Recommended chemistry for first steps on developing color negatives...

[Tel]

Just got an email from Freestyle promoting the Bellini C-41 kit. I notice that they advertise upfront that a liter will do 16 rolls. Sad, though, that it's ten bucks more than Unicolor, though it looks like the bleach and fix are separate. Might have to try some....

 

[Paul Verizzo]

I just dug out the Unicolor instruction sheet and had a read of the "capacity" notes there. Most of what they say seems to run counter to my experience over ten years of doing my own C-41. They say the limit is 8 rolls, which is nonsense. And they say you can push it further if you want to experiment (true) but then they assert that the stuff dies slowly. The two times I've had a batch of Unicolor dev fail it literally fell of the cliff. At the time I was stretching it to see how far I'd get, and had reached 30 rolls of 35mm. I had a roll of outdated Portra that I used for clip testing after I topped 20 rolls and two times the clip test looked OK but the developer failed immediately afterward. It is possible, though, that the cause of the failure might have been cross-contamination; I was still new at the process and may not have been rigorous enough in avoidance of blix contamination.

So I would encourage the OP to experiment with it once the process has been mastered. Color is good fun and highly rewarding. And not necessarily expensive.

I think that like so many endeavors in life, there is a huge CYA....Cover Your Ass....factor in factory suggestions. This happens in foods. "Best used by dates." I've eaten canned foods a decade after the expiration date. A bit darker, tasted fine, just fine.

 

[Tel]

Cover your ass and increase your sales too....

 

[MrFus]

Yeah, I'm inclined to think that the key to longevity is a tightly sealed lid.

It will be fine if I split the liter on two small 500ml bottles and use one for maybe 5 or 6 rolls and then use the other after the first chemical batch starts to show signs of weakening?

 

[Tel]

I've been doing it that way for a decade with good success. I use brown glass bottles with tight-fitting lids and keep them away from direct sunlight (though I don't know for sure that this is necessary). 5 or 6 rolls is a very conservative estimate. More like 8 or 10. Be very careful not to cross contaminate. I'm obsessive about this, having seen how quickly a drop of blix will spoil a bottle of developer. I have separate beakers for mixing up, separate stirring sticks and a thermometer that only goes into the developer. (And another one that monitors the warming bath; you don't need to monitor the blix temp too closely.) This equipment isn't very expensive and it lasts forever. You can get a plastic tub at the dollar store for your warming bath.

If you're unsure about the viability of your dev, keep a roll of expired color film for doing clip tests. As the dev gets nearer to what you reckon might be its demise, cut off a couple of inches of test film and leave it in direct sunlight for several minutes, then develop it as normal. It should come out almost black (very very dark brown) if the chemistry is still good.

C-41 is a bit more complicated than b&w but not much. Do some practice runs on rolls that you don't care too much about and once you get a routine going that works for you, you'll find you can do color developing without any stress and quite efficiently, I would recommend starting out with a two-bath kit like Unicolor or FPP and moving up to separate bleach and fix after you've mastered the basics.

 

[MrFus]

I've been doing it that way for a decade with good success. I use brown glass bottles with tight-fitting lids and keep them away from direct sunlight (though I don't know for sure that this is necessary). 5 or 6 rolls is a very conservative estimate. More like 8 or 10. Be very careful not to cross contaminate. I'm obsessive about this, having seen how quickly a drop of blix will spoil a bottle of developer. I have separate beakers for mixing up, separate stirring sticks and a thermometer that only goes into the developer. (And another one that monitors the warming bath; you don't need to monitor the blix temp too closely.) This equipment isn't very expensive and it lasts forever. You can get a plastic tub at the dollar store for your warming bath.

If you're unsure about the viability of your dev, keep a roll of expired color film for doing clip tests. As the dev gets nearer to what you reckon might be its demise, cut off a couple of inches of test film and leave it in direct sunlight for several minutes, then develop it as normal. It should come out almost black (very very dark brown) if the chemistry is still good.

C-41 is a bit more complicated than b&w but not much. Do some practice runs on rolls that you don't care too much about and once you get a routine going that works for you, you'll find you can do color developing without any stress and quite efficiently, I would recommend starting out with a two-bath kit like Unicolor or FPP and moving up to separate bleach and fix after you've mastered the basics.

I'm obsessed abut chemicals like you.

My pantry looks like a chemistry lab more than anything else, one mixing container for each chemical, one thermometer for each chemical, beakers and flasks, graduated glass cylinders and brown bottles everywhere!

I ordered the Unicolor kit to start, it looks like it will be the best way to get familiar with the C-41 process, I don't shot film as much as I wish but I'm working on that!!!!

 

[Sirius Glass]

It will be fine if I split the liter on two small 500ml bottles and use one for maybe 5 or 6 rolls and then use the other after the first chemical batch starts to show signs of weakening?

I do not split the chemicals. Each goes back into its own 1 liter bottle and following directions, increase the development time as called for in the instructions.