Trebla C-41 Kit?

[Skorzen]

Well I have been doing a lot of searching over the past few days and I wonder if I might have found the best solution for people wanting to run "small" batches of C-41. Trebla FilmPac Kit 55FP475 (info at the end of this pdf: http://www.cpacimaging.com/pdf/ColorPacPage.pdf comes with dev, bleach, fix, and stabilizer in one box (so one hazmat charge). The only catch is that you need a starter as well, but that can be had for $3. With the Kit and starter from labdepot.com it is looking like $71 + shipping (estimated by the website at about $15, but I don't know if that is correct). Not the cheapest thing out there, but they say there is enough chemistry for 475 rolls of 135-24 so I expect keeping it fresh will be the biggest concern.

How does this look? Is there anything I am missing? I don't see a lot of discussion of Trebla here, but what I do see looks positive.

 

[AgX]

Skorzen,

ordering about 30 pounds of chemicals (in my case even from overseas) is not something I consider the best solution for small batches of film. (I guess we have to define `small´...)

But nevertheless thanks for hinting at the Trebla range. I did not know it. (Cpac's European branch does not offer it.)

 

[Ian Grant]

CPAC certainly sell colour chemistry in Europe, but not under the Trebla brand name. They also bought Tura, or rather a controlling interest in Tura, so they could supply colour paper as well, but that was an unwise move as Agfa were Tura's supplier.

Ian

 

[AgX]

Replenishing chemicals could be the most economical option.

But as hinted at, it is not only the concentrates which would have to be kept fresh but the working solutions too.
If you work with one-shot solutions the longevity of that solution is stated (vaguely) by the manufacturer. If you process the allowed volume of films wthin in that period (including several runs where appropriate) you are on the save side.

In replenishing processes however, you have got a basic developer solution which is getting older by time though being added some fresh replenishing solution. The aim is to get sufficient volume through in time to allow sufficient replenishing solution to be brought in to keep the amount of unwanted chemistry with tolerance. (Kodak asks for their processes a developer bath volume to be totally substituted by the same volume of replenisher within 4 weeks.)

Though there are special replenishing processes intented for low volumes of film to be processed within time (as stated for that Trebla kit), in principle there is always the chance that you have to start over with newly mixed sloutions.
This should be kept in mind when looking at volumes of film to be processed with a certain batch of chemistry.

 

[Skorzen]

It is true that this is a large kit and probably not practical for people in Europe, but from what I have seen it looks like the only horse in the race for a pretty much all inclusive package. Kodak still has some of the Flexicolor chemicals available in 1 gal sizes, but they are not easy to find unless you are in NYC and can pick them up from B&H etc.

 

[Jayson]

From Jayson..any chance of location 100T or fuji 160 NPL 8 x 10 color film?

 

[alanrockwood]

A bit of trivia: Trebla is Albert spelled backwards. (This is no accident by the way.)

 

[AgX]

But who is Albert?

 

[alanrockwood]

Albert is the guy who started Trebla.

 

[stevewillard]

Kodak now recommends using FLEXICOLOR SM chemistry for one-shot drum processing. The publication that shows this is http://www.kodak.com/global/en/busin...?pq-path=12549. I believe the quantities are 10L bottles (I think) which is about 2.5 gallons.

All FLEXICOLOR SM chemistry is premixed so there is no mixing, and it has oxidations inhibitors in it for low utilization

I have had really good luck storing color developers in floating lid containers. I stored 13L of Kodak RA4 RT replenisher in a floating lid container for 8 months and had 1L left over, and it was still clear.

All FLEXICOLOR SM chemistry is premixed so there is no mixing, and it has oxidations inhibitors in it for low utilization which is similar to RA4 RT developer, so again, it should store well in a floating lid container. I still have tree Kodak one gallon kits for C-41, so I have not used the FLEXICOLOR SM chemistry yet. However, I may order some and make a characteristic curve (CC) using both chemistries to see if there are any differences. I then will store the remaining developer in a floating lid container and inspect it once a month and monitor any color changes that indicate oxidation. I will probably also make CCs for each month to more accurately determine how long the developer will last in a floating lid container.

You can get FLEXICOLOR SM from Denver Pro Photo. Their prices are not bad, but not as good as B&H. According to Kodak you can use the bleach twice without compromising its performance, but I would call Kodak about this because that was the bleach III one gallon mix. I do not know if that would work with the Bleach SM chemistry. Denver Pro Photo will ship anywhere, and their number is (866)-360-4940. Ask for Victor.