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By popular demand! And by 'popular' I mean one person dared me and another person said, "yeah!"
For those who haven't heard of it, Caffenol is a homemade film developer that is made with instant coffee, washing soda, and Vitamin C. Sometimes potassium bromide (iodized salt can be a substitute) is added.
It is a developer for black and white films. Color film can be cross-processed in Caffenol, though they would end up essentially as black and white images.
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
I am by NO means an expert on Caffenol, but I've been using it exclusively since last summer so I do have some experience with it. Just as importantly, I already have a bunch of sites bookmarked and have access to a community of Caffenol devotees that can help me when I need advice, so I can help find answers that might stump us here.
If anyone else has used or wants to use Caffenol for film developing, then this is our thread! :cheer:
For those who haven't heard of it, Caffenol is a homemade film developer that is made with instant coffee, washing soda, and Vitamin C. Sometimes potassium bromide (iodized salt can be a substitute) is added.
It is a developer for black and white films. Color film can be cross-processed in Caffenol, though they would end up essentially as black and white images.
Advantages:
- ingredients are cheap and readily available;
- can be disposed of by pouring down the drain, even with a private septic tank;
- MUCH less toxic than traditional developers;
- can develop a wide range of films with excellent results (no, there is no brownish tint to the film);
- doesn't require a stop bath (just a water rinse between developing and fixer);
- there are many online resources - websites, Flickr discussion groups, etc - for reference and advice;
- recipes can be tweaked to get results that are more desirable for a particular aesthetic.
- good for normal development times or stand developing;
- easy to manage temperature;
- can also be a paper developer (though it does have a brownish tint.)
Disadvantages:
- it is not the most pleasant-smelling substance in the universe;
- don't wear white when handling it unless you like little coffee splatter stains on your clothes;
- if you accidentally use the wrong amount of one of the ingredients, it might render the developer completely ineffective and you end up with a totally blank film strip;
- many recipes can be confusing, and it might take a few rolls/tweaks before you settle on something that works for you;
- some films exhaust it faster than others. I can get 3-4 rolls of Kentmere 100, for example, from one batch, but TriX likes a fresh mixture;
- does better with some film but others can get a little contrasty too easily.
I am by NO means an expert on Caffenol, but I've been using it exclusively since last summer so I do have some experience with it. Just as importantly, I already have a bunch of sites bookmarked and have access to a community of Caffenol devotees that can help me when I need advice, so I can help find answers that might stump us here.
If anyone else has used or wants to use Caffenol for film developing, then this is our thread! :cheer:
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