jnanian

let the user judge used to be embossed on lens caps on wollensak lenses.
they used to say in their catalogs that it is the person using the lens that has
the final say, they know how they work, they can figure out how to use the lens
and decide for themselves if the lens is right for them.
the same sort of thing can be said for using a film or print developer.
it is the person using it that will understand if it will work for him or her, not
the opinions of their peers.

i have been using ansco 130 as a developer for film and paper for the better part of 10 years,
and coffee developer in one way or another just shy of 5 years.
i have used it replenished and 1 shot, i have used it as a stand developer, in a rotary processor and small tanks.
i have also used caffenol alone ( for 3.5 years ) with no "130" the same exact way .. replenished, rotary, shuffle/tray, small tank and stand.

130

with film i typically dilute it 1:6, or 1:10 with water, use it at 72º and process for about 8 mins, all asa's process the same,
expired, short date, or fresh ... i have a green safelight and after years of developing by inspection,
i feel pretty comfortable that my film comes out the way i expect it to come out. comfortable enough
that i process commercial work and personal work in it.
tray process for sheets is continuous shuffling, roll film ( 135 + 120 ) well, they either stand ( 25 mins ), swim in a rotary processor
or get agitated 10 seconds every min after a continuous agitation the first minute. negatives have a nice "snap" to them, and low fog
even if the film is 10+ years expired shelf stored tri x 320. it works great.

originally, i stole the time + dilutions off of a can of GAF universal developer, when i mistakenly thought/ suspected/ was told
ansco 130 was GAF universal. while they are both great developers, unfortunately they are not the same.

caf c

when i first began using caffenol c, i mixed it as the recipe calls 8-2-2 / 8oz ( thanks whitey ! ),
but eventually i mixed it stronger, and approximated my measurements. after the first few times
it isn't hard to judge how much of each ingredient is falling into the beaker.
originally i used it in a unicolor rotary processor, hand tank and a tray. again, i have the green safelight, so
i realized that instead of 8 minutes i needed to process the film for about 16 minutes.
after the evil stench began to get to me, i changed how i processed my film, and began to stand process for about 25mins.
the negatives have been typical of caffenol c negatives. sometimes low, sometimes higher contrast, fog and pronounced grain.

one evening, after cooking off the emulsion from some film,
i decided to put the coffee away. i wasn't sure it was for me.
even though it contact printed and enlarged like a dream,
my film always had the look of underexposed and under developed. i still continued with the 130 ...

caf 130

i read somewhere that people mix different developers. some people mix d76 and xtol together
and get great results, and in making prints, some people part develop in a hard developer and finish in a soft one.
it got me thinking that i could do the same thing with ansco 130 and caffenol c.
i was comfortable using both and thought that together they might offer me something even better
than what they give me alone.

i was right ...

together caffenol c + ansco 130 give me their best attributes.
i get a some contrast, beautiful grain and fog/stain. unlike film processed in ansco 130 alone
caf 130 negatives contact print and enlarge with very little burning and dodging, and the contrast/ snap that sometimes
is associated with "unripened" print / universal / f-p-p / active developer is tamed with fog / stain.

it has been suggested that the results i have gotten the last year+ using caffenol 130,
are due to the ansco 130, and have nothing to do with the coffee. having used both developers separate for years and now together
i would have to say these people are not correct. it is both developers working together, not one or the other.
while i could post film that has been processed by each separately, and then film of the two agents mixed together ...
the posted images will just look like ... images, and film would look like .. film
there will always be folks that suggest i am not being truthful and i have no clue &C.

they can continue down their path, and i will keep shooting, keep roasting and keep processing my film in
a roasted brew and continue down my path.

enjoy your coffee !