I turned my developer bright pink

Carter Lewis · Jul 14, 2018

I developed my first roll of c-41 film today. The film was expired 200 asa store brand film. I washed the film for a minute with no agitation at 100 f and then dumped it and it was pink. So then I poured in my developer and developed at 100 f and 3.5mins with agitation every 30 seconds. I poured the developer back into its bottle after and it was bright pink. And now my whole developer is pink. Is it still ok to use???

Sorry I’m very new to this and I have no idea

Truzi · Jul 14, 2018

It should be fine. I believe the colors are from the anti-halation dyes. They will wash out of the film somewhere in the process and should cause no issues.

pentaxuser · Jul 14, 2018

Truzi said:
It should be fine. I believe the colors are from the anti-halation dyes. They will wash out of the film somewhere in the process and should cause no issues.

Isn't his concern specifically with the developer turning pink and being affected now it has been added back into what I presume to be the main developer stock in some form of a replenishment system. I think you are saying that the now pink stock developer is not affected in its efficacy by these dyes but if I were anxious as a newcomer I wonder if my interpretation is what you meant.

pentaxuser

jimjm · Jul 14, 2018

Like Truzi said, the pink is from the anti-halation dyes in the film and won't affect the action of the developer. If you poured that used developer back into a bottle that contained fresh developer, you may need to adjust your development times when you use it again as the developer in the bottle is now slightly exhausted.

bestbefore1978 · Jul 14, 2018

Don’t worry it is just the anti-halation dye as mentioned above. it will have no adverse effect at all on the developer

Carter Lewis · Jul 14, 2018

Ya thanks guys sounds good. I poured the used developer back into the main developer bottle. Turning all of my developer pinkish. But if you guys think it’s fine I won’t worry about it.

Carter Lewis · Jul 14, 2018

Is the developer turning pink just because of the expired film? Or should I expect this with most films

Sirius Glass · Jul 14, 2018

Truzi said:
It should be fine. I believe the colors are from the anti-halation dyes. They will wash out of the film somewhere in the process and should cause no issues.

Wot he sez.

Truzi · Jul 15, 2018

Carter Lewis said:
Is the developer turning pink just because of the expired film? Or should I expect this with most films

This will happen even with fresh film. Anti-halation dyes prevent a blurry "glow" (halo) around bright objects when you expose the film. There may be other dyes too, with different purposes. They wash off the film with a presoak, or when developing. It is normal and does not affect the developer or future film.
Sometimes the colors may be different depending on the film.

As jimjm mentioned, as you re-use developer, you may have to adjust times because the active ingredients are exhausted by each use. This has nothing to do with the dyes. The instructions should suggest when you need to compensate and by how much.

I turned my developer bright pink

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