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Forum: Film Processing, Scanning, and Darkroom
11-24-2017, 05:27 PM
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Following on from the above post, 25 minutes looks so much better than 20 it isn't funny. I should be scanning it tomorrow, and we will see for sure.
Now to get hold of a couple of rolls of TriX and have a go with that. Massive Dev Chart says 35 minutes. Who's tried TriX in Caffenol and wants to say otherwise?
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Forum: Film Processing, Scanning, and Darkroom
11-13-2017, 05:51 PM
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Update for Kentmere 400, in terms of Regency romance:
"It is a truth universally acknowledged* that a film with a speed of 400 ASA is in want of 25 minutes in Caffenol."
20 minutes was far, far better than 15, but I feel 25 will be better still. And then I need to try and find some TriX. Watch this space.
* = at least in my darkroom.
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Forum: Film Processing, Scanning, and Darkroom
11-08-2017, 05:32 PM
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I have seen it done on Flickr. There are numerous recipe variations which are probably better in that regard, but many of them require carefully measuring by weight; this one is simple and volumetric, and it works well enough for me.
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Forum: Film Processing, Scanning, and Darkroom
11-08-2017, 07:16 AM
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I try to avoid extremes, but really I think that's too much at the mercy of what the picture is of and how well it was exposed. In any case, I'm not worried about it; I do this primarily for fun, not to aspire to any particular technical greatness. If it looks even half-decent it goes up on Flickr for the world to see; the better pics of my kids go to Facebook under the appropriate friendslocks.
The fact that there are outstanding shots on the rolls together with some rather dull ones tells me I have a reliable development process nailed down; what needs to improve is what happens when the film's in the camera.
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Forum: Film Processing, Scanning, and Darkroom
11-06-2017, 05:04 PM
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Further update on the Caffenol front; I finally ran out of Tmax rolls to develop, so I reached for a roll of Kentmere 400 and gave it 15 minutes with inversions every 30 sec after a first solid minutes as above.
Results approximate what I got when I developed the Tmax for 20 minutes; tolerably visible images, but the most overexposed parts of the film (as judged by one image where I distinctly remember deliberately blowing the highlights) are the best. So I reckon it needs another five minutes and I'm good.
Once I finish what's in my Lloyds loader, there's 100ft of Fomapan 100 waiting for me.
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Forum: Film Processing, Scanning, and Darkroom
10-17-2017, 08:18 AM
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Consider that I am using kitchen scoops and going by volume (per the vid I posted).
I found another roll of Tmax and processed it in Caffenol last night, again for 25 minutes and it turned out sweet. It's amazing that this even works, but it does. The only complaint I have, and always will have, is that Tmax 400 is notorious for being very hard on fixer and depleting it horrendously. On the other hand, Caffenol seems to have a knack for washing out the pink layer; it bleeds during the pre-wash, and it bleeds even more during the water stop bath (my stop bath comprises repeated fills of the Patterson tank, with ten inversions and dump, continuing till the caffeine colour stops). There is little or none left by the end of the fixing stage, something I have not seen with my limited experience of this film in Ilfosol, and certainly not with D76..
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Forum: Film Processing, Scanning, and Darkroom
09-25-2017, 04:07 PM
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Final update:
"Much better" was over-exaggerating my success. In comparison to "can barely see it", yeah, it was much better - but compared to tonight's effort it's garbage.
Tonight's effort at 25 minutes looks the best I've ever seen - I literally cannot tell the difference, just looking at the negatives, between this and ilfosol 3/D76. Methods all as above except that I standardised on inversions for the first minute then 5 every 30 seconds. This gives me enough time to wash out measuring jugs etc. in between inversions as I go, and to make sure I have enough water poured up at 20 degrees.
That extra five minutes in the caffenol makes all the difference.
One more roll to develop, and then I will move on to Kentmere 400. I have a short homespun roll of that in the MX right now, and I will develop it immediately for 20 minutes as a start, then work up.
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Forum: Film Processing, Scanning, and Darkroom
09-12-2017, 08:55 AM
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Not on amazon.ca, I couldn't - I tried as soon as I read your post. And I shudder to think of what import charges might be, or what Customs might think I am trying to do, if I get it elsewhere.
I did a second film last night, for twenty minutes. Much better. I suspect the Massive Dev Chart's estimate of 25 minutes will be spot on, so I shall give that a try tonight or tomorrow. That being said, I've just bought a 100ft roll of Kentmere 400, so the question of how to develop Tmax 400 has become academic & it would be easier just to throw the last two rolls into standard chemistry and be done in about a third of the time, but there is always the possibility that I will stumble across a batch of the stuff going cheap. In that case, having a tried and tested recipe for doing it in caffenol would be valuable.
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Forum: Film Processing, Scanning, and Darkroom
09-11-2017, 03:56 AM
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It worked really, really well for Fomapan 200, so I'm sure I'm using the right stuff. But it probably wouldn't hurt to throw in another teaspoon or so.
Can you clarify the stand method and recipe? Note that I have been trying to find KBr locally and cannot.
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Forum: Film Processing, Scanning, and Darkroom
09-10-2017, 05:09 PM
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Youtu.be
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src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zYjOqcbBEco?controls=1" allowfullscreen>
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Forum: Film Processing, Scanning, and Darkroom
09-10-2017, 02:24 AM
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So... I took a few rolls of not-too-important stuff and set out to give this a shot. One roll at a time, which is how I handle my caffenol.
Method:
Caffenol recipe: 3.5tsp washing powder, 5tsp instant coffee (I use Folgers), 0.5tsp vitamin C powder (I forget the brand).
Process:
- Ten-inversion soak in plain water - whole lot of pink stain came out.
- 15 minutes in the caffenol, with 5-6 inversions every 30 seconds (Youtube vid I watched says 3 inversions 3 times a minute, so this is fairly close)
- Water stop bath till the dump runs clear.
- 5 minutes in Ilford rapid fix (because Tmax is said to need a harsher fix than most films).
- 5,10, 20 inversion wash routine per the Ilford method.
Detergent rinse, clear rinse and hang.
The negatives are very, very pale; images are definitely recognisable, but interesting things will have to happen in scanning.
I am pretty sure I need more development time - perhaps push the next film out to 20 minutes. Massive Dev Chart said 25 as the start, but it said something like that for Fomapan 200 and that did fine with 15, so I felt it might have been a misprint. Starting to think this is more like the truth now.
The other alternative is to play with the recipe - perhaps add more ingredient in the same volume of water - but which one(s) do I boost, by how much, and why?
It's not that critical because I've only got four rolls left to develop and then I'm going over to Kentmere 400 for my B&W for a while, but it does make for a nice experiment. (On the other hand, the roll in my camera right now is getting Ilfosol 3 unless I can work this out - the images on that one are going to be precious.)
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