Managing 2.5l kit to best effect

[c41]

Here in Australia we can only source 2.5 litre Tetenal kits for c41 or e6 - and that's when they're in stock at the solitary retailer that has them (unless anyone else has any suggestions?)

Anyone have any tips on how they manage this amount of chemicals?

My setup is Jobo with 2 reel tank (2x135 or 2x120) and 1 litre bottles. I think realistically I can only crank out somewhere between 10-20 rolls for development at a time - in terms of time processing it and just exposing that much film in the first place. My ideal workflow is to stick em in the fridge and dedicate one day a month to processing.

For me 1 litre would be perfect - I'm not sure how to use 2.5 litre - do I split it 3 ways? 5?
What would be a good film to volume ratio for it? (i.e.; like 10 films to 500ml?)

If I can't use all 2.5 litres it really stops being worth it to process it myself.

2.5 litres is $105 for c41, $125 for e6. Plus interstate shipping. It's already barely viable for 35mm above just sending it out to a lab. But lab dev 120 is double the cost, e6 double it again so I'm still on the fence on not throwing the towel in for those. Any tips, or just give up?

 

[dE fENDER]

The main problem with Tetenal - it doesn't live long. Even after 2-3 months of storaging of opened concentrates, it can give ugly results. On the other hand, it doesn't matter how you split it. It require that no more than 12 (well, ok - 16 with 100 ISO in case of C-41) film rolls will be developed per liter. It means that if you have collected 12 rolls, you can prepare 1L, it you have collected 6 rolls - you can prepare 500ml, if you have only one roll - you can use only 80 ml and roll your tank during the process.

I think, you have two alternatives: to get minilab C-41 chemistry elsewhere (perhaps ask in a minilab), or to produce chemistry by yourself from raw chemicals. C-41 Fuji chemistry, produced in Belgium, can be storaged opened in 1-2 years without loosing quality. In case you can get raw powder chemicals (color developer can be obtained at artcraftchemicals.com - ground only, so you have to use shipito or smth like that) - you can prepare fresh solution at any time without risk to spoil your photos.

 

[c41]

Thank you. 12 rolls to a litre is really helpful, I'd forgotten this ratio.
The short shelf life of opened Tetenal kit is annoying has made for wasted chemistry and film (and time) in the past.

And comparing Macodirect (EU) to Vanbar (here) the 2.5 litre Tetenal kit costs AUD $67 vs $105 but no inernational shipping of course.

I'd discounted the idea of raw chemistry as impossible down here but I'll do a little more digging on the subject, thanks.

I'll do some more accounting (would rather be taking pictures!) and see what I can order.

 

[Molli]

I've had this 1 Litre Unicolour C41 Kit on my ebay watch list for ages. $64.75 + $12 50 P&H. I've no idea if that's cost effective or anything about its shelf life; it's simply one of those "I've been meaning to try this" things. Anyway, it's another option for you to look in to

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=361764215950&alt=web

 

[c41]

Thanks, great to see another option at the least.

Vanbar do have Fuji/Kodak chemicals in bulk also listed but I have no idea what is what from the site's information.
I'd consider just getting a bulk lot if it were economical - e6 and c41 - does anyone know what I need from here?

http://www.vanbar.com.au/catalogue/index.php?item1=CHEMISTRY&item2=COLOR&item3=FILM&brand=

It'd take the worry out of the inconsistent supply of chemistry having it in bulk.

 

[c41]

There is also another eBay seller here - but they're 'Away until Dec 31':
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/26267339...49&var=561588391483&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

 

[Mick Fagan]

Within reason, you should still be able to process C41 in batches of 4 rolls x 2 runs in a Jobo with rotary processing using one a shot developing system for virtually perfect results. This is using a 1510 tank and a 1530 extender to make the 1540 tank. This takes 470ml (I use 500ml) for 4 rolls of either 135 or 120. This is about the most economically expedient way to do C41 in a low end Jobo processor. Assuming you have the 1520 tank, then rotary processing doing 2 rolls with 250ml of chemistry also works out, but is a bit of a time killer.

C41, will do 8 rolls per litre of developer. As for the Tetenal product, I don’t know.

I assume you are not in Melbourne, otherwise you wouldn’t mention interstate freight from Vanbar.

I would be tempted to talk to people in a lab still doing C41 processing, ask about their chemicals and how they are broken down. I almost always purchased Kodak Flexicolor 5 litre kits for big film processing jobs; essentially they were two by 2.5 litre kits. Best of all is that they had a bleach and fix step, not a combined Blix, which is (was) a trade name of one of the American manufacturers, cannot remember which one. You may be surprised at what is inside some of these kits, some kits really were user friendly for breaking down to smaller mixing.

You could of course telephone Vanbar and ask if they know if it is possible for you to break up a large kit to a smaller kit, instead of mixing up the entire kit. Generally, I found that if at all possible, most kits were able to be broken in half.

Another possibility, you could try divided C41 developer. I myself have never used this, but a photographer living in the sticks did use this with, as far as I remember, quite acceptable results. http://photo.net/film-and-processing-forum/00GxUf

I even printed some of his negatives using the then new RA4 process, everything seemed to work well and we made some very good colour prints.

I have the chemicals to mix C41, haven’t done that process for maybe 4 years, but I could get back into it after a day of fiddling and mixing chemistry and probably new batteries for the pH meter.

Vanbar have an online portal for bulk chemistry, I know that what is there is not all of what they have. I looked and could not see CD4 (colour developing agent 4) for C41 chemistry, but last time I bought CD4, I bought it from them, which would have been around 8 years ago and it wasn’t in their online catalogue then either.

http://www.vanbar.com.au/catalogue/index.php?item1=CHEMISTRY&item2=BULK&brand=

A 2.5 litre kit will let you develop 20 rolls of film at $5.25 per roll, plus any delivery costs. I would call that viable just on the fact you will (should) get perfect processing using a one shot developing technique.

Mick.

 

[Murray Kelly]

I had to get CD4 from Moersch de. I also hope Vanbar get a dictionary.

Fuji C12RG-1386 rinse granuals 200x5lt (f3-9C12RG1386)

 

[Murray Kelly]

As for the Dignan 2-bath it would seem that modern CN41 film has Br and I built in to the emulsion. Dignan didn't have that problem since Ron Mobrey says it was added about 2000. What that means is the 2 build up and get so strong the negatives get thinner and thinner. You can't compensate for it like you can with 'normal' processing by increasing development time.
Blogs I read about Dignan start off all enthusiastic then gradually the the message is 'I'll get beck to this sometime'. Pity because it looks so easy.

 

[RPC]

I have tried the 2-bath and it works better with some films than others, but all in all gives poor results--crossover and low contrast. It is normally done at 75F--too low for C-41 to work properly.

 

[c41]

Thank you - more for me to research. I might give Vanbar a call too..