Occasional C-41; Which Kit?

[Photo Engineer]

There is another and better reference which gives the method for reusing the developer. Basically, you extend the development time for each roll or group of rolls.

You may want to check that reference out as well.

PE

[warrennn]

Do you have a reference for this? I looked at all of the Kodak docs available from their website and didn't find anything about extending the development times for C-41. In fact, all of the C-41 papers explicitly stated that one should never reuse the developer (for small quantity processing).

Thanks.

Warren Nagourney

[Photo Engineer]

well, good thing I copied this!

This is from the C41 process manual. The data is missing from the Kodak web site, but I fortunately have it in my archives.

Oh, you owe me. I posted this several times before.

JK.

PE

[Tim Gray]

Ahhh I found it!

http://www.apug.org/forums/viewpost.php?p=968588

(And I'm way too late)

[warrennn]

Great! Thanks very much.

wn

ps. For 120 film (12 exposures), do we use the 126 entry?

[MattKing]

Great! Thanks very much.

wn

ps. For 120 film (12 exposures), do we use the 126 entry?

I can answer that.

The times relate to the area of the film. 120 film has the same area as a 135-36 roll.

[warrennn]

Yes, thanks, my question was pretty dumb -- I should have realized that.

wn

[bvy]

The Formulary sells repackaged Kodak kits in 1L sizes. I'm using them.

I assume this is the Flexicolor kit. How is it more conducive to infrequent C41 developing relative to the ones I mentioned in my OP?

I'm now considering this kit and also the Digibase kit, as they are liquid and not powder based. A more general question: Can I mix smaller amounts of working solutions with these liquid concentrate kits -- say, enough to develop one or two rolls as needed? (I wouldn't even consider this with a powder kit.)

I would expect the shelf life of the working solutions to be the same no matter what kit I prepare it from.

Thanks for all the responses.

[Photo Engineer]

This is a large Kodak C41 kit repackaged under nitrogen into 1L kits. It is no more or less useful for infrequent processing than the size would indicate. It is better than a 20 L kit, in that sense as it lasts longer and keeps better due to packaging and size.

Once a 20L kit is opened, it begins aging unless opened in an inert atmosphere. The repackaging process does this. Once part of this kit is used it starts aging. The 1L kit can be used as desired with the capacities given above.

PE

[anikin]

Here's my approach for occasional use:

Use distilled water. Boil it and let it cool just to the right mixing temperature. For 1L and 2L kits, mix all developer at once, separate into gas-impermeable bottles just the right size for your development tank filled to the brim, and put them into the refrigerator. Mark them "C-41 beer. Drink only if desperate." I have not noticed much of a degradation even with 6-9 month old developer stored that way. I'm sure densitometer might disagree, but I doubt it is any worse than Target's under-utilized/under-replenished developer. Bleach, fix and final rinse are better off being mixed right before use, and they last quite a long time as a concentrate anyway.