priscimon blog

What do you know, it turns out that C41 chemicals last a very long time. My solution of Bellini Foto developer was two years old and had been used with 16 rolls before I discarded it yesterday. I suspect it went bad only because the plastic bottle cracked and let in air, which caused the chemical to oxidise.

WIth an exposed roll of Kodak Ultramax already loaded in the developing tank, I prepared a fresh solution of the same developer from a bottle of concentrate that had been stored for more than a year. But without new bleach and fixer, I took the gamble of re-using two-year-old solutions. I transferred the chemicals to new bottles replacing the broken ones and warmed them to 41 degrees Celcius in a water bath. I tempered the film in the tank to 38 degrees for 3 minutes, poured in the fresh developer at 41 degrees, agitated frequently with a figure-eight motion for 3.5 minutes, poured in the bleach, agitated continuously for 45 seconds, poured in the fixer, agitated for 120 seconds, and finally rinsed with fresh stabiliser. I hanged the negative to dry and stowed the chemicals in the usual storage place that gives them their long shelf life—the dark spot under the stairs.

What came out are probably the best negatives I’ve produced since starting C41 development.

I scanned the tab showing the exposure guide for Kodak Ultramax 400 colour film, also realising that the reciprocal to be applied in the Sunny 16 rule is 1/250 s for ISO 400 film, and not 1/500 s as I did.

Last year, I found a Kenko KFM-2100 on eBay for incredibly cheap—if you know how ridiculously expensive spotmeters are—and immediately bought it. It works very well, except that it seemed to drain batteries in much less time than the expected 100 hours of continuous use. Today was my day off, so I sat down to tackle the problem.

The battery contacts were blackened, possibly a remnant of battery leak corrosion that had not been successfully cleaned. Luckily, this could easily be solved by re-tinning them. After my attempt to take apart the meter was blocked by too many too tiny ribbon cables, I decided to tin the contacts without removing the battery compartment. I had to proceed carefully to avoid burning the plastic case with the hot tip of the soldering iron, but the repair appeared to be good, confirmed by the absence of the ‘bc’ battery check symbol when the meter is switched on.

For a more thorough test, I set up some LED lights and took pictures of various household items, using the Kenko for metering. The same battery that was previously reported as low was still working after the few hours of the session. I could now say that the repair was a success.

I then developed the film in the bathroom, P needing the kitchen to prepare dinner, and I agitated the tank in a figure-eight motion, which I had just read about—two changes to my process. The new agitation method is now my favourite, as it saves me from fiddling with the tank lid and from dealing with leaks. Developing in the bathroom was also more convenient, because I had the entire bathtub as a work area and did not have to worry about spillages.

Anyway, here are the pictures that I like from today’s development.