Images Processed In Caffenol; Recipe Too

[Brian Moore]

I'm posting this for anyone who is interested in processing at home with coffee, in particular @Tom Dunne and @Dave Green who have expressed an interest in the past couple of days.

The images below were both shot with my Mamiya C33 TLR.

Recipe I used for Caffenol C-M
Water: I think it was one liter that I used to mix the ingredients in (I failed to record that detail in my notes.)
Washing Soda: 10.8 teaspoons (I actually used "PH Up" from the swimming pool supply shop.)
Vitamin C: 3.2 teaspoons
Instant Coffee: 8 teaspoons
Stop bath: water rinse
Fixer

I pre-soaked the film for about 5 minutes.
Processing Time: 15 minutes
I agitated for 30 seconds to start, then 10 seconds each minute thereafter
Water Temperature: About 70 degrees f. (My notes tell me the TMAX was at 71 and the FP4 at 69.)

Note: My teaspoons are not actually so precise as to be graduated in tenths; I converted the recipe from metric to Amurican! and just estimated a little more or a little less as necessary.

Kodak TMAX in Caffenol C-M: Seal Beach Pier


Ilford FP4 in Caffenol C-M: Huntington Central Park at Night

 

[Beth Carter]

thanks bryan. this sounds simple enough. the second is pretty sweet and slightly creepy at the same time.
is this for b&w film only? any special instructions for disposing of the waste or can it go down the drain?

 

[Brian Moore]

thanks bryan. this sounds simple enough. the second is pretty sweet and slightly creepy at the same time.
is this for b&w film only? any special instructions for disposing of the waste or can it go down the drain?

Thanks, Beth. Yes, for B&W only. And as for disposal, my local camera shop dumps stuff for me. But at the amount of waste the typical home processor produces I wonder if there is any impact at all.

 

[Tom Dunne]

Thanks so much Brian; this is so helpful. I'm now interested in the fixer because I presume this is not environmentally friendly?
Have you ever experimented by processing a colour film in the B/W fashion using cafenol as I have a lot of cheap colour film for my Holgas.
I have managed to get a tank now (scrounged from a friend) so I'm hopefully on my way. Will start with crap film.
If I can get results half as good as the two you posted I will be very happy. Love how the little lake has been rendered in the second one.
i have been sending my films away for processing to a guy who did each roll of b/W for £1.50 each but as the cost of postage is now at rip off levels here the benefits are being totally reduced and I could do with a little project in my retirement.

 

[Brian Moore]

You're welcome, Tom. And thank you for the comments about the pictures. By the way, your question about color films makes me think perhaps I misunderstoood @Beth Anthony's similar question. The answer to your question Tom is no, I haven't processed any color films in Caffenol. The answer to Beth's question is (assuming I misunderstood it initially) is that I don't see why you cannot process color film in Caffenol. You'll just end up with black and white film. Well anyway, before finishing this response I did a quick look up on Google for color film in Caffenol. First thing to pop up was a Flickr discussion. See below.

https://www.flickr.com/groups/33051635@N00/discuss/72157624849587759/

 

[Beth Carter]

thanks bryan. i've toyed with the idea of buying a scanner for a long time, but developing my own film always seemed to be out of the question. this might be do-able.

 

[Brian Moore]

thanks bryan. i've toyed with the idea of buying a scanner for a long time, but developing my own film always seemed to be out of the question. this might be do-able.

Defo doable, Beth. As Dan would say GET IN!

 

[Dan Cattermole]

Get in!!!
Nice one Brian.... Wasn't going to be long before I'd ask you about this too

 

[Brian Moore]

Get in!!!
Nice one Brian.... Wasn't going to be long before I'd ask you about this too

Now you have it, Dan. GET IN!

 

[Julian de'Courcy]

Thanks Brian. I know it can probably be googled but coming from 'The Man' is as good as it gets. Must give this a try. As usual love the pics.

 

[Brian Moore]

Thanks Brian. I know it can probably be googled but coming from 'The Man' is as good as it gets. Must give this a try. As usual love the pics.

Thanks, Julian. Appreciated!

 

[Pete Askew]

Now that should be in the Blog!

 

[Rense Haveman]

Stepping in late, but I've read a lot of websites on caffenol last days. Never developed films myself, but I ordered several things for it now... And I will try this!