First Home-Developed C-41! =)

[railhead]

Just a quick note to say thanks to all of you that helped answer my questions regarding

C-41 processing at home. I processed my first roll of Fuji 120 from my Holga yesterday

evening, and once I got the water temp set (the CPE-2 knob was about 3 ridges off), it was

pretty smooth sailing. Since my cog lid hasn't come in yet, I did everything without the lift

-- and it wasn't that hard.

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Now, I quite certain I did something wrong or could have done something better -- but I'm

110% pleased with the results. Here are just 2 of the pics:

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<center><img src="http://img513.imageshack.us/

img513/5895/20060509062053pm9uf.jpg">

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<img src="http://img349.imageshack.us/img349/369/cruising7dc.jpg"></center>

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The colors look great, especially since we're talking about a Holga. One thing I noticed

when scanning the negs, though, was that most of the histogram data was in the center,

so I had to do quite a bit of level correction. My first thought was that could maybe be

because I should have developed longer, or with more chemicals. Is that a possibility? I

used 260 ml in a 1520 with 1 roll of 120.

<br><br>

Anyway, I just wanted thank you all for the help and guidance, and share my first ever

home-processed color pics. =)

[mharris]

Wow those are great, I can't wait til I get brave enough to try it.

[discpad]

Congratulations Maury!

 

 

See what happens when you cross the "t's" & dot the "i's" -- You get great results!

 

Too bad your first roll was from a Holga, and not a Hassy: The plastic lens spoiled what would have been a superb debut performance. :(

 

Welcome to the club!

[railhead]

Dan, no way! Holgas are WONDERFUL! =)

 

Thanks for the help and kind comments. =)

[grinder]

I'm glad you enjoyed it, nice results.

[BernardMiller]

Hey, Maury--

 

Great job--not even taking into account it's your first time out!

 

I know it's kind of a pain in the butt to do it at home, compared to just dropping off the film at the lab, but it's still pretty addictive--you're in for loads of fun.

 

Sounds like you've read enough to get the job done right; but if you haven't done it already, make sure you dig up all Dan's and Ron Mowrey's posts on the subject--they will increase your understanding immensely, and make it a lot cheaper prospect, too.

 

Best of luck!

[dave_cheng1]

"One thing I noticed when scanning the negs, though, was that most of the histogram data was in the center, so I had to do quite a bit of level correction."

 

Don't mean to pour cold water over a hot engine at full speed. But if the negs are correctly exposed and processed you shouldn't need to do much level adjustment. All RGB channels should be filled left to right almost fully, except of course scenes that are missing some colors.

[railhead]

Yes, I know this -- but that's not my question.

 

First off, I'm using "toy" cameras like LOMO Holgas, Fisheyes, SuperSamplers, etc., so

hardware quality will play a role.

 

Second, my question was more asking whether or not the C-41 process itself -- or mistakes

therein -- could lead to "exposure-like" issues with image data lumping to one area of the

histogram.

[discpad]

"with image data lumping to one area of the histogram" -- No kidding: The Holga has a VERY low contrast plastic lens!

 

Try a roll through a camera with a REAL lens -- Especially a high-contrast piece of glass such as CZJ or Leica...