Receipe for fine grain with Kodak films and chemicals

I love Kodak and use only Kodak films and chemicals. I have been shooting with Kodak Portra 400 VC and NC 120/220 and processing these films with my Jobo processor at home. I have found that I am unable to get consistent grain size on my negatives. I scan my negatives with a Minolta MF table top film scanner. It's not the latest one Minolta had but it does a decent scan for 8x10 prints.

I found that, as an example, shot on cloudy days my negatives tend to be less saturated, lower contrast and grainier. But same films shot on Sunny days my negatives are plenty vibrant, beautiful and finer in grain. But I am not sure if this is the way Kodak Portra 400 NC and VC are. I suspect it might have something to do with my processing.

I am not looking for mixing my own C-41 chemicals from scratch. I am merely looking for things to pay attention to to optimize my processing for finer grains, if there are things you can do to achieve it. I am following Kodak's processing instruction closely. My Jobo processor is an automatic processor that is in excellent shape.

A few days ago I ran through a roll of Portra 400 VC 220. The negative had a good density and color balance. My scans came out very good in color balance and overall density. But I am not very happy about the grains. It is probably not bad to print at 8x10. But I can imagine it would not be great when blowing up to larger prints. I am not convinced that it is the way the film is.

My C-41 developer was fresh and used one shot. I used about 600 ml to process it. Was this enough? My guess is yes. My bleach was kind of old and reused. The fix was not totally fresh either. I added some fresh bleach and fix before processing the film. Could this be the problem? I had better results before but I remember the film was shot on a sunny day.

Can the bleach and fix affect grain during processing assuming they are not exhausted and are replenished a little? What will you suggest to optimize my C-41 processing at home? I appreciate any input from you experts out there. Thanks.

Poor bleaching can desaturate colors, increase contrast and increase grain.

PE

Thanks a lot for your quick reply, PE. Can this be remedied by bleaching and fixing again in a try afterwards? I guess it can be done one frame at a time to find out. Poor bleaching is what I am afraid of always because I tried to save by reusing and (rough replenishing) my bleach. Kodak chemicals (probably all chemicals any brand names too) are harder to get these days because of hazmat regulations. It has made me want to save on the chemicals. Can I simply increase bleaching time to reduce the impact from a bleach that is weak that I am not aware of?

Prewet, bleach, wash, fix, wash and stabilize then dry as normal. That might fix the problem.

Bleaching and fixing are self limiting so you can extend the times a bit, say to 10 minutes at 100F.

PE

That's good to know. I'll try one frame of negative in a try tonight. I will report back to see if it makes some improvement. Thanks again, PE.

Dear mtjade2007,

Don't forget that the problems may not be due to processing. Outdated film, under exposure, less than optimal storage.....

Neal Wydra

Things really do look less saturated in color and less contrasty on a cloudy day. Still, 400VC retains much of its vibrancy, although the low contrast of the light changes the look a quite a bit. Grain won't be affected by the lighting, although it may be a bit more apparent at low contrast. 400VC has fine, but quite noticeable grain, especially with big blowups. Many commercial labs are not careful about replenishment and replacement of their chemicals, so exhausted bleach is a definite possibility. The same problem can cause inconsistency in your results. Another possible problem is that the lab is using Fuji or a third party manufacturer for its processing chemicals. I don't know if this would adversely affect the Kodak film (the Fuji and Kodak processes seem to be mostly compatible), but it might.