Is c41 really that hard to develop?

[mehguy]

Ive been looking into C41 developing lately, and at first I was gonna develop B and W but I shoot colour a lot more often. How did your first film turn out?

 

[Vonder]

Mine turned out fine, but I had developed B&W before. I use the Tetenal 2-bath kit, developer and blix. You need to be able to keep temperature controlled at 102 degrees F, but that's not too hard to do even in a sink. The crucial temp-dependent step is developing, blix has a far greater latitude. So essentially if you can keep the temps at 102 for 3.25 minutes, you're good to go for dev. Blix takes 6.5 minutes but the temp is not as critical. If your water bath is 102 and you added no heat to keep it there, it'd last long enough and close enough for the six minutes.

 

[Ko.Fe.]

Better than from local Walmart C-41 lab which was run neglected for few months, before they finally closed it in this February. It was last C-41 lab at Walmart in GTA, if not in all Canada.
Not to mention scan, which they never did properly.
For $100+ you could get four C-41 kits from BH (free shipping to Canada for $100). It will gives you 80-100 developed rolls. 20-25 rolls are possible per 1L kit.

 

[shoot6x7]

Do you have to shoot in campaigns ? I.e. have twenty rolls ready to develop before you crack open a kit ? How long will the chems last once opened ?

 

[bvy]

It's not hard and it's very forgiving. People talking in terms of fractional degrees and building contraptions from crock pots and the like seems to put a lot of people off to the process. A Paterson tank and a water bath is all I've ever used. Still, invest in a good thermometer, keep good records, and do a few "dry runs" (processing with empty reels) to test your process.

Also, I would learn to develop black and white first.

 

[Gerald C Koch]

It is no harder than B&W but like B&W you do need to pay attention to time, temperature and agitation in the developer. But as a previous poster commented first become familiar with B&W. The color kits are too expensive to waste on failed attempts.

 

[kb3lms]

Fine. The C-41 process is not difficult at all. Just make sure to keep your developer step at 102F (a water bath in any suitable container will do this) and agitate constantly during the developer step. It's a process designed for a machine where the film and chemistry keep moving. Lack of sufficient agitation can cause color crossover.

 

[Ko.Fe.]

Do you have to shoot in campaigns ? I.e. have twenty rolls ready to develop before you crack open a kit ? How long will the chems last once opened ?

I never kept chemicals open once they are prepared from the powder. I was keeping my 1L kit in the refrigerator all the time and reheated it with hot water every time I have 120 or two 135 to develop.
I used one kit for two years and 20+ films. Developed C-41 BW, positive film and cinefilm in it as well.

But! It is all good only for scanning.

 

[RPC]

It is not hard. But I suggest you read what you can find about it in articles & threads here in the color forum archives before attempting it, and books if you can locate any. The more you know, the smoother it will go. Of course you can always ask questions here. Don't think you need to do b&w first, just run a test roll or two before anything important. You would want to do that even if you were familiar with b&w.

The chemistry, if mixed and then stored in glass bottles filled and sealed tightly, can last many months. No need to refrigerate.

 

[480sparky]

It's about as easy and b&w. And this from someone who hasn't developed C-41 since 1983.

 

[EdSawyer]

It's not bad, I do it regularly using a Phototherm SSK4, but even doing it manually is fairly easy in a home darkroom.

 

[GRHazelton]

A quick question. Back in the day I did Ektachrome, starting when the reversal was done with a photoflood bulb! A water bath worked fine for temperature control. Thus the basic process of C 41 doesn't worry me.

For 120 I have best results in loading with a Paterson, but I have no stirring rod, and the tank leaks. A little D-76 never hurt anyone, just wash it off. Since I'll get C 41 developer on my hands, should I wear latex gloves? How hazardous is the developer? I've never had any reaction to any B-W developer, BTW.

 

[pbromaghin]

I never kept chemicals open once they are prepared from the powder. I was keeping my 1L kit in the refrigerator all the time and reheated it with hot water every time I have 120 or two 135 to develop.
I used one kit for two years and 20+ films. Developed C-41 BW, positive film and cinefilm in it as well.

But! It is all good only for scanning.

Can you explain this in a bit more detail? I have a CPAC 5L kit (all that was available locally) and have been reluctant to open it up. The problem of it going bad has held me back from really doing a lot of C-41.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Other than maintaining the temperature it is about as easy as developing black & white. I am sorry that even though I had processed color slides in the 1960's in a basement sink, that I had held back on taking the dive.

 

[cl3mens]

My first roll turned out fine. Much later I found out that I developed at 35* C instead of 38* C. Why? Well, most people advice against presoaking the film. So you have room temperature film, reels and tank in which you pour correctly tempered C41 developer. The temperature will drop. Preheating the tank in a waterbath (for quite some time I guess. I did a few minutes and still ended up at 35) would solve this. I just heat the developer to 41-42* C now and go. When I measure temperature after the 1:00 inversions I am between 38 and 39* C.

And yes. It looks good. Darn good. Do it and see if you like the results. It brings the fun back into shooting color.

Gloves is a good idea. I usually do not bother but last time I got some itchy blisters (sensitive hands). Now I use them for C41.

On my first home developed roll:
Flickr

 

[Sirius Glass]

I develop at temperature with a Jobo CPP2 processor. It is as easy as falling off a motorcycle.

 

[Colin DeWolfe]

Better than from local Walmart C-41 lab which was run neglected for few months, before they finally closed it in this February. It was last C-41 lab at Walmart in GTA, if not in all Canada.
Not to mention scan, which they never did properly.
For $100+ you could get four C-41 kits from BH (free shipping to Canada for $100). It will gives you 80-100 developed rolls. 20-25 rolls are possible per 1L kit.

Atlantic Photo Supply in Halifax still does C41. They do a run every week.

 

[Roger Cole]

Haven't read the two pages preceding but mine turned out fine and the answer is basically "no, it's not."

That said I had experience in black and white and that helps, especially if you are doing it all by hand. It's not hard, but starting out with it might be more challenging than doing it after you're used to the basic stuff (loading reels, agitation etc.) in black and white. You just have to be more careful about time and, especially, temperature and since the temperature is higher you pretty much have to use some kind of tempering bath or the like.

 

[Xmas]

It is easy and it is quick.
Just wear gloves!

 

[mehguy]

Also, how do you scan your negatives yourself? I dont really want to go out and spend 200 bux on a flatbed scanner. Granted, I already have one in the form of a printer+scanner unit.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Also, how do you scan your negatives yourself? I dont really want to go out and spend 200 bux on a flatbed scanner. Granted, I already have one in the form of a printer+scanner unit.

I got a 4990 Epson Photo Scanner which was reconditioned directly from Epson for under $100 including shipping on a special at their website. It handles 35mm and 120 film. It can scan the WideLux 24mm x 59mm negative.

 

[MattKing]

Also, how do you scan your negatives yourself? I dont really want to go out and spend 200 bux on a flatbed scanner. Granted, I already have one in the form of a printer+scanner unit.

That question is definitely outside APUG. Try the link to the sister site, DPUG.ORG at the top of the page.

That being said, it is really tough to get good scanning results on a scanner as cheap as $200.00.

 

[wblynch]

Save money developing your own film and spend the savings on better equipment.

See how that works?

 

[Sirius Glass]

Save money developing your own film and spend the savings on better equipment.

See how that works?

Good advice. Developing requires a changing bag, a daylight film tank, chemicals, a sink and a clothes line.

 

[mehguy]

That question is definitely outside APUG. Try the link to the sister site, DPUG.ORG at the top of the page.

That being said, it is really tough to get good scanning results on a scanner as cheap as $200.00.

hm. then how do you get your final print out of your negative? Do you get a store to do it for you?