Most economic way to develop C-41 at home?

Just ordered another 10x 5L Flexicolor kits from Unique Photo. I bought 6x 5L kits back in August and now I am down to the last 5L. So ,,,,~25 L in 6 months. So about 350 sheets of 4x5 (although at least 25% is actually 120).

The kit you need is the Flexicolor 5L Replenisher Developer. Then get a bottle of the Flexicolor Starter. The Starter bottle tells you how much starter to use. I mix half of the 5L kit at a time using a chemistry mixing flask (hence 2.5L because the flask is already huge), add the starter + extra water and you get ~3.5L solution. You need about twice the chemical of the Flexicolor as the other C-41 Kit, e.g. 1L for 10 sheets of 4x5 or 4 rolls of 35mm. Reuse is possible but I do not bother and I use it one shot only as the cost is insignificant comparing to the cost of film.

gazefuzzy said:

Maybe the most economical way for me to develop is to buy a powder kit, only mix up a bit at a time and reuse that bit only a few times and then throw it out?

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please be responsible and dispose of your color chemistry at your local household hazmat recycling facility.

mklw1954 said:

Can you say exactly what Flexicolor items you get from Unique (product codes, etc.) to do C41?

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C-41 Developer Replenisher ($13.95)
http://www.uniquephoto.com/product/c-41-dev-repl-lorr-tm-5l-ek-kodak-xhaz-hazsp1-832-0608-8231672/

C-41 Developer Starter ($12.51)
http://www.uniquephoto.com/product/kodak-c-41-dev-starter-lorr-1-2l-6601074/

Separate Bleach and Fix ($34.00)
https://www.uniquephoto.com/product...sing-unit-f2-for-color-negative-film-1173319/

Final Rinse ($2.95)
http://www.uniquephoto.com/product/kodak-flexicolor-sm-c-41sm-tank-final-rinse-1925254/

The developer/replenisher makes 5 liters. When you add starter, you'll have about 6.5 liters of working solution that you should store in airtight containers filled to capacity. There are clear instructions on the packaging. You'll have starter leftover and it will last for several cycles, meaning when you run out of working solution, just reorder the developer/replenisher. I use the developer one-shot. Use the bleach straight; the fix should mixed 1:1 with water. You can reuse the bleach and fixer, of course.

ETA: Copy and paste the links. They don't work for some reason.

Gerald C Koch said:

When you consider the cost of home kits and all the associated bother the cheapest choice is to have a reliable processing company do the work.

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I don't see how. Most labs are charging five to ten dollars per roll. If you have to mail it out, add shipping both ways. If you want your film pushed/pulled/cross-processed, add even more. Personally, I hate dropping film in the mail. Once you have a reliable source for supplies and a tried-and-true workflow, you can develop color negative film for less than a dollar per roll. And you have complete control. That said, I agree that the home kits that call for pumping dozens of rolls through the same liter of solution is asking for trouble. I use the developer one-shot.

bvy said:

C-41 Developer Replenisher ($13.95)
http://www.uniquephoto.com/product/c-41-dev-repl-lorr-tm-5l-ek-kodak-xhaz-hazsp1-832-0608-8231672/

C-41 Developer Starter ($12.51)
http://www.uniquephoto.com/product/kodak-c-41-dev-starter-lorr-1-2l-6601074/

Separate Bleach and Fix ($34.00)
https://www.uniquephoto.com/product...sing-unit-f2-for-color-negative-film-1173319/

Final Rinse ($2.95)
http://www.uniquephoto.com/product/kodak-flexicolor-sm-c-41sm-tank-final-rinse-1925254/

The developer/replenisher makes 5 liters. When you add starter, you'll have about 6.5 liters of working solution that you should store in airtight containers filled to capacity. There are clear instructions on the packaging. You'll have starter leftover and it will last for several cycles, meaning when you run out of working solution, just reorder the developer/replenisher. I use the developer one-shot. Use the bleach straight; the fix should mixed 1:1 with water. You can reuse the bleach and fixer, of course.

ETA: Copy and paste the links. They don't work for some reason.

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Thanks for the detailed information. The links worked.

Taking the advice from this thread I just ordered the Suggested Chems From Unique photo.
Could you guys share your Processing times and Workflow?
I'm planning on developing 4×5 in my Jobo as well as 120 and 35
Thanks Charles

For roll film in a hand tank, follow the Kodak standard -- 3:15 at 100F with 30 seconds initial agitation followed by agitation every 15 seconds.

bascom49 said:

Taking the advice from this thread I just ordered the Suggested Chems From Unique photo.
Could you guys share your Processing times and Workflow?
I'm planning on developing 4×5 in my Jobo as well as 120 and 35

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Look at the Kodak publication for rotary processing. You want the higher rotary speeds.
The thing to be aware of is the temperature drop after adding the developer in a jobo. See the threads on that. The common approach is to use 2 30 sec pre-wash baths to get the tank up to temp before the developer. A pre-warm of the tank in the water bath takes over 30 min. to get it up to temp. Another approach is to not pre-wet but measure the temperature drop as a test with the tank with empty reels and water for developer, then add about 10 sec per degree C drop to the development time. I haven't tried that yet, but it follows the Kodak pub. better (although the time per deg. was deduced from the control strip publication graphs). I just got some C-41 control strips I can verify these effects with soon.
Adding a 2% acetic acid stop bath with 20g/l of sulfite or bisulfite after the developer is good but if you are using the RA bleach it probably is not needed since it is at pH 4.5 already.