Developing 101: developing C-41 or color film
As with black and white film you put your film in the development tank and prepare the chemicals according to the instructions.
C-41 development is as easy as developing b/w. To start with color development, get your chemicals, especially the developer, at 38° C or 100° F. This is very important, because even about a degree more or less can make a real difference. So I use a tray with warm water, drop my thermometer in the developer bottle and just wait till it reaches 38°C, at that point I can start.
C-41 was developed with 2 things in mind, fast and easy development, so this means all C-41 films have one very short development time. Development time is 3:15 minutes, if you want to push your film, you add 30 seconds for every stop you want to push. That’s basically all you have to know to start developing with color film. Now let me elaborate a bit more.
It’s best to do a pre-wash of the film, to aclimate the film to the 38°C and warm up the tank and reels. If you don’t do this, you could damage the emulsion on your film. This also serves the purpose of removing the protective layer on the film, so that it is easier for the developer to reach the film emulsion. You can pre-wash about a minute and keep agitating during this minute, after that pour away the water. there can be a slight color in the water, but that’s completely normal.
Then start your clock and pour in the developer, agitate during the first 15 seconds continuously, after that you turn the tank once every 30 seconds. After 3:15 minutes pour out the developer. Keep in mind, with the digibase kit I use, you can develop 12 to 20 135 films with a 500 ml solution.
The next step is to pour in the bleach, in my kit this takes about 4:20 minutes. I don’t add a wash step in between the developer and the bleach. However in some kits, the bleach and fixer are the same solution, so you first need to do a little wash of the film before adding the blix, aka bleach and fixer solution. Time for the bleach is depended on the kit you use, but as a general rule, you can keep in mind that you can’t over do the bleaching or blix step.
After the bleaching I do a short wash, fill up the container, agitate 4 times, pour out, fill, agitate 8 times, pour out, fill agitate 8 times and pour out. The next step is fixing, this takes in my kit about 6:20 minutes, but as with the bleach step, you can’t overdo it.
After that you add the stabilizer, this is some kind of soapy solution. But before the stabilizer, I add another washing step. The stabilizer does what the name suggest, it stabilizes the film. It only takes 1:20 minutes in my kit. Normally after that you stop with the development and just hang the film. I however put the film in water with a tiny bit of dishwashing fluid, to make sure that the film dries without streaks from the water.
Don’t worry if it seems like you can’t really look through the film in the beginning, this will get better when the film is dry. Hang the film in a dust free environment, like a shower for example. Once the film is attached to the stainless steel clips squeeze the film between your index and middle finger to remove foam and excess water. Best is to do this with damp or even slightly wet fingers.
The only thing left is waiting for your film to dry and for you to clean up. Drying of the film at room temperature takes about 2-3 hours, don’t use a hairdryer as you can melt the plastic. Enjoy developing, next in Developing 101, develop in caffenol, but first I have to do some more testing myself.
