Tetanal c-41 question

Jaime Marin · Feb 19, 2012

Does anyone know if you have to extend development times after a certain amount of rolls? I often read that it will process about 8-12, however lets say im on roll number 7, do I continue to use the same development times until I hit the 12th roll? I do not have the chemicals with me as I just purchased it recently, so any help would be great!

zach · Feb 19, 2012

I always added 30 seconds to dev time for every 4-5 rolls. Blix usually 2 minutes or so.

It should be in the tetenal manual anyway.

The drop in quality isn't immediate after the developer begins to exhaust, once you don't like the results, extend your dev time.

NB23 · Feb 19, 2012

Are we talking about the Tetenal C-41 Press Kit in Powder form that can be purchased for 19.99$? I was thinking about purchasing it as I stumbled across this thread.

If not, that are you guys using?

Thanks...

Jeff L · Feb 20, 2012

NB23 said:
Are we talking about the Tetenal C-41 Press Kit in Powder form that can be purchased for 19.99$? I was thinking about purchasing it as I stumbled across this thread.

If not, that are you guys using?

Thanks...

Me too. Any info on the Press Kit will be appreciated.
Thanks.

Jaime Marin · Feb 21, 2012

Yea Im talking about the Powder kit

Jaime Marin · Feb 23, 2012

zach said:
I always added 30 seconds to dev time for every 4-5 rolls. Blix usually 2 minutes or so.

It should be in the tetenal manual anyway.

The drop in quality isn't immediate after the developer begins to exhaust, once you don't like the results, extend your dev time.

Not sure if im just blind but im holding the manual in my hands right now and it says nothing about this? But adding 30 seconds after 4-5 rolls works for you? and then adding 2 minutes to the blix?

Jaime Marin · Feb 23, 2012

anyone else want to confirm this? I know there are lots of Tetanal users out there!

Jaime Marin · Feb 27, 2012

282 views and no other answers? any help here would be great please and thank you!

Bob-D659 · Feb 27, 2012

Have a look at this thread.
(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

Jaime Marin · Mar 1, 2012

thanks for the link read some stuff I wasnt aware of. But im still curious if i need to extend my development time and blix time after a certain amount of rolls?

Bob-D659 · Mar 2, 2012

The C41 press powder kit is sold under three names, Jobo, Tetenal and Unicolor. Try google, it will also bring up some old threads here.

Jaime Marin · Mar 2, 2012

cant find anything which is why I came here looking for a solid answer but I guess im terrible at googling and searching for the right answer.

Trasselblad · Mar 2, 2012

I have developed 18 rolls in one go with one Unicolor (should be the same) kit once. No problems and no additional time. I stopped there as I didn't want to push my luck too far.

Jaime Marin · Mar 3, 2012

wow 18 rolls?!?! And no issues with color and the image came out fine? Are you using 35mm film or 120, I ask because I plan on using 120. Thanks for your response

John Weinland · Mar 5, 2012

My experience with Tetenal liquid is that it exhausts about when it says it will. Convert that to square inches of emulsion if you process differing formats. Extending dev life by extending dev time has proven unpredictable for me and, since most of my shots cannot be revisited, I throw out the processing chemicals, dev and blix, after very conservative use. The 'stabilizer' seems to last much longer. If residues form in the chemicals, you can filter with pre-rinsed coffee filters once, maybe twice. Chemicals are cheaper than disappointment.

Pasto · Mar 5, 2012

I use the JOBO C41 press kit from B&H. I develop 30 4x5 sheets maximum (as per specifications) in 3 batches of 10 in a Jobo 3010 drum. I never use the chemistry more than the recommended max quantity of film. I've tested my process with control strips before the first negatives, during the middle batch, and after the last batch of film was processed. There is a detectible drop in densitometric measures (i.e., densities moving closer to control limits), but still under control by the end. My negs are too important (really too expensive) for me to experiment with stretching it any further

Hope this helps.

Trasselblad · Mar 5, 2012

One 36 exposure roll of 35mm film equals one roll of 120 roll film. 80 square inches in both cases. Some people I've talked with have gone over 20 rolls from one 1 litre kit. I wouldn't take it that far. I mean, how much are new chemicals worth compared to "a lost moment in time?" Also, them like me did all the processing in one go. My theory is that temperature cycling the chemicals will reduce the capacity/longevity. I have no scientific data on this, just a feeling. When temp cycling the kit, I stopped reusing it at around 10 rolls. Tetenal/Unicolour say it will do 8 rolls (35mm or 120 doesn't matter - see above) but according to most users, 12 to 15 rolls is still safe even if temp cycling.

And to answer your original question: no, no increase in dev time was used.

Jaime Marin · Mar 7, 2012

thanks for your response just what I was looking for. To fully understand though, what do you mean by temp cycling? ive never heard of that term before

Bob-D659 · Mar 7, 2012

Temp cycling is heating to processing temp and letting it cool to room temp.

Jaime Marin · Mar 7, 2012

awesome thank you all!

NB23 · Mar 7, 2012

I also appreciate all the answers.

But I have an extra question: How can you process 18 or even 20 rolls in one Go iwith just one litre? What do you mean by "one Go"?

I can develop 4 films at a time (one Go) with 900ml of liquid. If I buy this kit, I will be able to process Five times 4 rolls of film for a total of 20 processed films. I plan on developing 4 films a day so this 1 litre kit will last me a week. Is this correct?

Trasselblad · Mar 8, 2012

One go means loading your tanks, say a Paterson system 4 with two rolls of 135, process those, then just collect the chems and keep it to temp and just keep going. Same applies to 120. Use a long (I prefer stainless) tank that holds the whole litre of chems and do the old shake and bake...until done.

This is why I prefer shooting my C-41 and piling it up, before processing in a go.

Yes you could do it over a week and 4 rolls at a time, but why? Just shoot say 12 rolls and process them all in one go, 4 at a time. I'd say you can do 2 more batches and still be safe. Mind you, all my C-41 work never gets printed, only scanned (oh horror!) so a bit of shift is of no concern to me at all.

madgardener · Mar 8, 2012

I just finished using a Unicolor kit, I processed 4- 36exp rolls and 8- 24exp rolls of film. They all turned out great, though I am getting a strange purple stripe on some of the pictures.

NB23 · Mar 10, 2012

Trasselblad said:
One go means loading your tanks, say a Paterson system 4 with two rolls of 135, process those, then just collect the chems and keep it to temp and just keep going. Same applies to 120. Use a long (I prefer stainless) tank that holds the whole litre of chems and do the old shake and bake...until done.

This is why I prefer shooting my C-41 and piling it up, before processing in a go.

Yes you could do it over a week and 4 rolls at a time, but why? Just shoot say 12 rolls and process them all in one go, 4 at a time. I'd say you can do 2 more batches and still be safe. Mind you, all my C-41 work never gets printed, only scanned (oh horror!) so a bit of shift is of no concern to me at all.

Thanks for the answer!

Tetanal c-41 question

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