APX 400 in Caffenol-C-L

Spektakulum · 2015-09-28T15:41:37+00:00

Hallo, ich wollte eine APX 400 auf ISO 800 pushen. Ich habe den Film in Caffenol-C-L entwickelt. Das Ergebnis ist, dass fast nichts zu sehen ist. Die Negat...

Spektakulum

Hello, I wanted to push some APX 400 to ISO 800. I developed the film in Caffenol-C-L. The result is that almost nothing is visible. The negatives are uniformly completely grey. A characteristic feature is that lines form from the perforations inwards. I’m unsure of the reasons for this for several reasons: This was the first film I shot with a second-hand Rollei TE, so it could also be down to the camera. When I shake the bottle, the fixer makes a noise as if there were solid particles inside, as if something were settling. Could that be it? What would the negatives look like if the fixer wasn’t working? How do I now find out what the problem was? Many, many thanks in advance!!!

grommi

To test the fixer, carry out what is known as a clarity test. Take a small section from the start of a 35mm film – 2 cm is sufficient; you can use the residue as normal – and, without undergoing development, place it in a small bowl of fixer in the light. The time it takes for the film to become transparent and streak-free is the fixing time. The exposed and developed film is then fixed for at least twice this time; for Tmax films, three times this time. The clearing time depends on the film stock used, the concentration of the fixer and its degree of utilisation. It is highly recommended to carry out a clarification test before each development. If the clarification time of the fixer has doubled after repeated use, it should be replaced at the latest. But be careful: depending on the type of film, the clarification time can vary considerably. ? You should do that first and then we’ll see.

Wolf_XL

... basically, you’ve done everything wrong that you possibly could – pushing film in an unfamiliar camera, developing it in a ‘DIY developer’ and apparently then dipping it in a fixer that had long since seen better days... With so many unknowns, remote diagnoses are pointless. I’d just use a new, unexpired film, expose it at the rated speed and dip it in fresh standard developer/fixer... Then we’ll see...

TR

Hi, the first thing I’d do is check the camera on the ‘dry dock’: http://www.fotografische.de/kameras/testen/ With an analogue camera, it’s actually very easy to check whether it’s letting (enough) light through to the film in the correct way.

Spektakulum

Thanks a lot for the tips – they’ve really helped me out! I’ve tested the fixer solution; it does smell a bit strong, but the negative is still clearing up – does that mean it’s actually working or not? I haven’t shot any test film with the camera, but I did check the shutter and aperture straight after buying it: they work. If the shutter speed isn’t right anymore, there should at least be something visible. @ Wolf_XL: The 400 film was one of the ‘New Emulsion’ ones and fresh off the shelf, so it hadn’t gone off. ? In my opinion, there are still three possible sources of error: 1. The film wasn’t loaded properly (is that even possible with a Rollei 35?) 2. My darkroom isn’t completely dark (is it possible that such a small amount of light – which my eyes can’t perceive – caused an overexposure of the film? I don’t think so) 3. Either the developer isn’t compatible with the film, or I prepared it incorrectly (rather unlikely, as I went through everything ten times over in my excitement) ? The only way I can see to clarify what happened is to develop another short roll of APX 400 under the same conditions, go through all the scenarios again, and then compare the results with the first attempt. ? Nevertheless, I’ll have a closer look at the camera in due course and I’ve already ordered some film developer :) ? Many thanks again for the quick and expert help!

grommi

"1. The film wasn’t loaded properly (is that even possible with a Rollei 35?)" That’s certainly a possibility. However, if the developer was fine, the start of the film should at least be black and the edge markings visible. ? "2. My darkroom isn’t completely dark (is it possible that such a small amount of light – which my eyes can’t detect – is causing overexposure of the film: I don’t think so)" Light causes the film to darken during development; in your case, nothing is visible, so that can’t be it. ? "3. Either the developer isn’t compatible with the film or I prepared it incorrectly (rather unlikely, as I went through everything ten times out of sheer excitement)" Was the start of the film black? It was fully exposed to light. Whether the developer is doing anything at all is just as easy to check as the fixer. Place a small piece of film in a small bowl with the developer under normal room lighting; after a few minutes, the emulsion side should turn a clearly visible dark colour. I suspect a faulty batch. The film works very well with C-C-L. ? Caffenol-C-L must be measured very precisely and the washing soda must be anhydrous; otherwise, the quantity must be adjusted according to the water content. A kitchen scales with 1-gram resolution are unsuitable for this recipe.

Gast

Hello, what’s not clear to me about this story is how and why they wanted to push the APX400 to ISO 800, and why on earth they chose Caffenol of all things? What was the photographic situation they were trying to achieve with this method?

grommi

... why would anyone want to push the APX400 to 800, and with Caffenol of all things?

Perhaps for this reason? ? http://caffenol.blogspot.de/2014/12/the-new-old-rpx-400.html ? Whether the RPX 400 and APX 400new are really completely identical, I cannot say. People always say so, but I have my doubts. Because in my experience, this isn’t the case with the RPX 100 vs. APX 100new. And the RPX 400 was also ‘different’ at one point.

Spektakulum

Hello again, So I’ve developed the film and found that it’s completely free of water. Yes, the ends of the film are blackened, but more of a blue-black colour; the edge markings, however, are not visible!!! I weighed out the Caffenol-C-L using a precision scale from a specialist shop, which is supposedly accurate to a tenth of a gram. The reason I decided to try this experiment was this article: http://caffenol.blogspot.de/2011/03/new-film-rollei-rpx-400.html I therefore had no doubt that it’s possible to push the film in Caffenol-C-L. Of course I wanted to push the film because I wanted more leeway to capture all sorts of dodgy moments – what kind of question is that?

grommi

The end of the film is blacked out, but there’s no text visible at the edge – that doesn’t really add up. I’m afraid I can’t think of anything else. ? Best regards – Reinhold