@jnantz uses a brew that he prepares from Sumatra beans IIRC. I should request him to share his notes if I take up the Caffenol route seriously. My interest in it comes mainly from the possibility of getting a speed of 400 with XP2 Super.
What I recall from using Caffenol is that it was mixed to about four times drinking strength (i.e. four times as much instant coffee for the final solution volume as I'd use if I were mixing it to drink).
Unfortuantely the bean choice wont help with the very disagreeable odor@jnantz uses a brew that he prepares from Sumatra beans IIRC. I should request him to share his notes if I take up the Caffenol route seriously. My interest in it comes mainly from the possibility of getting a speed of 400 with XP2 Super.
Search "Robusta Soluble Coffee Powder". I have found one on indiamart.comThis is very useful, thanks! I was weary of using instant coffee because some of the brands available in India claim they're a blend of Arabica and Robusta and they also contain Chicory. OTOH I can get pure Robusta grounded coffee powder.
Search "Robusta Soluble Coffee Powder". I have found one on indiamart.com
The problem is that you maid 2 changes to the parameters (sodium sulphite and coffee), so you will not know what happened if something goes wrong. If you try full stand, change only one parameter or try directly with the right components...In the mean while, I did an experiment with the more easily available roasted and grounded coffee. It's a blend of Arabica, Robusta and Chicory popularly known as Hotel Blend Premium by Cothas coffee. I took about 30g of the powder and boiled it in 250ml of water for 5 minutes. Filtered the coffee broth, cooled it, added 5g Sodium sulphite, 5g Ascorbic acid, 10g Sodium carbonate and 0.5g Potassium bromide and brought the volume to 500ml. I used this to develop Kentmere 400 semi-stand @20C and it produced usable negatives. This was just a test to see if brewed coffee (and one that contains Chicory) works and I didn't optimize the formula for image quality.
The problem is that you maid 2 changes to the parameters (sodium sulphite and coffee), so you will not know what happened if something goes wrong. If you try full stand, change only one parameter or try directly with the right components...
Search "Robusta Soluble Coffee Powder". I have found one on indiamart.com
Not with Caffenol CL stand. It take 10 minutes longer for XP2 than for 400 ISO films.There's a good reason why I included sulphite in the formula I used. Kentmere 400 requires much longer development time than XP2 Super.
My Caffenol never stink. Do you use soda ashes or crystals ?The brew started stinking so badly after adding carbonate due to oxidation that I feared it would die soon. Typical Caffenol formulas have significantly higher ascorbic acid than what I used plausibly for this reason. Sulphite did help - it reduced the stink and kept the developer active to give usable negatives.
Not with Caffenol CL stand. It take 10 minutes longer for XP2 than for 400 ISO films.
My Caffenol never stink. Do you use soda ashes or crystals ?
That's not bad at allInspired by @drmoss_ca's results, I give XP2 in black and white chemistry a try. I must have bungled something up somewhere along the way, because about 2/3 of my negatives come up very thin. Here's one of frames that I could salvage with some post-processing in Lightroom. I will probably need to experiment some more. Any thoughts, feedback, or criticism would be welcome.
Pentax 6x7, S-M-C Takumar 6x7 105mm f/2.4, Ilford XP2 Super (expired 2017), developed in LegacyPro L110 at 1:49 for 10 minutes.
2021.03.06 Roll #272-05989-Pano-positive.jpg by dourbalistar, on Flickr
I must have bungled something up somewhere along the way, because about 2/3 of my negatives come up very thin. Here's one of frames that I could salvage with some post-processing in Lightroom. I will probably need to experiment some more. Any thoughts, feedback, or criticism would be welcome.
Thanks, @Auer! LegacyPro L110 is a HC-110 clone, but take any of my results with a big grain of salt. Like I said, most of my first roll were duds, and not the tasty chocolate covered kind.That's not bad at allMakes me want to try some with HC110 now..
Thank you for the tip, @Raghu Kuvempunagar. Yes, I did shoot at box speed, and then followed @drmoss_ca's suggested dilution and times for EI 400. Maybe experimenting somewhat haphazardly with a roll of (slightly) expired 120 in the Pentax 6x7 was not the best idea.You probably shot at box speed. In my experience, this film has a speed 150-200 in B&W chemistry and there's progressive loss of shadow details as you increase the speed. Next time you might want to bracket (e.g. 100, 200, 400) and find out what speed gives you the most satisfactory results.
Do you have a suggested starting dilution and time using HC-110 for EI 200?
I’m in the need of education, what exactly does bleach bypass do to XP2 compared to the full development process?
Thanks, @Auer! LegacyPro L110 is a HC-110 clone, but take any of my results with a big grain of salt. Like I said, most of my first roll were duds, and not the tasty chocolate covered kind.
Thank you for the tip, @Raghu Kuvempunagar. Yes, I did shoot at box speed, and then followed @drmoss_ca's suggested dilution and times for EI 400. Maybe experimenting somewhat haphazardly with a roll of (slightly) expired 120 in the Pentax 6x7 was not the best idea.Do you have a suggested starting dilution and time using HC-110 for EI 200?
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