I had, after many not convincing results, established a formula for my universal developer with wich I got some good pictures, color and B&W:
800 ml water
3 g Potassium Metabisulfite
6 g CD4 (color developer for C-41)
20 g Soluble coffee
30 g Potassium Carbonate
1,5 g Potassium Bromide
Water to make 1 Liter
Develop for 15 minutes for both C-41 and B&W at room temperature with constante agitation.
I never had a confirmation off the need of coffee in this recipe. So, I tried to reduce the content of coffee and increase the content of the color developer CD4. But the results showed, clearly, that the coffee content is important. Some people argued with me that beeing coffee a B&W developer, it would compete with CD4, stilling silver that would contribute to more color when developed by CD4.
But the theory was not confirmed by the praxis. Here is a photo developed with the recipe above:
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| Photo developed with Caffenolcolor |
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| Less coffee and more CD4 |
Have a nice time with coffee!
5 comments:
Good to see you back at this only a few days after I initially discovered your blog and thanks for sharing all this.
Am I right in assuming the mixture you describe is for a single bath + fixing only? And CD4 is without alternative for proper results, I guess?
All the best,
Alex
Thanks for commenting!
Well, it is intended as universal developer for both B&W and C-41. However, when developing color, bleach is necessary and then fixing. For B&W only fixing.
CD4 is the official color developer for C-41. But there are alternatives, like PPD and CD3 that may be considered cross development. A common use substance containing PPD, like hair dyes, could be used but I only had peculiar results with an old movie film. For modern c-41 films hair dye didn't work well until now. Faint colors and weak density.
Be always wellcome!
Thanks for elaborating. I’ve only just developed my first bw-film in 18 years. Need to catch up :)
Did you use bleach for these pics?
Is is possible to use only Ferricyanide for bleaching??
Yes, I did use bleach and fixer. Mostly I use copper sulfate and salt as bleach and Sodium Thiosulfate+Ammonium Sulfate as fixer.
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