xamxam
Hello everyone,
I’ve been conducting C41 film development at home for a while now (using Rollei chemicals) and would now like to get a larger tank. I’m wondering whether I can conduct film development for films from different manufacturers at the same time without any problems. I’ve found very little on the subject online – and what I did find was contradictory.
So I wanted to ask about your experiences: do different brands work together without any issues, or only the same brand but different types (Ektar, Portra, etc.), or can you mix everything together without any worries?
Thanks in advance!
Best regards,
Max
MirkoBoeddecker
C-41 is a standardised process. All films have the same development time and are developed together in a large-scale lab.
If you’re just starting out, however, I’d recommend developing individual films first and fine-tuning the process as needed.
When using small quantities of chemicals, you may need to take extension factors into account.
Best regards,
Mirko
xamxam
Hello Mirko,
Thanks for the quick reply. I think I didn’t make myself clear; I’m not talking about ISO and development time, as I’m aware that those are standardised. I’m actually referring to the following quote:
"[...] but every film manufacturer has slightly different compositions for their emulsion, which can then react with one another and lead to unwanted colour shifts."
I was thinking of something like residues of the anti-halation layer that weren’t completely rinsed out during pre-washing? The water that comes out during pre-washing always has a completely different colour depending on the manufacturer, at least in my experience?
Or are these all completely unfounded concerns?
Thanks!
Best regards,
Max
Clemens
Hello everyone,
Well, as a qualified photo lab technician, I can tell you that I’ve never heard of such a thing. Whether in specialist or large-scale labs, or even in small minilab machines, films from different manufacturers regularly run through the baths together or one after the other, and I can’t recall there ever having been any problems. In many cases, it wouldn’t even be logistically possible to pre-sort the films by type or brand. Oh, and they aren’t pre-rinsed either; that isn’t part of the standard C-41 process at all.
As far as I know, the article you’re quoting doesn’t refer to C-41 either, but to E-6. But even there, I’m not aware of films being pre-sorted.
xamxam
Thank you very much for the information. Although the article you mentioned refers to C41, I would have been very surprised if there was any truth in it. I just wanted to be sure, as that makes things a lot easier for me.
But there’s something else I’m curious about: do I really not need to pre-rinse at all? I’m always puzzled by the different colours of the water that comes out. It’s always seemed to me that otherwise it would leach out during development and discolour or become contaminated by the developer? That’s always been my amateurish fear, which is why I’ve dutifully pre-rinsed and, in doing so, pre-warmed the can at the same time. So pre-rinsing is definitely not necessary?
jonny
In the C41 process, as defined by Kodak and carried out by all professional labs worldwide, there is NO pre-rinse. PERIOD. Pre-rinse is just an amateurish trick used to bring the can and its contents up to temperature and prevent uneven development during can processing – nothing more.
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So stop worrying about what might happen with colourants and additives and so on and so forth. Of course they dissolve in the developer and of course the developer changes colour, but of course the manufacturers test such additives to ensure they do not negatively affect the process. Anything else would be completely idiotic.
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If you’re worried about the perfect quality of your results, you’d be better off thinking about how to achieve 37.8 degrees with the required accuracy and consistency, and making absolutely sure that your BLIX is doing its job properly, if your kit uses BLIX (the C41 standard involves separate bleaching and fixer baths).
xamxam
Right then, thanks for the detailed reply!
