Jobo + Rollei C-41: most economical?

Hello All

Making progress with developing film thanks to your help, now want to try colour!

I searched, but didn't find anything for this question: I am using a Jobo ATL-1500 with 2523 (2 rolls of 135) and 2553 tanks (5 reels of 135) and Rollei Colorchem C-41 kit (1 litre). I have an Intellifaucet working with the Jobo for temperature control.

What is the most economical way to process 12 rolls of 135x36 C-41 with this kit?

The Jobo manual suggests 650ml of chemicals for 5 rolls, is this sufficient developer for 5 reels? Any worries of developer exhaustion (130ml per roll)?

The most economical way to process your negs is not necessarily the way to get exact results, and it depends on your further work flow whether your film development gives you acceptable negatives.

If you want the absolutely cheapest way to get useful results, take a look at (there was a url link here which no longer exists), turn the BLIX concentrates into a bleach as instructed (there was a url link here which no longer exists), and use the cheapest neutral rapid fixer you can get your hands on.

If you want to stick with Rollei's standard procedure for now, then let David Lyga's reported success at least give you assurance, that 130 ml C-41 CD will properly develop a roll of film without visible developer exhaustion effects.

Hi Rudeofus, as I am starting I agree with you it is best for me to stick to the standard procedure. Thanks also for helping to put at ease my worries, I will read David Lyga's thread with interest. I am keen to get some practical tips from someone who has done it before with the ATL-1500 or similar, so if you or anyone can point me somewhere (another thread, YouTube etc) or reply in this thread, I'd be most grateful. And maybe I should record my own experiences in due time to help others starting out?

Rudeofus said:

If you want to stick with Rollei's standard procedure for now, then let David Lyga's reported success at least give you assurance, that 130 ml C-41 CD will properly develop a roll of film without visible developer exhaustion effects.

Click to expand...

Rudi, I don't think that David used a Jobo processor, which exposes the developer to a lot air; I imagine this is the reason it is recommended to do only single use (no replenished systems) developer in Jobos. So I wouldn't want to extrapolate David's presumed hand tank to a Jobo rotary process.

I would personally follow the instructions of Jobo (or Rollei, if they specify use in a Jobo).

I recall David Lyga posting some of his results once and although scans are not all that reliable, many including me saw offish colors and visible crossover.

RPC said:

I recall David Lyga posting some of his results once and although scans are not all that reliable, many including me saw offish colors and visible crossover.

Click to expand...

I would not judge a negative based on its scan, there is much to much auto-correction and auto-adjustment smartness going on in most scanner software products. David did claim that he got satisfying optical prints from these negs, though, so it can't be all that bad.

David's method is the bare bone cheapest way to get C-41 film developed, period. We can safely expect, that there will be some deficiencies in the results, but nothing which couldn't trivially be corrected in a hybrid work flow. If cost is your major concern, that's the way to go. If you are willing to spend more, you can get more accurate results, all the way up to 'get the freshest film and chemistry you can find, shoot right away, then develop in original Fuji/Kodak chemistry (used single shot, of course) with precise temperature and timing control, and use process test strips regularly to verify that you are spot on'. Most people here on APUG are somewhere between these extremes, and it is up to anyone to decide where to stand.

I take it that the OP is really asking what is the most financially efficient way to get high quality results using a Jobo processor and the Rollei C-41 chemicals.
Essentially a question about batch sizes, capacity to re-use chemicals, and the like.

I use the Jobo CPP processor with Unicolor 1 liter kit from Free Style. I get 16 35mm rolls per kit. I like to do all the processing in two or three days.

Rudeofus said:

I would not judge a negative based on its scan, there is much to much auto-correction and auto-adjustment smartness going on in most scanner software products. David did claim that he got satisfying optical prints from these negs, though, so it can't be all that bad.

David's method is the bare bone cheapest way to get C-41 film developed, period. We can safely expect, that there will be some deficiencies in the results, but nothing which couldn't trivially be corrected in a hybrid work flow. If cost is your major concern, that's the way to go. If you are willing to spend more, you can get more accurate results, all the way up to 'get the freshest film and chemistry you can find, shoot right away, then develop in original Fuji/Kodak chemistry (used single shot, of course) with precise temperature and timing control, and use process test strips regularly to verify that you are spot on'. Most people here on APUG are somewhere between these extremes, and it is up to anyone to decide where to stand.

Click to expand...

Based on Lyga's methods, which I recall did not seem sound, I think the OP would likely have to do a fair amount of color correction, that is if it could be corrected. But he would have to decide whether all the work is worth it to save money.

Sirius Glass said:

I use the Jobo CPP processor with Unicolor 1 liter kit from Free Style. I get 16 35mm rolls per kit. I like to do all the processing in two or three days.

Click to expand...

Thanks for your reply Sirius Glass, I would really love to know the details of your process, mixing, volumes, times, recycling chemicals etc (yes, basic stuff!).

Basically I follow the instructions:

• Mixing
• Temperatures
• Timing
• Washes
• and use up the chemistry in as short a time period as possible to prevent any color shifts or degradation.

Lanthanum, store any unused or leftover developer in glass jars, filled, and well sealed for maximum life (the developer's, not yours).

Hi there,

Not sure if you actually asked this, but here is my method using Color chemical kits in a Jobo processor, both E6 and C41, for maximizing the number of film. I mainly used Tetenal kits, but recent test shows me it can be surely transposed to Rollei kits :

For example, for a 1L C41 kit, I'm preparing 500 ml of each stock solution, CD and BX, that I store in 500ml HDPE bottles. I put protecting gas (Tetenal Protectan) on top the other half concentrate, and tight the half-full kit bottles very well.

Then I process one or two 35 mm films (or one 120) in a 2523 Jobo tank, using 300ml from the working solution (I know, 270ml can even be used in a 2523 but I prefer using a little more). First, I process films the specified time, 3'15'' for CD, 6' for BX, and an acid stop bath between for 1/2 minute. I use Jobo rotation "P".

I pour back the used solution into each HDPE bottle with the rest of stock solution. So, while reusing 500 ml of stock solutions for CD and BX, I process six films, keeping them for a max of two weeks, spraying also Protectan in well closed HDPE bottles. Between films, I lenghten time for each steps, as specified in kit documentation, transposing it for six films. i.e for 1st and 2nd film = CD for 3:15, BX for 6:00, for 3rd film = CD for 3:30, BX for 8:00, etc.

C41 Chemical concentrates, with protecting gas, are keeping very well, so I can make another six films batch, maybe a few months after the first, ensuring I am stockpiling enough films to process in a six-batch.

Note that if you aren't processing films ISO 800 and higher, according both Tetenal and Rollei documentation, you can even process 16 films in a 1L kit, so using my method, 8 films for a 500ml batch.

Maybe I'am doing something wrong here, as it's largely empiric, but I got a rather good consistency along the films processed along a batch of 6 (or 8).

I hope I was clear enough

Regards,

Raphael

Hi Raphael, thank you for your very helpful message. I am going to follow your advice and will shortly process my first C-41 films. I have some 500ml amber glass bottles with glass stoppers, will use those for storage. Thanks again!