Interview with Stephen Schaub about Caffenol

[grommi]

http://caffenol.blogspot.com/2010/03/r.html

I proudly present - cheers - Reinhold

 

[removed account4]

thanks for the link, great interview!

john

 

[jamesgignac]

I'm very interested - I've never tried it but have heard about it serveral times and I think it's only a matter of having some exposed film that I'm willing to experiment with. I'll be sure to let you all know when I finally cave - I'm sure it'll be some night when my last bit of one-off Rodinal runs out.

 

[removed account4]

Is this Caffenol C really THAT great?
And how about pinholes when using acetic acid stop bath?

i have been using caffenol c for a couple of years now
and i have never had pinhole problems ... but i don't use any stop bath at all,
and from time to time i add in a little stock print developer ...

it is THAT great

john

 

[stradibarrius]

What advantage does Caffenol-C have over commercially available developers like HC-110, Rodinal etc?

 

[grommi]

What advantage does Caffenol-C have over commercially available developers like HC-110, Rodinal etc?

I guess you didn't read the interview or other posts from my blog.

Best shadow detail and best exposure latitude you ever came across. Did you ever try an Acros @ 1600 in Rodinal?

Cheers - Reinhold

 

[hrst]

Sorry, but Acros 100 @ 1600 sounds too good to be true.

I don't believe in magic when there is no real new innovation. Of course ascorbic acid is quite a good dev agent for shadow detail, but it's used also in "real" developers. Is there really some specially good superadditive feature with ascorbic acid + caffeic acid combination that would be much more effective than e.g. ascorbic acid + phenidone combination?

I would like to see a side-to-side comparison against commercial developers that are known for good shadow details, like Xtol or Tmax dev.

I don't want to dis this work. Quite the opposite! I'm very surprised to see results this good, comparable to best commercial developers.

 

[removed account4]

Sorry, but Acros 100 @ 1600 sounds too good to be true.

I don't believe in magic when there is no real new innovation. Of course ascorbic acid is quite a good dev agent for shadow detail, but it's used also in "real" developers. Is there really some specially good superadditive feature with ascorbic acid + caffeic acid combination that would be much more effective than e.g. ascorbic acid + phenidone combination?

I would like to see a side-to-side comparison against commercial developers that are known for good shadow details, like Xtol or Tmax dev.

I don't want to dis this work. Quite the opposite! I'm very surprised to see results this good, comparable to best commercial developers.

hrst

it isn't hard to make yourself
maybe you can do tests and see how YOU like it ...
being precise with your measurements is not that necessary either ..
i like it, but i can see how people can be skeptics ...

john

 

[grommi]

I don't want to dis this work. Quite the opposite! I'm very surprised to see results this good, comparable to best commercial developers.

Thank you. I guess one of the keys is the lack of a fogging inhibitor in Caffenol-C. Some unexposed silver is reduced, but also any tiny little silver grain that got a minimum portion of light. Could also explain that it is not suitable for higher speed films. Fog is always regarded as someting bad, of course fog doesn't help in any way, but with the slow to medium speed films it's nothing to worry about.

Yes, there is no need for hyper exact measuring of the amounts, but I always felt very uncomfortable with the TSP-thing and it surely doesn't help to improve the poor image of caffenol.

Yes again, there seem to be some similarities to Xtol. To be honest I never used it. I'm not a scientist but a simple amateur. I stumbled across Caffenol by incident. But I wouldn't be surprised at all that in a serious comparison with Xtol it would win hands down - with 100 ASA film only of course. If not, I will still be happy with "my" Caffenol-C-M.

And finally after all the testing I'm happy that Stephen reminded me of one important thing: it's fun! What more could you ask for?

Tomorrow I will have a shooting with a beautiful model. I'm sure we will have some fun. All films will be developed in Caffenol-C.

Have fun - Reinhold

 

[removed account4]

i process a lot of asa 400 film using caffenol c
tmy and tri x work very nicely, and i don't usually get any fog to speak of.
(i am using outdated film as well) i usually use open trays and shuffle ...

roll films ( i use 135 + 120 ) neopan, foma, tmy, tmx ... i stand develop
in caffenol c, but i add about 100cc of straight ansco130 to the mix.
i don't have any issues with fog ( maybe that is the pot bromide in the a130 ? )
.. and develop for about 25-30 mins depending on whether i hear the timer say BEEP ..
i usually leave the room because i don't really like the smell ...

i agree with stephen schaub that the film scans well, and has a great tonal scale.
i also print using an enlarger or contact print, and i can't complain at all about the ease of this too.

there are folks in the coffee-developer group ( i think toffle ) who uses caffenol as a print developer.

it's a great all around developer!

- john