What I learned developing C-41 film at home

[@evanduffy1015]

One thing that keeps me hesitating is disposal, I have the disposal of my BnW chems down to a science but C41 is (allegedly) much worse, would love to see a Safety/Handling/Disposal on C41 kits :)

[@Shaka1277]

In due course, absolutely! I want to be properly familiar with these different darkroom chemicals before making videos about them so I can offer some real-world advice beyond just reading the SDS.

[@jameslane3846]

​@@Shaka1277CD4 and hydroxylamine sulphate is really bad 😅 and bleach just loves oxygen so not super either!

[@josephasghar]

Nice overview on a process I’m unfamiliar with. Cheers!

[@chrisdunderdale]

Great video, thanks!

[@tomstaunton1804]

The real value of the 5L kit is the ability to 1 shot your chems. Colour accuracy and consistency will forever be the weakness of home processing your c41, and a lot of the variation comes from trying to compensate for the kits depletion, which you can completely avoid by 1 shotting. I personally make my 5L kits in 500ml batches which I use for a maximum of 4 rolls, while I'm *only* getting 40 rolls of capacity from my kit, I can stand behind their colour.

[@Shaka1277]

That is something I was thinking about after you mentioned this before. Get a 5 L kit and use it for ~half the normal capacity (8/L). You can definitely do more than 16 rolls per L but the colours do definitely go wonky towards the end as I've seen with a few ShakaColour rolls when doing 18+ rolls, some pushed.

[@jameslane3846]

​@@Shaka1277the real typical capacity of C41 developer is 10-12 per litre because otherwise one suffers from weaker colours, contrast and grain (the former two may be digitally "saved" but once you darkroom print, it will show) Usually it is a marketing thing to extend the capacity to make it more attractive looking - ideally one would be replenishing or one shotting C41 dev

[@b6983832]

@@jameslane3846 I agree. This is probably the amount you will get rolls that are still within the specs of C-41 standards out of 1L of developer unreplenished. For perfect results, the only option would be using developer one shot, but the quality of about 10-12 rolls is still acceptable even for RA-4 printing.

[@PalKrammer]

How long do the chemicals last in the 1L kit once you’ve processed your first roll? I don’t finish color rolls very quickly, so I might have to collect a dozen or so in the refrigerator before processing them with the kit.

[@Shaka1277]

The lifetime of the unopened concentrates is a couple of years but once you dilute them to make the working solutions, the shelf life drops to 6-8 weeks, officially. It's a small but important distinction: the drop in shelf life happens as soon as you dilute the concentrates, not when you develop the first roll! I do what you said, and just wait until I have enough rolls to justify buying a kit. Sometimes there's a roll that I need developed quickly so I go to the lab for that, but for anything that isn't urgent, I just throw it in a labelled box and wait.

[@tomstaunton1804]

Instructions unclear, jobo on fire

[@matthewsmith5883]

Crocs? Unsubbed! (just kidding

[@gabrielsilvaz4199]

That’s completely wrong! Blix virtually forever. Blix is nowhere near as important as the development time! A very very slight amount time extension is needed for Blix. Developer on the other hand needs a very specific amount of adjustment to maintain consistency. I have used unicolor chemicals and have developed nearly 50 rolls on a 1 L kit with excellent performance and each role was critically important for my commercial photography work that I do regularly. Color film is equal to that of black-and-white photography development in difficulty levels.

[@chriscard6544]

which kit do you use ?