

[koraks]

Lookig good as far as I can tell. Contrast is difficult to assess as the digitalization likely has a large impact on it. You have some under exposure here and there and it seems the camera has a bit of an issue with overlapping frames.