Cafenol using Vitamin C tablets

<p>I am new to film photography but not to digital. With that being said I am just <em>dying </em>to try the cafenol as it has one of the longest shelf lives ever and I can mix it up as I need it. I bought the powdered D 76 and the powdered fixer thinking I could mix that up as I needed it from the powder. (That worked well[?]) <br /><br />Since the goal here is to reflect my poor student pocketbook (and impatience), can I grind up vitamin C tablets? Or would the additives in the tablets interfere in the developing?<br>

Thank so much.</p>

<p>That is what I do. I wait until they are on sale like buy one get one free at local drug stores. The little bit of starch in them seems not to cause me any problems.</p>

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<p> I am just <em>dying </em>to try the cafenol as it has one of the longest shelf lives ever and I can mix it up as I need it.</p>

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<p>Rebecca, not to dampen your experimental spirit, but if inexpensive, long shelf life and ease of mixing is a goal check out Kodak HC-110. You mix it as needed from a liquid syrup that lasts a <strong>long</strong> time. By using different dilutions you can get many different types of development effects.It's a high quality, versatile developer that gives great results that are reliable and repeatable. </p>

 

<p>Louis, <br />I have seen HC-110 and I agree it is very inexpensive and <em>super </em>cheap in comparison, (12 bucks on B&H) However, nothing is cheaper than stuff I already own or don't have to pay shipping on.</p>

<p>I use both. Some films don't like Caffinol.</p>

<p>Rebecca<br>

Check out this group. All we do is mix and play with caffinol and other things we find local.<br>

http://www.flickr.com/groups/caffinol_private_palace/</p>

<p>If shelf-life and economy are major considerations then I'd also suggest Rodinal, whose longevity is legendary. I've used it for thirty years.</p>

<p>Rebecca,</p>

<p>Caffenol doesn't have good shelf life at all, if you mean the developer, and not the ingredients. If you mean the ingredients, lots of chemicals keep as well as coffee and vitamin C, and many are more economical, effective, and reliable, too. If you just like the idea of developing film in coffee, then nothing else will do, but if you're looking for a reliable developer that is economical and keeps well, you could do a lot better than coffee. </p>

<p>Jay<br>

I recently mixed some caffenol-C and got 5 rolls over 3 weeks out of it.</p>

<p>Do you have to use instant coffee? Or can it be dripped? Also, what about espresso? (I have a machine at home)</p>

<p>It is the acid in it. This is why I use cheap instant. But any coffee that is not decaf or acid reduced works. A friend of mine even uses non roasted green coffee beans.</p>

<p>So then, why not just use orange juice and sodium carbonate then?</p>

<p>The sugar in OJ acts as a restrainer.</p>

<p>I can't say for sure that it is not possible at all, but there are two other problems with the orange juice idea, aside from the possible restraining effect of the sugar previously mentioned. The first is that the concentration of vitamin-C just really isn't very high compared to what a developer needs. A glass of orange juice has something like 100mg of vitamin-C, whereas caffenol-C recipes usually call for <strong>grams </strong>of the stuff, not mg. One popular caffenol-C formulation says to use 16g/liter, for example.</p>

<p>The other factor which occurs to me is that the acidity of orange juice is very high and I would think that even larger quantities of soda would be required to get the pH of the developer back up to a usable level.<br>

<br />Edit: It is not just being an acidic incredient that makes it work. The acid in coffee which is thought to do the job for caffenol is caffeic acid. Both that and vitamin-c are developers by themselves and it is the combination of the two that makes caffenol-c a pretty good developer.</p>

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<p>A glass of orange juice has something like 100mg of vitamin-C, whereas caffenol-C recipes usually call for grams of the stuff, not mg.</p>

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<p> <br>

But Caffenol also works very well without the vitamin C.</p>

Larry,

 

Three weeks might be good shelf life for coffee, but it's not very good for any real developer. Any developer that won't last

at least six months on the shelf doesn't have a good shelf life. Developers with very good shelf lives last years, not weeks.

<p>I know this Jay but the thing is I can mix up a new batch in a few minutes from ingredients that cost me less than a buck a liter. :-)</p>

<p>There are lots of better developers that meet that criteria, and have good shelf life. </p>

<p>Caffenol is a good developer despite what others might say here. I've used crushed Vitamin C tablets before and it works but I can't recommend it because of the inconsistency of results. Go to a Vitamin Shoppe or GNC and get yourself some ascorbic acid powder--it's not that expensive.<br /><br />If you really want consistent results with Caffenol, make sure to get a weighing scale and not use recipes that call for teaspoons and tablespoons of ingredients. A little unpredictability can be good but it's probably something you don't want in a developer.</p>

Perry is right, and be sure to use photo grade coffee.

<p>Humor you have to love it. :-)</p>

<p>I was about to say....photo grade coffee?<br /><br />I guess I am going to have break down and order the stuff online, I'd rather not because I still have other things I need to buy. Namely a new developing tank and such... I did not however think of a scale. That is a good idea.</p>

<p>Rebecca on the subject of what coffee I find the cheaper the better. I get mine from the $ store it says made in Mexico. I believe it has more Caffenic acid than the more refined versions. Decaff is the worst you could use. Oh and I got by without a scale for years. I got one when I wanted to get serious about mixing things up but I found that Caffenol is very forgiving.</p>

<p>If you're truly worried about the cost then stick with Adonal (Rodinal). You can use it as a stand developer at very low dilution. <br /><br />As for coffee, Larry is correct--get the cheapest instant coffee you can find (not decaf).<br>

Jay just doesn't seem to like instant coffee, regardless of its grade. ;)</p>

<p>Before any of you get the wrong Idea. Jay and I do get along .We just are 2 different people who reach a goal from separate roads and neighbor hoods.</p>