railhead

No, I don't run any control strips. Can I guarantee that my mixes are 100% accurate? No, I

can't. Can I develop film and get wonderful frames -- equal or better than those I've

gotten from a lab? Yes, I can.

Again, the PITA factor is totally relative. I don't mind the mixing (I just mixed all new

chems yesterday) and I have the JOBO. The cost per roll isn't an issue for me, so the

expense of home processing is not a factor to me.

The convenience and fun of doing it all myself outweighs any "pains" there may be in the

process, whether that's procedure or cost.

I'll pretty much totally disagree with everyone that's posted.

I was in your conundrum a couple of years ago, but I went ahead and bit the bullet and

bought a JOBO CPE-2. Here's why I wanted -- and still do -- my own C-41...

1. I'm impatient, so I don't like waiting for film to be developed via mail order.

2. The only place around me that would cross-process is a 30 minute drive, round trip. I

also had to wait until the next day to pick the negs up.

3. I can finish shooting a roll at 10pm tonight and have it scanned by midnight.

4. I'm a process junkie, and I enjoy knowing that every step I take in the process is critical

to the outcome. I like the challenge, even though it really isn't that much of one once you

do it a few times.

5. Deving my own C-41 is just another facet of the hobby for me.

6. I'm not too concerned with cost, because the dev aspect of the hobby supersedes my

need/desire to save money.

7. The "1-hour" places around me frequently tear, crimp, bend, and scratch negatives -- I

don't.

8. As far as the temp and mix "control" goes, if you can't mix the chems right, then there's

something wrong with your ability to measure and follow directions. I don't see how many

people could have a problem here. Getting mix temps can be bothersome, but it's just like

hooking up the wet/dry vac when I clean my truck -- it's part of the process. I can typically

get all my process chems mixed in about 30 minutes.

The processing temp is also easy to control with my JOBO unit. Does it stay 110% the same

all throughout? Of course not, but I've deved hundreds and hundreds of rolls and all have

been just fine.

All that said, the bottom line should be whether or not YOU want to do it as part of

exploring the hobby, as well as whether or not your patience and local shops meet your

needs and timing. It's not rocket science, and it's totally doable.

Lastly, nothing beats coming in late form a shoot or night on the town, warming up the

JOBO while jumping in the shower, then deving all your film at 1:00am -- for me, at least.

=)

I was about to start some C-41 when I realized the jug I had my stabilizer in was cracked at the top edge. I

moved my chems to a top shelf during our renovations, so this crack could be anywhere from 1 week to 4

months old.

I mixed it (it's Kodak stabilizer) with alcohol like most people, so I'm sure the alcohol is gone. But, it the

whole batch dead after being exposed to air for as long as 4 months?

Ahh, okay. I wasn't thinking about just keeping my 500 to 700 ml active, rather than a whole

gallon. I guess that should work fine since the CPE-2 only wants 470 ml.

Thanks! Now I just have to look at how to mix the replenisher...

Now that our home remodeling is done, I'm able to get back to home film development -- and I have a

question that I may have once known the answer to, but I've forgotten.

Basically, I need more developer -- I'm good with bleach and fixer. I have about 500 to 700 ml of good

developer left, along with an unopened 5 gallon replenisher "kit."

What should/can I do? I know I can't use the 5 gal replenisher kit as start tank (though I've read where

some people have), so I guess I'd have to find some mail-order Starter. I say that because I assume that

the 500 to 700 ml of active developer isn't enough to work with.

Part of me -- most of me -- is just being impatient, not wanting to wait for starter to be delivered, so I

was looking for a shortcut.

Thoughts? Pointers?

Thanks!

Maury

I'll looking for a compact photo printer I can haul around as needed. I see Canon is pushing their new

inkjet-based PIXMA mini260, but I'm not finding a whole of reviews yet.

Has anyone tried it?

How about the SELPHY CP730 or CP720?

Any others you'd recommend?

TIA

I'm at the office so I can't check, but I think this batch was expired by a few months. Maybe it

was bad? As for heat, I don't know because I bought it on eBay ﾗ though it was supposedly

stored properly.

The white part is just uncropped overscan ﾗ the whole length and width of the negative strip

is green, then red when scanned.

Here's an unmodified scan:

<br><br><br>

<img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/4661844-lg.jpg">

I searched for comments, but found none, so I'm posting.

I just developed 4 rolls of film: 3 rolls of Fuji Superia and 1 roll of Fuji Reala. All were done in my CPE-2 at

the same time, and all rolls ﾗ except for the Reala ﾗ look great. The Reala negatives are MAJORLY green,

and when scanned, MAJORLY red.

It's C-41 film, the Superia processed at the same time looks great, so I have no idea what's up.

Any ideas?

Fire-up Activity Monitor, click the CPU tab, and sort my % CPU and see what's eating all the

processor cycles. Depending upon how long you've had the machine up and running (without

turning it off or letting it sleep), there's a good chance Spotlight could be doing some major

initial indexing. If something called mds or mdimport is causing the spikes, it's Spotlight.

You could also create a new user and install Photoshop in that account and see if you have

the same issue.

That sucks.

Good thing I have one already.

I have to dump mine after each use, and I also have the lift. If you screwed it in place well

enough, and have the nut threaded at the bottom, it won't go anywhere. When I'm done, I just

move it over the sink and dump from the back-right corner.

That said, I'm planning to put a drain on mine, though, on the left side. So that I don't have

to worry about removing a plug and reinserting it causing any gradual leaks, I may just use

some sort of cheap valve on tubing.

Light leak patterns can dramatically change just depending upon how you're facing -- or not

facing -- a light source. Especially on a Holga.

I have several an each are labeled to denote which has what leaks, and I use them

accordingly. Some Holgas don't have much leakage at all, while others do.

So, try the tape and see if it makes a difference and let us know the results.

=)

Those are leaks from the Holga body.

Tape the frame counter window as well as the sides by the latch brackets. Better yet, tape one

area at a time, shoot, tape another area, shoot, etc., and then you'll be able to nail-down

exactly where and how much light enters. Since it's a Holga, you want some leakage, so if you

know where it's coming from, you can control it to taste.

Ho boy, do I feel like a total and complete idiot. I'm embarrassed to say what's happening, it's

that bad...

Anyway, the tinting was from nothing more than the ColorSplash Flash I used on those

frames. The green and red and blue and yellow "tinting" was nothing more than the frame

being bathed in a flash light of said colors.

Just processed a roll of Fuji Reala 100, along with a roll of Superia, in my JOBO CPE-2 with a 1520. I used

the JOBO recommendations for liquid amounts, and I've never had any problems I can't account for per se

-- until this last set of film.

On the Reala, the last 6 frames (out of 24) are tinted either green or blue -- almost like they've been

crossed. All the other frames on the Reala look normal, and all the frames of the Superia look normal.

What's doubly odd is that the frames that are tinted were on the outside of the reel, so even if it was a

chemical level problem (which it wasn't, I don't think), the frames closest to the center of the reel should

have been under-cooked -- not the ones on the edge.

Any ideas?

My problem is that I can't find any Bleach III Replenisher anywhere.

=(

For those of you doing color dev at home (like with a JOBO), what type of container/tray/whatever do you

use to stabilize the film? I understand one shouldn't use the JOBO tank for this last step, and I was curious

as to what you use to handle 4 rolls of 36 exposure film.

It was red membrane cap that popped off, not the lid. Again, I'm using the CPE with the

magnet because B&H still hasn't shipped my cog lid for use with the JOBO lift.

I have a tutorial on my blog that shows how to simulate cross-processing in Photoshop,

without the need for plugins:

<br><br>

<a href="http://railheaddesign.blogspot.com/2005/12/my-cross-processing-

technique.html">http://railheaddesign.blogspot.com/2005/12/my-cross-processing-

technique.html</a>

Hey all

Just a general C-41 question: by just looking at negs, how can you tell if your temp was too

high or too low? If you dev'd for too long or too short? What are the signs?