Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2006/02/22
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Hi Marc, I don't think that I was clear as to what I was discussing. I believe that Alastair mentioned the possibility of acquiring a used commercial C-41 machine for home use. I was responding to that as the commercial leader card machines are set up for continuous use and don't like sitting for days with the on switch off. Chemistry goes bad, cross overs get crystals of interesting design to scratch your film, bleach goes bad if not oxygenated, and of course developer oxidizes into brown sludge. Of course, used the way they are supposed to be used, temperature are held within 0.1 of those Centigrade whatevers and the negatives are extremely consistent as the process is very well controlled. For home use, there are a number of C-41 kits that work very well at close to normal temperatures. The problem with home kits is that so far commercial labs will do a great job on your negs for a couple of bucks a roll with almost no effort on our part. Last, I believe that your difficulties with printing C-41 at home traces to the home kits. If your temperature was held to normal B&W standards then each set of rolls will print with a very different filter pack and contrast will be all over the range. Admittedly, at the lower temperatures of home systems you do have a few seconds to drain and move on whereas at commercial temperatures the couple of seconds extra in the developer will lead to noticeable contrast increase: unless it is more than a few seconds in which case you start to get a very noticeable decrease in contrast and very blocked highlights. Again, if you spend the money for a Jobo or equivalent equipment then the temperatures and timing are taken care of so your printing becomes much easier. Don don.dory@gmail.com On 2/22/06, Marc James Small <msmall@aya.yale.edu> wrote: > > At 07:42 PM 2/22/06 -0500, Don Dory wrote: > >Adam, > >The hassle of keeping your typical mini-lab C-41 up to snuff is no light > >matter for the home enthusiast. Volumes start at about 10 litres and you > >would have to run possibly 5 rolls a day to keep the chemistry fresh. > Then > >there is the rack maintenance to keep dried chemistry from scratching > your > >negatives. For the home, the Jobo system makes much more sense.. > > Don > > This simply isn't truie. I did C-41 at home for more than a decade and > did > it in small batches; once I get moved, I'll be back doing it all over > again. PRINTING C-41 negatives can be a pain, but developing the film is > a > relatively simple matter in a home dark-room. I simply mix up the > chemistry required, generally from Photographers Formulary stuff, and > develop in metal tanks -- I use Kindermann tanks and King Concept reels, a > proven success, by the way. > > If I were running a commercial line, that would be an entirely different > matter. I can keep my temperature within two or three real degrees (F) or > within a degree or so on that Commie lousy Centigrade/Celsius thingummy > (C), and that works for home shots. But, with a commercial line, you need > to have a higher grade of stability and that is why I do not do this stuff > commercially. > > I find processing C-41 no harder than processing schwarz-weisse. I find > printing C-41 a hell of a lot harder, especially as I tend to do my > printing late at night and only realize just how far off my color balance > is in what the poets call "that harsh light of day", and shades of the > late > and lamented Laura Nyro, a voice probably unknown to most of you > youngsters > on the LUG. Now, for earse of operation, I do chromes and then > Cibachrome/Ilfochrome the prints, as that is a most wonderfully simple > system where the only variant is the exposure time for the print, and all > else is made simple once the enlarger is calibrated, a really simple task. > > I have forty hours or more of old radio shows to keep me awake once my new > darkroom is up and running. Give me six months and I should be in > operation again. Gimme those chemical smells! Gimme the late-night > despair of learning that the paper is dead., Damn! But it is so much > better than digital as it is comprehensiible by mere mortals, whereas > digitals requires a Godlike approach from those who can devote far more > than 168 hours per week into the learning curve. > > Marc > > > msmall@aya.yale.edu > Cha robh b?s fir gun ghr?s fir! > > NEW FAX NUMBER: +540-343-8505 > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >