How do you filter your C-41 chemistry?

[Certain Exposures]

Maybe I should step back a bit further. Have you ever needed to filter your C-41 chemistry? If so how did you do it?

I think there could be some sort of fine particulate forming in mine. I can't think of why it would be there. Maybe the tape in 120 rolls leaves it there?

Maybe this explains the dots I see on some negatives. However, the dots appear in a similar spots on the negatives. I doubt the particulate is that petty.

 

[thinkbrown]

Yeah, all replenished chemistry picks up crap over time. I use coffee filters when I'm pouring stuff back in the bottle after a session, seems to do the job for me

 

[gbroadbridge]

Have you ever needed to filter your C-41 chemistry?

Maybe the tape in 120 rolls leaves it there?

I've never seen an issue, however I rinse between every stage so there is very little chemical carryover (which I suppose may cause some unwanted chemical byproducts)

Film should be clean going in, so should be clean coming out the other end with nothing detaching in the processing baths.

I remove the tape from 120 roll film when loading on the reel.

 

[loccdor]

I use the liter kits for about 16 rolls and then toss them. I do more prewashes/intermediate washes between steps than is recommended so my risk of contamination should be reduced.

Other than silver particles collecting in the blix as the kit gets more thoroughly used, hasn't been a problem. I edit out any occasional bright flecks of silver in the image with clone brush. Some people pour their fixer through coffee filters.

 

[koraks]

Have you ever needed to filter your C-41 chemistry?

Nope. I use the developer and fixed one shot most of the time. The bleach doesn't throw down a precipitate. So I've never looked into filtering it. I did at some point have a problem with tiny little spots which turned out to be unrelated to the actual chemistry, but at that point I did switch over to one shot fixer and I never went back (even though it had nothing to do with the problem I ran into, in hindsight). I was already using the developer one shot at that point; I occasionally reuse it once within a short period of time after first use and that's always problem-free.

 

[mshchem]

I'm one shot with developer. I've never fiddled much with filtering photo chemistry. I use demineralized (RO) water for chemistry.

Certainly nothing wrong with filtering. I would use a fast paper filter, qualitative, like the old Whatman #2, I'm sure a coffee filter would be OK.