Today I'm describing 3 reasons why developing C-41 color film at home is not nearly as intimidating as it may seem. Then I load up some film and develop it!
The Sous Vide is a game changer. Hardest part of C41 is the temps. For black and white development I keep a bottle of distilled water in the fridge and mix with room temp until I have what I need.
The video explains very well how to develop color film with C-41 at home. Thanks very much! I did not yet know the formula for extending the time and will incorporate it into my workflow in the future. I have a few additions based on my experience. After the developer, I rinse 3x with water of the same temperature, which keeps the subsequent bleach clean. The Photoflow used at the end, I also use several times, in which I put on a bottle with demineralized water and Photoflow. This saves chemicals and money.
The glove trick is fantastic! I was having a hard time loading 120 because of the humidity issue. Just loaded a roll with gloves and it went on like butter!
The sous vide is kind of the key element here. Also though you have to understand that with black and white the temperature literally doesn't matter all you do is adjust your developing time to the temperature recommended. And then it just works. And you can use any developer they're all going to give you results as long as you're using a normal film you can put in almost any combination. Plus the only tools you're going to need is the film developed in fixer and a tank and that's literally it you don't need anything else
@@jamesdaly9811 not really but im pretty sure i know the answers. yeah those are two completely different things stop bath is just citric acid in many cases to stop development quickly as possible for predictable results. You can use water if you agitate well and don’t care about loss of predictability. Bleach is to remove extra dye compounds in color film and fix is to remove light sensitive compounds to make the film safe to look at. They mix them together for easy home development. But you do sacrifice some quality
I couldn’t agree more. BW is so simple and straightforward. Like you said, adjust dev times to temperature and you’re done. Massive dev App is all you need to figure things out.
For b&w film all you need is a b&w developer of some kind (Rodinal) at room temp.. Forget buying a chemical "stop bath" solution just use running water then use a fixer (Ilford). It works for any 35mm b&w film. I did it for 25 years this way. Negatives came out beautiful.
I just developed a couple of rolls this afternoon, and definitely agree that C-41 is easier than B&W. One tip I would like to pass along is don't screw up like I did today and mistake a roll of Tri-X for Ektar. oops! I will say this though, the film comes out a nice clear purple color.
This is great! I thought that B&W would be easier as the temperature issue for color seemed complicated! But you have explained it very well with how the Sous Vide can help - that does not seem so daunting! Definitely will try this with a SV.
I just started shooting film again after 13 years. I use a laser thermometer gun, aquarium heater and a b's rotary processor to make the process a little easier and more consistent. I plan on picking up a sous vide and shooting some color eventually. I want to get more consistency in the black and white before hopping to color. great vid.
Already agree with the premise man! I gotta do 4 steps with dev, stop, fix, and hypo for BW. The only thing hard about color is babying the temp and agitating every 30 seconds. Love your content man! Very informative. I'm starting to think I gotta get serious about my film photography youtube stuff. Nobody seems to like the silly stuff i do, but there's already so much informational detail oriented stuff out there it doesn't feel like me to try and produce that. Anyway, I have subscribed. See you on the scroll!
Yes indeed! But I also like pressing firmly on the rim all the way around to make sure it’s seated properly and then creating the suction at the very end. There was one time I lost a ton of developer due to the lid popping off during an inversion.
Nice shots and great info! I tried color once before but found it much more finicky than black & white. You've convinced me to give the Sous Vide a try. Appreciate the little tips too. Did not know you could get two rolls onto a Paterson reel. Love the dropper hole in the PhotoFlo lid. I've been shooting with X-Ray film for a while, it's a great film for testing old cameras. Would love to see a video of how you are using it.
Great to hear you'll give it another shot! Once you get the temperature under control, it's a breeze. I have an xray film video in work! Thanks for watching:)
Doesn't your fridge have a cool water dispenser? Mine (a GE) serves me water at 14ºC; for B&W I just let it reach 18 while I load the tank and the developer reaction will bring ot to 20º faster than you can say *cool!* 😉 The best storage is 1L mason jars or equivalent. Fill them to the brim as the volume decreases with glass marbles. Cs41 lasts me for a year and over 40 rolls by adding 10" for every roll developed. Try Jobo tanks and reels. I process by rotation floating them in my tempering bath. Leave your storage bottles outside and just heat the needed volume, it will be faster. No concern about longevity; I have film shot 55 years ago.
Question for you. Do high ISO film exhaust developer quicker? Rollei kit says that 400 ISO and higher = less rolls/litre. I'm just before my first color dev at home, so no experience with that.
That’s a super interesting question. This is the first I’ve heard that film sensitivity exhausts the chemicals at a different rate. While this may be true, I have developed iso 100-800 color films and seen no difference in exhaustion.
Protip that has help me when I've had a little trouble spooling 120: Roll up the whole roll to the opposite end, then feed the taped end into the spool. Alternatively, you could add tape to other end.
About the black and white temperature thing you are seriously straight up misleading people in order to sell your own method which like just don't do that please
Coming in hot with the “misleading” verbiage there. Standard temp for B&W dev is 20 degrees. Yes there are other temperatures, but there are also other temperatures that color can be developed at. Im recommending the use of a seus vide because it’s super easy, correct. I’d love to see additional content on the counter argument for my stance here. Glad you enjoyed the video 👍
@@kpsnow2411 Yeah, I didn't understand the complaint there re "misleading". B&W developers are standardized for development time at 68 F/ 20 C as a matter of convention. I have well over 50 years of experience and compound my own photochemistry. My B&W films and developer are zone system calibrated with a densitometer. With appropriate adjustment for time and temperature, you can process most B&W films at temps ranging from 68 to 75F with absolutely no density difference in the negative. Problems with B&W processing today usually come back to user error and sloppy work, which is exacerbated by the large number of technically incompetent YT videos. In comparing B&W difficulty to C-41 color processing, he is right. C-41 process does allow the variations often seen in B&W, because the C-41 process will start giving color deviations as you depart from the "one true path".
@@randallstewart1224 thats what I meant. I mean if you want color variations cool but there are no color variations to be had in black and white, and they literally give you development times for different temps. Also, it requires no heating. I don’t think it was intentional but the hits on b+w were definitely bumped up a notch in this video and it was NOT a whole and unbiased approach. He wanted to sell the color first for beginners and he did very well at that. Thats the only purpose of this video and as long as you are aware of that its a good video. But its not unbiased. Everyone on youtube does this and despite how subtle it is, I still hate it.
@@randallstewart1224 like I literally just keep my bathroom at 68* and leave everything in there, and it is always well within spec, but again, manufacturers literally tell you 75 is okay if you compensate and you can interpolate for between temps
This is the best tutorial on color film development I've seen on UA-cam. Great work!
The developing tent is the way to go. I struggled with a flat bag for way too long.
The Sous Vide is a game changer. Hardest part of C41 is the temps. For black and white development I keep a bottle of distilled water in the fridge and mix with room temp until I have what I need.
The video explains very well how to develop color film with C-41 at home. Thanks very much! I did not yet know the formula for extending the time and will incorporate it into my workflow in the future. I have a few additions based on my experience. After the developer, I rinse 3x with water of the same temperature, which keeps the subsequent bleach clean. The Photoflow used at the end, I also use several times, in which I put on a bottle with demineralized water and Photoflow. This saves chemicals and money.
Those are great additions!! Thank you and I’m glad you enjoyed the video 👍
The glove trick is fantastic! I was having a hard time loading 120 because of the humidity issue. Just loaded a roll with gloves and it went on like butter!
The sous vide is kind of the key element here. Also though you have to understand that with black and white the temperature literally doesn't matter all you do is adjust your developing time to the temperature recommended. And then it just works. And you can use any developer they're all going to give you results as long as you're using a normal film you can put in almost any combination. Plus the only tools you're going to need is the film developed in fixer and a tank and that's literally it you don't need anything else
you seem pretty knowledgeable bro, is there a difference between a stop bath and a Bleach Fix?
@@jamesdaly9811 not really but im pretty sure i know the answers.
yeah those are two completely different things stop bath is just citric acid in many cases to stop development quickly as possible for predictable results. You can use water if you agitate well and don’t care about loss of predictability.
Bleach is to remove extra dye compounds in color film and fix is to remove light sensitive compounds to make the film safe to look at. They mix them together for easy home development. But you do sacrifice some quality
I couldn’t agree more. BW is so simple and straightforward. Like you said, adjust dev times to temperature and you’re done. Massive dev App is all you need to figure things out.
Stunningly beautiful colors! 😎👍
For b&w film all you need is a b&w developer of some kind (Rodinal) at room temp.. Forget buying a chemical "stop bath" solution just use running water then use a fixer (Ilford). It works for any 35mm b&w film. I did it for 25 years this way. Negatives came out beautiful.
I just developed a couple of rolls this afternoon, and definitely agree that C-41 is easier than B&W. One tip I would like to pass along is don't screw up like I did today and mistake a roll of Tri-X for Ektar. oops!
I will say this though, the film comes out a nice clear purple color.
This is great! I thought that B&W would be easier as the temperature issue for color seemed complicated! But you have explained it very well with how the Sous Vide can help - that does not seem so daunting! Definitely will try this with a SV.
Glad it was helpful!
B&W is easier... With Cinestill DF96 its a one shot develop. Just use that same sous vide for temperature control.
I just started shooting film again after 13 years. I use a laser thermometer gun, aquarium heater and a b's rotary processor to make the process a little easier and more consistent. I plan on picking up a sous vide and shooting some color eventually. I want to get more consistency in the black and white before hopping to color. great vid.
Already agree with the premise man! I gotta do 4 steps with dev, stop, fix, and hypo for BW. The only thing hard about color is babying the temp and agitating every 30 seconds. Love your content man! Very informative. I'm starting to think I gotta get serious about my film photography youtube stuff. Nobody seems to like the silly stuff i do, but there's already so much informational detail oriented stuff out there it doesn't feel like me to try and produce that. Anyway, I have subscribed. See you on the scroll!
The Patterson tank lid is designed to be pressed in the middle as you’re putting it on the tank to create suction
Yes indeed! But I also like pressing firmly on the rim all the way around to make sure it’s seated properly and then creating the suction at the very end. There was one time I lost a ton of developer due to the lid popping off during an inversion.
Nice shots and great info! I tried color once before but found it much more finicky than black & white. You've convinced me to give the Sous Vide a try. Appreciate the little tips too. Did not know you could get two rolls onto a Paterson reel. Love the dropper hole in the PhotoFlo lid. I've been shooting with X-Ray film for a while, it's a great film for testing old cameras. Would love to see a video of how you are using it.
Great to hear you'll give it another shot! Once you get the temperature under control, it's a breeze. I have an xray film video in work! Thanks for watching:)
Narrator: Its not. But its easier than most think. This video taught me how to develop color.
I gotta try this at some point
Dude! You have to. It's very satisfying taking, developing and scanning your own film 👍
Doesn't your fridge have a cool water dispenser? Mine (a GE) serves me water at 14ºC; for B&W I just let it reach 18 while I load the tank and the developer reaction will bring ot to 20º faster than you can say *cool!* 😉
The best storage is 1L mason jars or equivalent. Fill them to the brim as the volume decreases with glass marbles.
Cs41 lasts me for a year and over 40 rolls by adding 10" for every roll developed.
Try Jobo tanks and reels. I process by rotation floating them in my tempering bath.
Leave your storage bottles outside and just heat the needed volume, it will be faster.
No concern about longevity; I have film shot 55 years ago.
hey Kerrenton, what's the trick you used to double load one roll of 120 onto the reel?
Question for you. Do high ISO film exhaust developer quicker? Rollei kit says that 400 ISO and higher = less rolls/litre. I'm just before my first color dev at home, so no experience with that.
That’s a super interesting question. This is the first I’ve heard that film sensitivity exhausts the chemicals at a different rate. While this may be true, I have developed iso 100-800 color films and seen no difference in exhaustion.
How long does the blix last though???
noob here. is the prewash fluid just water?
This video is ✨Krisp✨
Hey!! Thanks Matt!
Any recommendations on the sous vide contraption?
Just the cheapest seus vide you can find on Amazon! This particular one is out of stock but any in the under $100 price range will do what you want.
I got me a cheap on one sale for about $30.
For what do you need scisors loading 120 film?
In use it to snip the backing paper off. Also I trim the corners to make it easier to load onto the developing reels.
Protip that has help me when I've had a little trouble spooling 120: Roll up the whole roll to the opposite end, then feed the taped end into the spool. Alternatively, you could add tape to other end.
There’s also stand development. No temp control just put it in, rotate and leave for 45 mins then fix/blix and stabilise if you do that.
Stand dev for C41 huh? Never heard of that! Thanks for the tip!
4:10 just remember to never develop exactly 40 rolls, because the math might collapse into a black hole.
temperature control is a pain in the ass even with a sous vide, for bw you can just use some room temp rodinal and fixer
I turn on the sous vide about an hour before I go develop and that gets everything to temp for me.
did i see Virginia Beach on first photos
C41 is definitely not easier than BNW. Are you kidding me with this??
Thanks for watching! I laid out some reasons why I think so in the video, but you’re free to disagree 👍
About the black and white temperature thing you are seriously straight up misleading people in order to sell your own method which like just don't do that please
Coming in hot with the “misleading” verbiage there. Standard temp for B&W dev is 20 degrees. Yes there are other temperatures, but there are also other temperatures that color can be developed at. Im recommending the use of a seus vide because it’s super easy, correct. I’d love to see additional content on the counter argument for my stance here. Glad you enjoyed the video 👍
@@kpsnow2411 Yeah, I didn't understand the complaint there re "misleading". B&W developers are standardized for development time at 68 F/ 20 C as a matter of convention. I have well over 50 years of experience and compound my own photochemistry. My B&W films and developer are zone system calibrated with a densitometer. With appropriate adjustment for time and temperature, you can process most B&W films at temps ranging from 68 to 75F with absolutely no density difference in the negative. Problems with B&W processing today usually come back to user error and sloppy work, which is exacerbated by the large number of technically incompetent YT videos. In comparing B&W difficulty to C-41 color processing, he is right. C-41 process does allow the variations often seen in B&W, because the C-41 process will start giving color deviations as you depart from the "one true path".
@@randallstewart1224 thats what I meant. I mean if you want color variations cool but there are no color variations to be had in black and white, and they literally give you development times for different temps.
Also, it requires no heating.
I don’t think it was intentional but the hits on b+w were definitely bumped up a notch in this video and it was NOT a whole and unbiased approach. He wanted to sell the color first for beginners and he did very well at that. Thats the only purpose of this video and as long as you are aware of that its a good video. But its not unbiased. Everyone on youtube does this and despite how subtle it is, I still hate it.
@@randallstewart1224 like I literally just keep my bathroom at 68* and leave everything in there, and it is always well within spec, but again, manufacturers literally tell you 75 is okay if you compensate and you can interpolate for between temps
@@randallstewart1224
You know you can use cinestill df96 monobath for 3 minutes for black and white