NoColorStudio No.10

[Ralph Turner]

My first run try out with this emulsion (a fathers day gift from my son). I finally got round to developing it this morning in my usual caffenol c-h mix for the usual time (15mins). Quite a bit of base fog and what looks like light seal issues with my old Minolta XG-M (particularly at the start of the film). One possibility regarding the fog is that I somehow measured out an insufficient amount of bromide, though it is only a 10p iso film, so shouldn’t have been too bothered by that. There may also be aspects of this film and the handling of it that I’ve overlooked, especially with it’s extended red sensitivity If anyone has any other thoughts… Hopefully when I scan them I may get further clues.
I took a look at the seals and the foam is fairly limp. Ah well, another little project for some point in the future. If anything scans up worth looking at I’ll post here

 

[Ralph Turner]

One thought that occurred to me was that issues may have resulted from the film being stored in our freezer for a few weeks in its exposed state (I got it into my head that this was a good idea as I didn’t know when I’d get to develop it). When I took it out it was thawed slowly in the fridge. I have read that this can cause problems with the latent image, though how I’m not sure so, there again, if anyone has any thoughts.. thanks in advance..

 

[Pete Askew]

There is certainly something going on at the edges and I suspect you are right about the seals being the cause. I can think of no reason why freezing and the defrosting slowly an exposed film would cause changes in the latent image. It should slow any time-dependent deterioration.

 

[Ralph Turner]

Ok, thanks Pete. I’m in the middle of scanning and editing what’s on there at the mo. Some quite pronounced grain…. Will post an example or two shortly.

 

[Ralph Turner]

Probably the best of the bunch. The churchyard memorial is that of the great 19th century mathematician and scientific genius James Clerk Maxwell, a Parton. The octagonal building is part of the cattle market in Castle Douglas. Streaks and blotchiness can be seen

 

[Pete Askew]

The lighting in that last shot is superb, Ralph. Do you thing the low bromide concentration might be the cause of the blotchiness?

 

[Brian Moore]

I like that tree very much indeed!

 

[Ralph Turner]

The lighting in that last shot is superb, Ralph. Do you thing the low bromide concentration might be the cause of the blotchiness?

Thanks Pete. It could well be bromide deficiency. It may also account for the general level of fog. Measuring out 0.3g on my little scales might not be as reliable as I first thought. Although they measure down to 0.01g they can be somewhat temperamental. To be fair, it was a cheap unit off Amazon. I’m thinking of trying iodised salt as an alternative to bromide. The effectiveness of it is only about 10%, weight for weight, of KBr but does the job with the right quality nonetheless. This may also make weighing out a bit easier, reducing any scales error by a factor of ten. It also fits in better with the whole caffenol ethos better. Have to wait and see on that one .

 

[Pete Askew]

You could also make a more concentrated solution of bromide and add it volumetrically to give the correct concentration in the developer.

 

[Ralph Turner]

I like that tree very much indeed!

Thanks Brian

 

[Ralph Turner]

You could also make a more concentrated solution of bromide and add it volumetrically to give the correct concentration in the developer.

Ah, yes, that’s a thought. Would be more controlled that way. Having read what I did this morning, though, it’s got me thinking, as the iodised table salt (as far as I know) would be even less toxic than the KBr - something that appeals to my eco conscience

 

[Ralph Turner]

Anyway, thanks for your thoughts on this, Pete, I’ll certainly keep it all in mind. See how we go.

 

[Ralph Turner]

Btw, Pete, one quick question.. any idea on how much of the ‘bromide salts can be added to, say, a litre of water before the solution saturates? (Hopefully something like 10g would be well within that limit. It would give me convenient 30ml or 50ml ‘shots’ to add to the main mix, depending on format.)

 

[Pete Askew]

Maximum solubility at 25 ºC is 678 g / L so you should be Okay!

 

[Ralph Turner]

Ah…fair bit of wiggle room, then….

 

[Ralph Turner]

@Pete Askew I have to confess that I habitually ‘read the manual’ for something after the event snd this roll of film is no different. My handling of it between plastic pot and camera and then camera to dev tank almost certainly didn’t follow the recommended procedure…. I should have thought about it, knowing that the emulsion has an extended red sensitivity on a polyester base. I’m thinking that a lot of the fogging around the sprocket holes on the first few frames may have more to do with my poor handling than the camera’s light seals (although they’re not great. The rest of the film doesn’t suffer the same symptoms, just the aforementioned overall fogging from the processing. Just a couple of extra thoughts..

 

[Ralph Turner]

Update: I’ve just finished devving a roll of Kentmere 400 using the same recipe but eith a slight modification, 0.4g of Bromide for 300ml (instead of 0.3 as listed in the original Cookbook version). I like the controlled nature of the concentrate solution that yoh suggested, but I couldn’t find the appropriate measuring cylinders (that I know we have somewhere, but haven’t reappeared since moving house nesrly two years ago). As such I followed my normal procedure. The little electronic scales seemed to be behaving themselves today, giving repeatable results and no erroneous non-zero numbers when nothing was on the plate.
Out of the pot, and by early inspection, I have a strip of well developed negs. Very little if any fog (mostly just the pale purple/pink tint to the base) and good density in the images. Phew! Quite a relief

 

[Ralph Turner]

Somewhat nearer the mark. The film was shot in a Canon EOS 500N. The seals aren’t perfect (there is a small hint, in places, right at the edges, but nothing much to worry about.

 

[Pete Askew]

Excellent result, Ralph.

 

[Pete Askew]

You could have weighed a litre of water (1 kg) into a vessel and then marked the level with a pen and then made the solution up to that mark in lieu of a measuring cylinder.