earlz

"To be fair, by the time I get to the Blix stage I'm usually at around 37º, but since color developer and blix are done to completion I just extend the time a bit rather than worry about them being lower than spec temperature." Is that true? I thought overdoing color development on E-6 would result in cloudy and dark slides with too dark of shadows, even if first development was correct. I think color development is less essential for determining exposure, but I assumed it was not a "to completion" process

Wow, a lot to catch up on. So, I don't do optical prints, but the only film I have trouble color correcting (I do DSLR scanning, and correct the color in Photoshop using curves) is when it's vastly under exposed, vastly over exposed, or when using ECN-2 film (Cinestill). I've not noticed any cross-over color, though I would assume the exact development and resulting curves is probably a bit different. This is easy to correct while scanning though. Only now (thanks to a sous vide machine) do I have a good setup for fairly precise temperature control. Beforehand with normal C-41 processing, I had way too many negatives that did have color casts, under development, washed out colors, and artifacts (stripes etc, though this may have been from cinestill processing). Stand development, I can load the tank, pour in the chemicals, and then go watch TV for 20 minutes. My process is not quite just stand. C-41 dev temp is at ~63F/17C, agitate for first minute, and agitate once after 20 minutes. Develop for a total of 45 minutes (or up to 47 when the chemicals start to get weak). I blix etc as normal. I'm about to be traveling, but I plan on whipping up a new batch of C-41 when I get back, and doing several test strips with a color chart to actually measure what the effects are objectively. I'll make sure to report about it here. I'm sure it probably will vary some depending on film stock too. I also have another thing I'll do a write up on called "x-pro reversal". Basically processing E-6 film in C-41 chemicals and producing positives. I love experimenting with new processes in development. I have some images attached as examples for stand development. Note I'm still learning how to best do color correction with curves. I can provide raw negative scans if anyone wants to further analyze them Ektar 100: Portra 160: Superia 400: Portra (I think) 400 pushed to 1600, half-frame:

It doesn't improve much, it's just a lot easier to be consistent with. And I warm up the tank and film using a rinse between dev and blix.

Is anyone else out there using C-41 stand development regularly? I use it for nearly all C-41 film I develop because it's easier and more consistent. I've gotten more processing mistakes with the normal and fast development method than stand development. My process is: use room temp (64F) developer, develop for 45 minutes total, agitate first minute, and then once at the 20 minute mark, and use normal hot blix, stabilizer, etc. The results are very easy to use for scanning, but I've never tried color prints from the negatives before. I've been told that this will screw up the color balance and make prints difficult. Anyone else use it and have a consistent process established?