My first caffenol attempt....

ChristopherCoy · Sep 9, 2014

I've go a roll of 35mm TriX 400 that I want to develop in Caffenol, but picking a recipe is about as fun as buying a car.

A simple google search brings up more results than my tiny little brain can process.

Aside, from instant coffee, vitamin C powder or tablets, and washing soda, are there any other necessary ingredients that will improve performance?

And can any of you recommend a nicely rounded recipe or measurements for the above ingredients?

pdeeh · Sep 9, 2014

Tri-X isn;t the best starter for Caffenol as the basic Caffenol recipe is better for medium or slower films.
Ideally you'd have some KBr to throw in for tri-x

There are two best places to go for Caffenol recipes: http://www.caffenol-cookbook.com/ and www.caffenol.blogspot.co.uk

The latter definitely has recipes for Tri-X

and I bet mr j nanian will turn up shortly to say you need to add a dash of seaweed essence

removed account4 · Sep 9, 2014

hi christopher
why don't you use

8 oz. water
4 slightly rounded tsp. instant coffee
2 tsp. washing soda
1000 mg Vitamin C

it works OK ... ( and don't worry about adding too much of one thing or another, caffenol c is pretty forgiving
i don't measure anything i just eyeball measure and get ok results .. )
just make sure your washing soda is washing soda, and your vit c has nothing else in it

the caffenol-cookbook.com has a bunch of great recipes and text

have fun !
john

ps. seaweed essence is OK but its better on white rice

Oxleyroad · Sep 9, 2014

I've found the nastier in taste the instant coffee, the better the developed negative. Here in Australia the supermarket generic brands which cost about $2 for 200g give me really good results.

Like John, I just spoon in the ingredients, I used to measure but found no difference. The films I process in it are Shanghai GP3, Foma 100 and 400, Kodak XX, Efke 25, ORWO UN54 and Kodak Vision colour neg films.

Enjoy!

ChristopherCoy · Sep 9, 2014

Where/how do you buy potassium bromide in the US? We used to get it by prescription for our dog with epilepsy.

ChristopherCoy · Sep 9, 2014

So NOT Walmart? Lol

Dr Croubie · Sep 9, 2014

I just did my first one last weekend. Caffenol L-C by the recipe book, 500ml water, to 8g washing soda, to 5g Vitamin C powder, to 20g homebrand coffee, to 0.8g of KBr.
FP4 non-plus, expired in 1979 and god knows how it's been stored in its lifetime (that's longer than mine). Shot at ei50 in the hasselbladski.
Inverted a few times and stand for 30 minutes, then inverted a bit more and stand for another 60 mins. Water stop, 2 changes of water, no Ilfostop. Ilford Rapid fix and wash and done.
Seriously, some of the best looking negs (tonality wise) I've devved for a while. Up close on 3200dpi scans I can see a few tiny specks in the emulsion (black on the positive image), but nothing too bad at 8x10 sizes. Negs are only slightly tinged brown. I'm not sure if either of them are caused by the caffenol or by the film base being 35 years old...

ps, here is where I got my KBr. It got past Aussie customs with a 'we inspected but didn't take anything' tag in it. At 250g it's going to last a long time though, so I won't have to do that too often...

removed account4 · Sep 9, 2014

btw

the films i just uploaded to the gallery today ( and most every time i upload )
were processed either entirely in caffenol 130 or half and half with ansco 130
( 4 mins 1:8 normal agitation 1st full min, then 10sec every min then
dump out and add the caffenol, and constant agitation for 4 mins )
all expired, and a few uploads today were of color negative film probably 10-15 years old ..
and just stored in a bag room temperature ...

Regular Rod · Sep 10, 2014

Dr Croubie said:
I just did my first one last weekend. Caffenol L-C by the recipe book, 500ml water, to 8g washing soda, to 5g Vitamin C powder, to 20g homebrand coffee, to 0.8g of KBr.
FP4 non-plus, expired in 1979 and god knows how it's been stored in its lifetime (that's longer than mine). Shot at ei50 in the hasselbladski.
Inverted a few times and stand for 30 minutes, then inverted a bit more and stand for another 60 mins. Water stop, 2 changes of water, no Ilfostop. Ilford Rapid fix and wash and done.
Seriously, some of the best looking negs (tonality wise) I've devved for a while. Up close on 3200dpi scans I can see a few tiny specks in the emulsion (black on the positive image), but nothing too bad at 8x10 sizes. Negs are only slightly tinged brown. I'm not sure if either of them are caused by the caffenol or by the film base being 35 years old...

ps, here is where I got my KBr. It got past Aussie customs with a 'we inspected but didn't take anything' tag in it. At 250g it's going to last a long time though, so I won't have to do that too often...

Black on the positive implies something on the film whilst exposure was made in the camera... i.e. NOT a developing fault

RR

ChristopherCoy · Sep 10, 2014

jnanian said:
hi christopher
why don't you use

8 oz. water
4 slightly rounded tsp. instant coffee
2 tsp. washing soda
1000 mg Vitamin C

it works OK ... ( and don't worry about adding too much of one thing or another, caffenol c is pretty forgiving
i don't measure anything i just eyeball measure and get ok results .. )
just make sure your washing soda is washing soda, and your vit c has nothing else in it

the caffenol-cookbook.com has a bunch of great recipes and text

have fun !
john

ps. seaweed essence is OK but its better on white rice

John,

I'm stopping at Walgreens for Vit C today. I'm assuming I can break up caplets for exact measurments.

ChristopherCoy · Sep 10, 2014

Oh... how long should I start with. 15 mins?

removed account4 · Sep 10, 2014

ChristopherCoy said:
John,

I'm stopping at Walgreens for Vit C today. I'm assuming I can break up caplets for exact measurments.

hi chris,
make sure there is nothing else in there.
i get powdered vit c from trader joe's
its cheap as dirt and no fuss with crushing stuff ...

have fun !
john

ChristopherCoy · Sep 12, 2014

Hey John,

this is what I purchased.... I hope it will work.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CFHHAP4/ref=pe_385040_30332200_TE_item

I also bought potassium bromide from Photographers Formulary.

removed account4 · Sep 12, 2014

hi chris

i think you are golden

- john

Terry Christian · Sep 12, 2014

I bought my vitamin C from a local health food store. The potassium bromide I bought from Adorama for cheaper shipping, but it is branded Photographers' Formulary. I've had good results with the Caffenol-C-M recipe, though I haven't tried any others.

FiatluX · Sep 12, 2014

Any will do, you just need to find the one that suits your imagery, I use caffenol c-h(rs)

ChristopherCoy · Sep 24, 2014

Here I am running around town looking at all these different stores for "washing soda" or pure sodium carbonate, when all I had to do was heat up sodium bicarbonate (bakind soda) in the oven for an hour or so....

why isn't that tidbit of information in the book... or is it and I just missed it?

ChristopherCoy · Sep 24, 2014

Uuuhhhh.... where'd my frames go?

removed account4 · Sep 24, 2014

wow

ive never had a blank roll from caffenol,
unless i heated everything too much and the
emulsion boiled off ..

what brand coffee, vit c and soda did you use ?

john

ChristopherCoy · Sep 24, 2014

jnanian said:
wow

ive never had a blank roll from caffenol,
unless i heated everything too much and the
emulsion boiled off ..

what brand coffee, vit c and soda did you use ?

john

I used Photographers Forumlary potassium bromide that I ordered from Adorama, Trader Joes Vit C crystals, the cheapest instant coffee that I could find at the dollar store, and baking soda that I baked for an hour in the oven at 200 degrees.

I used the caffenol cookbook recipe, a food scale to weigh everything in grams per liter, and mixed them in order of the recipe. And I used a Kodak mixing jar with a liter of water in it. I stirred everything to have it dissolve accordingly before pouring it in. I did notice that it did not stink like common info suggests that it does though.

The only variable in the equation is the camera I used to shoot the film. It was a Nikon FM that I bought, and this was the first roll I put through it. Although the shutter works, the advance works, and I used a 50mm 2.8 that I've used on my known working FM. I expected light leaks, but this is just blank film.

MattKing · Sep 24, 2014

I can see no edge printing on the negatives. What film was it? If it was a "common" film with edge printing, your developer didn't develop.

ChristopherCoy · Sep 24, 2014

Kodak trix.

removed account4 · Sep 24, 2014

when you added the vit c did it foam ? i usually add the vit c without measuring it until it foams. i've never done the recipes with pot bromide in them
i hate to suggest this but if you attempt again, add vit c until it foams, and rate your film 2x box speed. unless the coffee isn't robusta beans
i am at a total loss about what happened, as matt said the edge markings should have at least shown up

ChristopherCoy · Sep 24, 2014

Yes it foamed.

removed account4 · Sep 24, 2014

do you still have the developer? or did you dump it after you processed the film ?
you can test the developer with a scrap of photo paper in room light see if it turns black
it usually takes 2x ( maybe a little more ) what normal paper developer takes. my guess is
the coffee was " too good " everything else was up to snuff ..
if youdon't have any left, you can do the teaspoon recipe with 8oz of water and without the pot bromide
and see if that develops out a black piece of paper.

sorry to read of your troubles ...

My first caffenol attempt....

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