Author Topic: How can I be sure my C41 dev has retained its mojo? (Read 3986 times)

Ed Wenn · « **on:** April 20, 2011, 02:54:28 PM »

Team, I have a few hours later today and tomorrow morning which I'm hoping to dedicate to film processing. I have plenty b/w to be getting on with, but have a lot of colour film that I'd like to concentrate on. The thing is, it's been a few weeks since I last used the C41 chems that I mixed up back in Feb and although I've done my best to store the developer properly, I doubt it's stayed 100% air tight.

Is there a quick test I can perform on some unimportant film to test the developer's effectiveness (like the leader tape/fixer test Francois has described previously), or shall I just mix up a new batch? I'd like to re-use the chems if poss because it saves time and I'm a lazy git.

Francois · « **Reply #1 on:** April 20, 2011, 03:28:20 PM »

You could always take a cheap roll, shoot a few frames and cut them out (before rewinding in the cassette) to do a clip test...

I've never done one but it should work...

Ed Wenn · « **Reply #2 on:** April 20, 2011, 03:34:38 PM »

Yeah, I guess I could shoot a cheap roll (loads of free-from-the-lab rolls of 24 exp lying around) and then do a quick dev and fix without worrying about loading it onto the Patterson roller thingy. Might be the quickest thing to do.

I was hoping I could just dip some film into the dev and if it went purple with yellow spots that would mean I was cleared for take off. Hmph. I wouldn't have this problem with a digital camera!!

Francois · « **Reply #3 on:** April 20, 2011, 03:38:21 PM »

I wouldn't waste an entire film on that... just a few frames.
The low surface wouldn't affect chemistry in a substantial way, the same roll can be re-used many times for the same thing. It simply makes everything cheaper to do (and believe me, I'm all about cheap!)

Ed Wenn · « **Reply #4 on:** April 20, 2011, 03:49:42 PM »

Perfect. I'll do that then. Just need to choose my camera well, to facilitate the easy cutting off of a few frames.

Thanks Francois!

Francois · « **Reply #5 on:** April 20, 2011, 04:06:45 PM »

Just make sure you don't go through the shutter with the scissors (I know... obvious precaution to take but we're never too careful in the dark)

Nigel · « **Reply #6 on:** April 20, 2011, 04:07:14 PM »

Quote

I was hoping I could just dip some film into the dev and if it went purple with yellow spots that would mean I was cleared for take off. Hmph. I wouldn't have this problem with a digital camera!!

Ed- I don't know much about C41 processing but I think I can say with some certainty if your film comes out purple with yellow spots the developer has probably gone off! Unless it's Impossible project of course!

(I know I shouldn't have, but it was an open goal!)

moominsean · « **Reply #7 on:** April 20, 2011, 04:08:48 PM »

color developer doesn't have the lifespan of bw developer. i typically just throw it away after a couple months.

Ed Wenn · « **Reply #8 on:** April 20, 2011, 04:32:39 PM »

Quote from: moominsean on April 20, 2011, 04:08:48 PM

color developer doesn't have the lifespan of bw developer. i typically just throw it away after a couple months.

I appreciate it supposedly has a shorter lifespan, but Al Cooper and others have used the same batch for a number of years without any serious degradation in results. I'm more concerned about the fact that air may have gotten to the chemicals than their official shelf-life once mixed.

Am about to dev the test roll, so we'll see what we see.

(I bet I end up mixing a new batch

)

Francois · « **Reply #9 on:** April 20, 2011, 04:44:09 PM »

Quote from: ed.wenn on April 20, 2011, 04:32:39 PM

(I bet I end up mixing a new batch )

I bet the stuff will still work just to contradict Sean

(as always, I love being wrong... it gives me a chance to learn something new

)

astrobeck · « **Reply #10 on:** April 20, 2011, 04:54:17 PM »

I always throw my old stuff out too and start fresh.
I'm good about the temp, and keeping air out, etc. but it's just not worth losing photos when the chems are fairly easy to mix fresh.

I'm interested in seeing your test Ed. Should be very telling on what can happen.

moominsean · « **Reply #11 on:** April 20, 2011, 06:36:03 PM »

i guess it's more a matter of how well it works, as opposed to whether it works or not. with color, i don't like grainy thin negs.

one thing i would like to try with home developing is bleach bypass...

Francois · « **Reply #12 on:** April 20, 2011, 10:27:05 PM »

Bleach bypass is something quite interesting... but it probably drives the scanner's digital ICE bonkers since there's still infrared blocking silver in the image.

Ed Wenn · « **Reply #13 on:** April 20, 2011, 10:36:56 PM »

OK, 7 rolls later and everything seems to be fine. I went to 4 mins out of respeck for the venerable age of the developer and 5 on the blix. I am just about to cut and sleeve the negs, but to the naked eye they look fine. certainly no thinner or grainier than my previous 6 or 7 rolls. Here's hoping the scanner doesn't show me up to be a liar.

original_ann · « **Reply #14 on:** April 21, 2011, 02:51:57 AM »

Hooray Ed! I dumped my chems and re-ordered. I've 12 rolls of color to get through

Ed Wenn · « **Reply #15 on:** April 21, 2011, 01:44:08 PM »

It suddenly got really late last night, so I didn't have time to scan more than a couple of films at low-res, but this one stood out early on so I did a proper scan of it. Ironically (seeing as how most of the films I processed yesterday were between 1-3 years old) this snap was only taken 3 days ago. The light was great, both kids were in a good mood, Amy was (for once) happy to pose for the camera, my ME Super was to hand and I got some decent shots. Pentax ME Super + Agfa Ultra 100.

Anyway, even after scanning and examining them I haven't seen any weirdness re the colour or grain of the films processed.

Contemplating the World by Ed Wenn, on Flickr

Mojave · « **Reply #16 on:** April 21, 2011, 09:33:04 PM »

I just love that picture Ed!

original_ann · « **Reply #17 on:** April 21, 2011, 10:51:28 PM »

The color, grain, EVERYTHING is just perfection!

Ed Wenn · « **Reply #18 on:** April 21, 2011, 11:36:10 PM »

Well, thanks Ann & Erin. I suspect the attraction is more about to my (occasionally) lovely daughter than my mad skillz behind the lens, but I am indeed pleased with the way this came out.

Francois · « **Reply #19 on:** April 22, 2011, 03:36:05 PM »

The picture do is nice Ed.
All pale tones, slightly high-key. And she happens to have an angelic face on this one. Perfect.

astrobeck · « **Reply #20 on:** April 22, 2011, 04:38:04 PM »

Precious! Adorable and all that......

The colour is perfection!

What did Amy think of this and has she shown any interest in being behind the lens yet?

Ed Wenn · « **Reply #21 on:** April 22, 2011, 07:43:10 PM »

Funnily enough, Beck, she took two photos of me about a minute after I took this photo; her first through a non-instant, film camera. They were both pretty blurry, but she loved tripping the shutter and winding the film on.

She's not seen this yet. Too busy playing outdoors in the sun.

al · « **Reply #22 on:** April 22, 2011, 10:02:55 PM »

Ed, what a superb portait! Colours look fine too. A quick test of your developer when doing 35mm is just to take the film leader offcut (which as been exposed to light obviously) and dunk it in the developer for a few minutes, then dunk it in the blix. If it comes out clear orange then the dev is dead, if it comes out brown/opaque then the blix has had it, if it comes out a nice dark black then things should be ok. The best test is to have a spare roll of 35mm used for such tests, shot a couple of frames, snip them off and develop/scan them... but if you're pushed for time then the quick method will probably tell you enough without the need to load up a tank etc, and will at least give you confidence that you'll have something on the negs.

original_ann · « **Reply #23 on:** May 01, 2011, 03:23:46 PM »

Al am I understanding correctly: Could I take a 'chemical tester' roll of 35mm, just pull some out in daylight (almost like it's a tape dispenser) and dunk it in the chems for testing? In other words, I don't have to load it in a camera and shoot it?

This would be so convenient!

al · « **Reply #24 on:** May 01, 2011, 11:13:35 PM »

Yep, that's pretty much it. It's not perfect, but it will at least warn you not to proceed if the developer has totally failed (developer exposed to air for a long period seems to be the most common cause of total failure)

Suzi Livingstone · « **Reply #25 on:** May 01, 2011, 11:24:10 PM »

I love that portrait, cute kid

Ed Wenn · « **Reply #26 on:** May 01, 2011, 11:32:45 PM »

Quote from: al on May 01, 2011, 11:13:35 PM

Yep, that's pretty much it. It's not perfect, but it will at least warn you not to proceed if the developer has totally failed (developer exposed to air for a long period seems to be the most common cause of total failure)

Al, just back from a week at The Granary so haven't been spending a lot of time on the forum. Thanks for this tip though; it's exactly what I was after. I will use it every time from now on.

original_ann · « **Reply #27 on:** May 01, 2011, 11:36:41 PM »

I love it! Thank you Al!

Author Topic: How can I be sure my C41 dev has retained its mojo? (Read 3986 times)

astrobeck

astrobeck