The amount of effort and thought put in making this video is quite remarkable. I watched this video a few times. Not only informative, but it also produces confidence which is much needed when processing C41 film for the first time. Thank you Mac for such an amazing video.
I used to work as a photo specialist at a Walgreens while we still processed film in house. This is an excellent tutorial. Brings back a lot of fond memories.
I’ve been doing it 5yrs now and I completely agree with you. I’ve did some weird stuff on accident and I only messed the first test roll up because My first canister was one I could get next day shipping and it allowed the film to collapse on its self so it didn’t contact the developer or any fluid. But after I got my auto loading reel I’ve never screwed another one up. So yes this guy is 100% right don’t be afraid I’ve had the water temp 10-13deg off my first batches when I just used a tub of water and manual thermometer and I would add more hot water to the bucket. After 2 times I figured out that way of maintaining it. So you don’t even need fancy equipment. Just the biggest and easiest mistake is loading the film on a cheap take up reel. If it’s a cheap one the film doesn’t even fit it and it comes out of the slots. I recommend the auto loading one you slide the tab in and crank it and it sucks it on. I had got one for $5 cheaper because I could get it the next day the one that cost more was going to take 3 days because a back order. Just do yourself a favor and wait the few extra days if you run into that same problem. The cheap one the 35mm film the reel was like 33mm or less and it collapsed film in several spots.
This is just the beginning, developing the film. In my opinion the most interesting part is printing your pictures. It requires a little practice, but it is totally possible to print color papers by hand in a home darkroom. In my opinion, if you use film, you should also make your prints in the analog way, with an optical enlarger.
Great video for getting people jazzes up to develop their own film! People should be aware though that inaccurate temp is not a big deal for those who choose to scan. The scanner hides inconsistences that you surely would not want to deal with as a dark room printer. It makes me laugh when people sing the praises of Kodak Gold that has even been home processed. I would just put them in the darkroom once with that stuff and they would soon be sending their Fuji film off the the lab:) I have obviously spent too many years as a commercial photographer and professional photofinisher.
I used to do color slides back in the 70s. I love how easy you flow and work. Thanks for all the tips. I was so uptight and crazy. Way more chems, glass thermometers and hot water in a kettle. Getting back at it in retirement . Bang!
Mac, I know this comment is being posted 5 years later but thought I would post it anyway. An excellent in-depth "how to" video for any beginner. Just one comment and one suggestion. First, the comment, glad you use Photo Flo on your color negatives. You're the only RU-vidr I've seen using it on color film. Second, the suggestion, when loading film using a changing bag, use a leader retrieval tool to pull out the film leader, cut the film leader off and start the film on the plastic spool BEFORE placing in the changing bag. That first few inches of film was already exposed to light when loading it into the camera and does not have any images on it so it's safe to do that procedure in daylight. This procedure eliminates the hardest part of loading film in a changing bag.
Thanks for that suggestion! I was thinking that would be an okay way to do it. Quite literally sitting here, just before my first processing attempt, with a leader retriever in hand wondering if I can get away with that. Cheers! And thanks Mac!
Thank you so very much for this video. I’ve already purchased the kit, but I’ve been procrastinating on developing my two rolls of color film, mainly on a lack of confidence in being successful. Now, thanks to you, I’m ready a run through the gauntlet, as it were.
Thank you so much for doing this! I watched it about 3-4 times in the last couple months before I finally got the courage to finally try it. Best piece of advice I got from it is not to worry too much if you mess up a little bit (though I did try to be as precise as possible). The lid popped off during an inversion cycle and blix got everywhere + it threw off my timers. I probably would’ve panicked if you didn’t share that helpful bit of advice about taking it easy. The negatives still came out great! This was the best tutorial I’ve seen, especially for a beginner like me. Definitely appreciate the time you took to make this video!
Thanks for this. Old timer black and white developer, getting ready for first color developing experience. I also love mystery movies: The case of the missing shirt!
Everyone told me that black and white was easier. I think it's because you can use it at room temperature. You're right about all the variables. Not only do you have different types of b&w film that give you different grain and cobras contrast you have different developers. Every developer will effect how the grain and contrast looks. And then you have the developing time based on the type of film andtype of chemicals but also the temperature. And then there's different techniques like under exposing the film and over developing it or over exposing it and under developing. You mentored making sure the funnel lid was on the tank and double checking it. I developed my second roll of film a few days ago. I had just finished up with the developer and was pouring it out when the lid came off and the reel almost fell out of the tank. I was panicking. Then I remembered that the developer had already done it's job but u still wasn't sure how things would turn out. I put the lid back on and poured the fixer in and went on. In the end everything came out ok. My first try at developing didn't go well. I was using a steel reel and I had the film on too tight on one side. The film was touching itself on that side. Chemicals weren't able to make contact with that side. I only had 4 or 5 frames come out ok and several half frames. I ordered a Patterson tank after that. I noticed that you don't use a stop bag. You use water instead. That's what I'm doing with b&w film. I have 2 rolls of portra 160 that I need to develop. I'm going to order a c-41 kit soon and start developing color film.
By far the best and most detailed developing video I've seen... big thumbs up! waiting for my Cinestill powder kit to get delivered! Can't wait. Thanks for the video.
@@MacShootsFilm just so you know, I watched every minute of it and it's awesome. Received my powder kit and coming back to review the video. Thanks a million again for doing this.
I am very glad you mentioned water quality because I live in an area of the country where the water is hard and I am worried that will affect the chemistry. This is a very well thought out video/tutorial. Well done.
Great comment!! Maybe consider using filtered water for the final rinse because thats when it matters the most. The harder water the more sediments will be left over when the film is drying. Good luck!
@@MacShootsFilm I shall try to remember that. I tried developing a roll this past weekend with very limited success. I think I missed a step or two or maybe didn't agitate enough. I use the Lab box for my processing and it is easy to forget something. I will try again.
Used the Cinestill kit last week for my first try at film development. I used a sixteen years expired non-refrigerated roll and it came out fine. The best part was no dust or water spots, a problem I've been getting with commercial development lately. Note: the blix only needs to be between 75º and 105º so not at temperature sensitive if you leave it on the counter.
My only comments lol are damn I never seen someone rip a 35mm canister apart haha. The tab at the beginning of the roll is called the leader. If that matters. Lol that's a lot of photoflo Annnnnnnd... I really love your videos. I've seen almost all if them already since yesterday. Laying down all weekend even have 120 4ooh and ultrafine extreme on it's way today for my mat-124g. Thanks for sharing your passion. Thanks to Mary as well, for any patience or sacrifice that allows you to share your experiences with us. As well as her full support I'm sure.
I realized I spent almost $700 on development services this year, so I figured it's probably time to start at-home development. Thank you for breaking it all down for a novice like me.
Great job Mac! I develop quite a bit of BW and color film and use the FPP powder for color. My work flow is similar although I don't have the fancy water heater that you do. I also cross process E-6 transparency film in the C-41 chemicals with good results. By the way, for less than $2 you can buy a pack of 40 clothes pins that I use for hanging the film instead of tape and pennies.
developing film for the first time this weekend and I wanted to make sure I was doing everything right with my cinestil liquid kit! thank you so so much.
Very good video. I personally use a blacked out room with night vision binoculars. I never really took to the Dark Room Bag thing. I like to be able to see with my eyes, rather than "see" with my hands, if that makes sense.
Maybe it was long but you did a great job for anyone who wants to have a go at C41 home processing. I've lost count of how many films I processed for customers when I had a minilab from Gretag, now sadly a company no longer in existence. Keep up the good work!
Great video Mac, was nice to see how the Cinestill TCS1000 works. Another tip for anyone struggling with loading the patterson reels is to get the ARISTA PREMIUM DEVELOPING REELs, Freestyle photo sells them. They fit in a paterson tank and they have over sized take up lugs for loading the film which make it much easier. So easy you can do it with your eyes closed ;)
Thank you! I develop some black and white film at home and had some worries so I don't want to try colour film. But you tipps are awesome and I order everything to try it myself. So than you very much to encourage me in this process! 🎞
Thanks for taking the time to make this video. I watched the entire thing. It was super, super helpful. You made it look easy. I bought the same kit you used for the video. Thanks!!!!!! I love all your content!
Great video! Just one little thing: C41 Stabilizer is basically just Photoflo (and a little bit of Hexamine), so your last step is really not necessary
You spoke about this process not being overly scientific, but it reminds me a lot of working in a genetics lab haha great video! I’m definitely going to need to try this someday soon!
Thanks for the great vlog, Mac . Been doing B&W for some time, been looking into this C 41 process and using Cinestill. Got temperature controller on the way, now to order the chems. KB.
The temperature of water is not crucial when mixing liquid chemistry. It is more of an issue with powders, that may not dissolve correctly, if the water is too cold. Those accordion bottles are impossible to clean. There will be quite lot of residue in the bottle you store your color developer. And you are paying a premium price for those bottles. Buy your bottles from any store selling equipment for laboratories instead. Bottles cost almost nothing bought this way, and they are designed for chemistry. Same goes with measuring glasses, funnels, thermometers, etc. In photo stores you are paying a premium price for these. Also, the "stabilizer" in modern versions of C-41 is actually a final rinse. It is like Photo-Flo, but it contains also an antifungal and antibacterial agent to prevent mold and bacteria growing in emulsion during storage. It should not be washed off by Photo-Flo, which lacks this component. This stuff is meant for black and white only, where silver will prevent growth in the emulsion. Stabilizer, such as it was used before, for stabilizing the dyes, is no more used in C-41, but the old name remains.
I usually clip off the film leader before putting it inside the dark bag for loading on the reel. I will also clip off the corners a little bit to make it easier to load onto the reel.
Dud this helped a lot as far as mixing the chemistry and when to maintain what temperatures. Thanks a lot developed my first successful roll of cinestill 800t after screwing up about 4 rolls of Fuji 400
Cut the leader off the film before putting it in the changing bag. You can easily cut it off straight and round off the corners, making it easier to feed onto the film reel.
Something you can do too when you are putting the roll on the wheel is to cut the film where the spool is and insert that side onto the wheel and you don’t have to cut the other side.
There is a much easier way to put the film on the spool. Buy yourself a film picker aka film leader retriever. Then you just get the first 3 or 4 inches film out and cut the end into an arrow shape. While still out of the bag you already slide this part onto your spool. Put this, your tank and a pair of scissors into your bag and just roll your film further on the spool. Easy breazy.
I have been developing B&W film for years. Have thought many times about developing colour film but what I have read on it turned me off of it , as you put it intimidated by it. I watched your very long video and loved it, I am now looking at colour film processing, your vid was long but on the other hand showed me how easy it really is and how cheep it is, lot cheaper than black and white
Or just use clothespins. One clothespin at the bottom is more than enough weight. For top, put a wire through the spring of the pin, bend the wire like an "L" to prevent it from slipping off and then form a hook on the other end that goes over the curtain rod. Been doing it this way since I learned it in photography school 30 years ago.
Pretty good share. Get some of the office binder clips they are what I've been using. Proper film clips are a bit better but hard to find these days for the better ones.
I love hearing stories like this! Film should be approachable and accessible to all. Sharing knowledge and developing at home helps us get there! Feel free to reach out with any questions you may have, Kaylyne!
Be confident follow your system it works for you so no need to worry about who does what. I had mini lab kid teaching me salary custom lab tech how to, all the time I smile and and say have you memorized 80% of timing for major film in the market notch codes. E-6,C-41 and BW
Thank you so much for this video this helped so much. My question is though, how would I be able to keep the water at 102°? That’s my one really big concern
Get a something that fits all your chemicals and fill it up with very hot water from the tab. Then you wait for it to cool down to the right temperature and then pour it in.
This is a very good and helpful video, thank you. I haven’t developed film in 40 years, so this is a timely refresher. I’ll be using a friend’s hand-me-down sous vide machine for the temp control.
Certainly one of the best and most detailed videos on C-41 development. My minor concern is the use of the Paterson tank, which may be the worst tank ever made for inversion processing (It leaks; it mixes too much air into the chemistry owing the poor design of its internal funnel. Better: AP.)
Uses way to much Photoflo: waste of money and may leave scum on dried film. Just read the directions on the bottle. Here, that would have been about 4 DROPS, not his generous "slosh". About half the Kodak recommended dilution has worked well for me over 50 years.
Just rewatched this and noted a significant error which I missed originally. He is using the mixed stabilizer after wash, then doing a further bath of Phioto-Flo. The problem is that the Photo-flo bath will wash out any benefit of the stabilizer, which is meant to be the final solution for the film before it dries. To do this correctly, you just use distilled water to mix up the stablizer, then add about 2 m,l of Photo-Flo per liter of prepared stabilizer (about half the Kodak recommended amount). After wash, use this stabilizer as normal, and you are done while getting the benefits of both the final distilled water and Photo-Flo soak. Hang film to dry. (Using too strong a concentrate of Photo-flo as he does in the video will actually slow down the drying process.)
I bought my first 35mm SLR recently. Cannon rebel k2. I was disappointed to find out no stores develop this type of film. Photography hobby is expensive... I took a B/W class in school. So much expensive equipment, englarger and chemicals for the prints.
It's hard to miss a pro when you see one! Thanks a lot for pro tips! Developed first colour film (KODAK PORTA 400), came out like a rainbow cr@p... Now I see why! :)
Thanks for demystifying color development. Maybe I will also give it a try. So far I am only doing B&W development and that one is pretty straight forward and I feel comfortable so far.
Glad the video helped. Right now I only have a vid on how I edit my scans. -ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Bd0DmJsM5ic.html Great suggestion though! I will have one in the line up ASAP. Lots of new content coming out so make sure you're subscribed.
Sorry b+w is five times easier than any color process, particularly when using Cinestill DF96 which is one bottle, one step, no mixing, no working solution bottles, no discard bottles, no distilled water, no heating, when you're done developing you pour it back in the exact same bottle! I mean all you need is a tank, The bottle of DF96, and a funnel. It's true the normal three chemical black and white film is a little more involved but certainly no worse than any color process. The main advantage of black and white is you pretty much never need to warm the chemicals you can always do it at room temperature. I mean the Cinestill color kit is very good and pretty simple but still. You cannot beat one bottle one step room temperature! So yeah if someone has never developed film before I would 100% tell them to use black and white film and DF96, just to get experience with the whole process and equipment.
I usually load the film up to the bearing while it's outside the bag so I don't get a hard time trying to put it into the slots in the dark.Part of the film is already exposed to the light when loading it into the camera so it's safe.
Do you still remove the film from the canister when you’re in the dark or do you just cut it at the end of the canister? Im going to develop my own film for the first time, so trying to get tips before I do it.
@@RM-xd6ke I cut it at the end without removing it from the canister.Since I leave the lead out and never wind it all the way back in,there is no need for opening the canister and removing it.I think I'll make a video showing the process.I'll send you the link when it's done.
