Home Proccessing

[Tom Dunne]

I would love to get back to processing the negatives myself but do not want to use harmful chemicals. Anyone aware of a safe way around this. I have heard that something can be done using coffee!

 

[Dave Green]

I'm about to take the plunge too. I'll be using standard chemical though. Just waiting to gather the kit together and get a decent scanner.

Hmmmm.... this looks fun!

http://www.wikihow.com/Develop-Film-With-Coffee-and-Washing-Soda

 

[Pete Askew]

@Brian Moore has some experience with Cafenol Tom.

 

[Paul Lange]

I used Cafenol too and found it to be very good and the most expensive item was the powdered vit C from Holland and Barrett. For higher speed films you have to add a lot of salt apparently. I would have thought that normal developing chemicals are a lot safer than solutions containing soda crystals.

 

[Brian Moore]

Yes I've done a few rolls. Its the only developer I've used other than Rodinal. I went back to Rodinal, though. I must say it worked rather well and was fun to experiment with. My first roll or two were not great but I got images. My following few rolls turned out OK. Worth a punt!

The link Dave posted suggested that regular coffee can be used. Don't know about that. I used instant. Use the cheapest you can get. Do not use decaf. Vitamin C crystals were the most expensive ingredient.

 

[Tom Dunne]

Excellent. Thank you everybody.

Couple of questions for Brian or Peter.
Any info on temperature. Water at room temp? Luke warm?
Can the used solution be recycled to use for a second film etc?

 

[Pete Askew]

This is one for Brian. I have no experience with Cafenol. For B&W film I have used ID11 for decades!

 

[Brian Moore]

Excellent. Thank you everybody.

Couple of questions for Brian or Peter.
Any info on temperature. Water at room temp? Luke warm?
Can the used solution be recycled to use for a second film etc?

Tom,...same temperatures as for B&W in other developers. ROughly 68-70 degrees f. I used the solution as a one-shot developer. I think it does not have much shelf life either once mixed. In practical terms, considering that your long term storage is in a very convenient powder form (coffee crystals, washing soda, Vitamin C), there seems little to be gained from mixing up more than you need at any given time.

 

[Tom Dunne]

Thanks Brian. very helpful information.
One last point. Is there any fixing involved with this method, no mention of it on the link Dave gave me.

 

[Brian Moore]

Thanks Brian. very helpful information.
One last point. Is there any fixing involved with this method, no mention of it on the link Dave gave me.

Yes you need to fix, Tom. Here's a link to a more comprehensive explanation of Caffenol. (@Dave Green may wish to look at this also.) Also, I believe I have the recipes I used jotted down. Pretty much they were adapted from some of those in the Caffenol Cookbook. I can post one or two up if you're interested.

http://www.caffenol-cookbook.com/index.php

 

[Dave Green]

Good stuff - thanks Brian.

 

[Tom Dunne]

Yes you need to fix, Tom. Here's a link to a more comprehensive explanation of Caffenol. (@Dave Green may wish to look at this also.) Also, I believe I have the recipes I used jotted down. Pretty much they were adapted from some of those in the Caffenol Cookbook. I can post one or two up if you're interested.

http://www.caffenol-cookbook.com/index.php

Thank you Brian. I'll have a good read of this Brian. Looks great. I would be very interested to see what you see as the simplest and most effective that you have used. I appreciate your help and advice very much.