erl Posted July 23, 2019 Share #1 Posted July 23, 2019 (edited) Advertisement (gone after registration) I have become increasingly annoyed by the increasing difficulty in acquiring C41 Developer kits. I am told Tetenal have gone into receivership and local dealers (Australia) have stopped stocking liquid chemistry for this purpose. My last resort is to try (just bought a pack) Unicolor powder C41 chemistry. I have a 2 litre kit that should be mixed all at once. I am doing 'One Shot' processing so I need very small volumes for each film. This has necessitated making up a complex spreadsheet to display dilutions, volumes, number of films, etc. OK, I've now done that, but it requires me to measure out small, accurate amounts of powder. I have done this for years with Xtol for B&W films, but now I am wondering how good my technique will be with more critical chemistry! Anyone else gone down this path? Got better alternatives? Edited July 23, 2019 by erl correction Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted July 23, 2019 Posted July 23, 2019 Hi erl, Take a look here C41 Colour Film Developer. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
105012 Posted July 23, 2019 Share #2 Posted July 23, 2019 Tetenal is alive! https://new-tetenal.de/the-photo-industry-heaves-a-sigh-of-relief-new-tetenal-is-formally-the-owner-of-the-iconic-photo-chemistry-manufacturer-tetenal/?lang=en 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tmx Posted July 23, 2019 Share #3 Posted July 23, 2019 I wouldn’t recommend to do that (divide the powder into small portions) because (other then in liquid) the single ingredients of the chemicals are not averaged. This is even not recommended for black&white developers if you like to have consistent results but for color it might be even more critical. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
erl Posted July 23, 2019 Author Share #4 Posted July 23, 2019 1 hour ago, 105012 said: Tetenal is alive! https://new-tetenal.de/the-photo-industry-heaves-a-sigh-of-relief-new-tetenal-is-formally-the-owner-of-the-iconic-photo-chemistry-manufacturer-tetenal/?lang=en That is great news! I just hope retailers here in Oz pick up on it as I cannot buy/ship liquids over the internet. I need a local ground source to buy from. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
erl Posted July 23, 2019 Author Share #5 Posted July 23, 2019 1 hour ago, Tmx said: I wouldn’t recommend to do that (divide the powder into small portions) because (other then in liquid) the single ingredients of the chemicals are not averaged. This is even not recommended for black&white developers if you like to have consistent results but for color it might be even more critical. I take your warning, but I have been doing it successfully for more years than I can remember with B&W chemicals (Kodak Xtol) and my consistency is fine. Since I have already bought the Unicolor Powder, I may as well experiment with dividing it. The worst that can happen is that I blow my $80. 😁😂 Just waiting for the weather so I can shoot a test roll. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tmx Posted July 23, 2019 Share #6 Posted July 23, 2019 Sure. Your film, your money 😁 I wouldn’t do that because I am afraid loosing some good captures not because of the costs Talking about Xtol. The powder can be dissolved in 50% of the recommended amount of water. So concentrated it has extended date of expiry and it easy to store as well. I stored the concentrate for more than 2 years using pure water Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stray cat Posted July 23, 2019 Share #7 Posted July 23, 2019 Advertisement (gone after registration) John I just recently bought this: http://decisivemoment.com.au/rollei-digibase-c41-midi-kit-to-make-1000-ml-20-films/ from a good, trusted and reliable supplier in Melbourne. The kit includes three syringes so you can dilute as much of the stock liquid you'll need at one go. The results I obtained from this chemistry were as good as from the Tetenal kits I've been using. The price is better than $80 too! He expects to get more Tetenal kits in the next few weeks. As an aside, his prices for film aren't too bad, either, given that we now have to add on 10% to anything we have shipped to us from overseas. Plus he always sends a chocolate with the order! Another good supplier I've found is: https://walkens.com.au/ I have no affiliation with either. Looking forward to seeing your results! 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
adan Posted July 23, 2019 Share #8 Posted July 23, 2019 +1 for Tetanal - they made/make a lot of chems for Ilford and Kodak (check your bottles for "Made in Germany" labels). I've not had trouble getting Kodak's C-41 chems as liquid (3 small component bottles to mix 3 liters) - through a local store - but we all understand that shipping chemicals can be troublesome. Never needed a spreadsheet - per liter of working solution, add 15 seconds to development time after every 4 rolls (135-36 or 120) processed, dump after 12 rolls. Bleach and Fix - use until they cease to complete or clear in half the standard time. Rinse Step (no longer a stabilizer, lacking nasty formalin) - toss every 12 rolls like developer. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
erl Posted July 27, 2019 Author Share #9 Posted July 27, 2019 Update: For those who may be interested, I have just finished processing and scanning a colour neg in Unicolor Powder chemistry. The important thing to note is that I use Óne Shot' technique that dumps the chemistry after processing. That is how my Jobo Autolab 1500 works. For 1- 35mm film it uses 170ml of solution. That requires me to weigh out 11.3gm of dev powder to mix, and similarly for the Blix and Stabiliser. It is a bit arduous and I will gladly switch back to Tetenal when it again becomes available in my country. I can individually process 12- 35mm films on this basis which costs out @ $6.70/roll. For the nay sayers who counseled me against doing this, I thank you for your caution, but I can report that the first test has worked perfectly. Below is a sample. I shot a roll of OOD Fuji Reala 100 that expired 20 years ago, just as an initial test, although it is not a film I like because of its poor skin rendition. Camera was R8+ 80mm Summilux. I shot a range of subjects, just to burn film in a hurry, so I could start the test process. Below is a random sample. This is a straight scan on Nikon Coolscan 5000 using VueScan software. Considering the character of the film, I reckon this modified process technique will get me out of trouble until Tetenal appears again. Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! 2 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/299543-c41-colour-film-developer/?do=findComment&comment=3785806'>More sharing options...
105012 Posted July 27, 2019 Share #10 Posted July 27, 2019 (edited) Hi Erl Good to see you are back in business with colour film! I also have the JOBO ATL-1500 and have no trouble recycling C-41 chemicals with it, though one shotting is definitely a nice feature. I hear Tetenal are looking to produces chemicals in tablet form, just pop the tablets into water to make up the amount one needs, how sweet will that be! Lightweight to ship and long lasting in solid form, I'm hoping practical for one shotting... Edited July 27, 2019 by 105012 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart Richardson Posted July 27, 2019 Share #11 Posted July 27, 2019 If you can get the Rollei kits for a decent price, they are very good. It is very difficult to get C41 here, so I am mostly stuck with the powder kits. They work, as you see, but I felt that I got better colors with the Rollei, and I liked the process of preparing the kit better. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
erl Posted July 27, 2019 Author Share #12 Posted July 27, 2019 9 hours ago, Stuart Richardson said: If you can get the Rollei kits for a decent price, they are very good. It is very difficult to get C41 here, so I am mostly stuck with the powder kits. They work, as you see, but I felt that I got better colors with the Rollei, and I liked the process of preparing the kit better. I agree that working with powders is a bit tedious, but I am stuck with the Unicolor kit at present and will work through it. I take note of your advice on the Rollei kit. I am hoping that Tetenal will be reliably on line by the time I am ready to renew my supplies. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick_S Posted July 29, 2019 Share #13 Posted July 29, 2019 (edited) You could try mixing the processing solutions from the raw chemicals. I recently picked up a like-new copy of the book Jacobson, C. I., and Jacobson, R.E. (1976). Developing: The Negative Technique. 18th Revised Edition. Focal Press, from my local Oxfam shop. It reproduces substitute formulae and processing procedures for Kodak C41 chemistry from BJP Annual (1975): colour negative developer; stop-bath for colour negative films; bleach-baths for colour negative films and fixing bath for colour negative films. Edited July 29, 2019 by Nick_S Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
erl Posted July 29, 2019 Author Share #14 Posted July 29, 2019 Thank you for that thought, but I am determined to be a photographer, not a chemist. Mixing easily obtained chemicals I am happy to do, but to source formulas, suppliers of raw materials etc. is not my style (I'm impatient). Working with readily available powders is about as far as I can stretch. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
fotohuis Posted August 1, 2019 Share #15 Posted August 1, 2019 The Rollei Digibase kits are pretty good, seperate Bleach and Fixer so the capacity of the kit is high. In fact it is a divided Fuji Hunt minilab C-41 kit with addition of a chemical pre-altering (the Starter). The result of the kit on all used C-41 color films was always good and in the mean time I am using this kit for almost 10 years now. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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