Developing B/W Film , Caffenol C and Agfa APX 100

[monsiehalides]

Heyyy how much does everything cost?

[No1BRC]

@monsiehalides

Hehe, well I don't know exactly how much. But all the ingredients(sufficient for many many films) might be around 5-6€ incl. fixer?

~Danish

[filmdexter]

Are the photos brown because you used coffee? Or is that an effect you added?

[No1BRC]

@filmdexter

Hey, this mostly due to the coffee and also some randomness during scanning.

But overall it gives a tint.

greetings,

~Dan

[meminesis]

that's AWESOME! thanks for the tip!

[No1BRC]

@meminesis

thx, glad you like it.

~Dan

[caiobasilio]

Thx a lot to share it.

[No1BRC]

@caiobasilio

my pleasure :-)

~Dan

[TxeloAndrade]

Awsome! We still gonna have Photography after December 23, 2012! Nice job and thanx, guys!

[No1BRC]

@TxeloAndrade

lol, for sure :D

-Dan

[sanric77]

Hi there,

would it be possible to have a printable pdf of the entire process? It would be very nice for a newbie like me to follow your instructions.

Best regards.

[No1BRC]

@sanric77

Hey,

please have a look at the description box, there's a link to a pdf file :-)

Hope it helps.

greetings,

Dan

[g0414382]

if i replace coffee with tea(maybe greentea) does it work???and gets some greenish photos

?

[No1BRC]

@g0414382

I didn't try tea instead of coffee since a few friends tried it already and their results weren't satisfiying.

It does work though but none of them got constant results and it's rather weak compared to caffenol.

~Dan

[g0414382]

@No1BRC

thx, really a nice vid

looking forward to watching more clips about developing films =)

[No1BRC]

@g0414382

Thanks much :-)

I really hope to add some new video soon...

~Dan

[sgit1]

Excellent video . . . not rushed. Music is icing on the cake. Thank you for posting.

[No1BRC]

@sgit1

Thanks so much :-)

Glad you enjoyed the video.

~Dan

[silexrifl]

Does this way of developing the negatives stain them, and give them a sepia tone to them, or does it not?

Thanks!!!

- Alex

[No1BRC]

@silexrifl

Hi,

yes, it's a staining developer and you'll get a sepia toning if you

color scan it.

yours,

Dan

[timokl]

Danke für das klare und verständliche Video. Mein erster selbstentwickelter Film hängt gerade im Bad. Die Bilder sind leider etwas 'dunkel' geworden, aber ich musste mit dem Waschsoda experimentieren, sprich: Backsoda durch erhitzen umwandeln in Waschsoda. Kann vielleicht daran gelegen haben.

Ich probiere auf jeden Fall weiter! Vielen Dank nochmals.

[No1BRC]

@timokl

Freut mich, dass Du Spaß daran hast :-)

Viel spaß beim Experimentieren.

gruß,

Dan

[TheAntStatus]

Wuhuw gerade den ersten Film entwickelt *stolz*

Sieht wirklich fein aus, ist nicht einmal Braun :)

[No1BRC]

@TheAntStatus

Freut mich :-)

Viel Spaß noch,

Dan

[fangy89]

Wow, that's great! I remember staining my prints with coffee but that effect is so much nicer and has a lot more depth to it. My only question is, I imagine that after a while the coffee will stain the reels...will that affect the negatives when processed in regular b&w chemistry later on? Or is it better to use a separate tank & reels?

[No1BRC]

@fangy89

Hey thanks! That's a good point. I have a few processing tanks and used one for caffenol only.

However, I'm pretty sure that in between I have mixed them up by accident ;D but I did not face any problems.

If you have a few tanks- then I still recommend one for caffenol only, just to be sure :-)

~Dan

[funkrusher]

Great video! Thanks.

[No1BRC]

@funkrusher

Glad you like it :-)

~Dan

[TheAntStatus]

Can i develop color negatives too?

[No1BRC]

@TheAntStatus

Hey,

yes, you can develop color negs.

Though you have to consider that the orange film layer remains- so you hardly can make any dark room prints.

But you still can scan it and then produce "digital" prints.

~Dan

[TheAntStatus]

@No1BRC Thanks :D im glad to hear this.

[No1BRC]

@TheAntStatus

Gerne doch :)

[TheAntStatus]

@No1BRC wtf man kann die negative einfach auf ein normalen scanner legen? abfotografieren ist ziemlich umständlich..

[No1BRC]

@TheAntStatus

Du brauchst einen Scanner mit Durchlichteinheit(preiswert und annehmbare Qualität) oder eben nen Diascanner(sehr gute Resultate, teuer)

[jonathanrr1]

where can i get the fixer

[No1BRC]

@jonathanrr1

Hi, in the US, you can get it eg. at bhphotovideo or adorama.

You can use any black and white fixer btw

~Dan.

[jonathanrr1]

@No1BRC also does it work for 120mm film?

[No1BRC]

@jonathanrr1

Sure, it works very well :-)

~Dan

[Maxfahrer]

I tried it today for my first time. I used Rollei Retro 100. The result was marvellous!! Thanks for this video.

[No1BRC]

@Maxfahrer

I really appreciate :-)

Viel Spaß noch weiterhin :-)

~Dan

[sotto235]

great! what film did u use?

does it work with tri-x 400 and delta 400 too?

[No1BRC]

@sotto235

Thanks :) It's Agfa APX 100 as stated at the title ;D

I don't know about the Delta 400 but Tri-x 400 works fine: 35 minutes dev time.

Have fun,

~Dan

[AluminumStudios]

Excellent tutorial, thank you very much!

[No1BRC]

@AluminumStudios

Thank YOU- for the nice comment :-)

I know you from flickr btw :-)

Hope you'll have much fun.

yours,

Dan

[MrGhotiify]

What kind of liquid soap, does it matter?

[No1BRC]

@MrGhotiify

No, it doesn't matter- use any you get. :-)

Diluted dish liquid works fine, too.

You just need some kind of soap to get the water drain off the film surface.

Greetings,

Dan

[Maxfahrer]

A little bit too much soap. Last time i used less than a half of the quantity of soap you used an I could find cords of soap on the dry negatives. Now I have to rinse them again in destilled water

[No1BRC]

@Maxfahrer

Thanks for your note.

And it was my failure- I thought it was obvious enough on the video that I dilluted the liquid soap pretty much.

I added a note.

Thanks again,

~Dan

[Maxfahrer]

@No1BRC I watched the video again and this time I took notice of your hint at the beginning of the film. You only have to watch carefully ;-) . But I guess your note at the end of the video made it clearer.

[No1BRC]

@Maxfahrer

lol, you're welcome :D

To be honest, I forgot that I mentioned it already at the beginning

of the video ;)

[cedarivor]

Very helpful. Thank you very much!

[No1BRC]

@cedarivor

thx- hope you'll have fun :-)

~Dan

[gegogegorio]

Hey, may I ask you if the coffee mixture can be reused? Should i add more coffee,soda and vitamin c or just forget about it and start all over again? Oh and since I'm new to film developing could you please tell me if i should add more fixer to the used fixture-water mixture or just reuse it as it is?Many thanks! (:

[No1BRC]

@gegogegorio

Hi and thx for your comment :-)

To your first question:

Caffenol is a One-time Developer. You just use it for one film and then you need

to dispose it.

To the 2nd:

Fixer can be used again and again. After some time check if it's still OK by putting

a piece of undeveloped and exposed film into the fixer- wait until the film is cleared and double the time- that's your fixing time. If it takes more than 2 minutes to clear, get a new fixer.Don't mix used and fresh fixer.

~Dan

[gegogegorio]

@No1BRC Thank you for your prompt reply! Just woke up and was unpatient to develop another film!

[No1BRC]

@gegogegorio

You're welcome- have fun :-)

~Dan

[rjherie]

To those wondering about the music:

The music in this video sounds like its based off a jazz sample (the flute riff).

It may be a hip-hop instrumental or reggae/dancehall riddim.

[No1BRC]

@rjherie

Hey thx for mentioning :-)

Btw, the composer of the music is credited at the end.

~Dan

[ierapostolos22]

Very nice photos!

I'd like to try this too.

But, Where can I buy fixer?

[No1BRC]

@ierapostolos22

Hi and thanks :-)

You can use any fixer you get.

E.g Kodak or Ilford Rapid Fixer should be widely available or

can be shipped to your country. I just googled and found ipmart(dot)com - maybe that works out for you.

~Dan

[MrLindus]

you are mr photo!! it's a eco- developing film! perfect!

[No1BRC]

@MrLindus

thanks so much for your nice comment :)

~Dan

[TheZachadoodle]

Thats actually kinda cool of how because coffee is a bit brown your photos are in white and brown.

[No1BRC]

@TheZachadoodle

Hey thanks. I also like the tint :) It gives a unique character

to the photos.

~Dan

[Fleurletta]

woooooooooooooow! i will surely try this out!

[No1BRC]

@Fleurletta

Haha, thanks :)

You definitely should try this-it's a lot of fun.

~Dan

[MySonu12]

where do u get the container for da filmz?

[No1BRC]

@MySonu12

You should get it at any photographic accessories store.

In the US e.g. adorama and b&h offer film tanks.

~Dan

[carlosSANtkd]

where you get washing soda?? my lenguage is not english so im a bit confused... is that for clothes wasing?? XDD

[No1BRC]

@carlosSANtkd

Hey Carlos :-) ,

yes, it's just sodium carbonate- the stuff you can wash clothes with :-)

You should get it in any drugstore.

Don't mix up with sodium bicarbonate- that's baking powder.

regards,

Dan

[psychodelicwalrus]

Oh also if you want to use caffenol to develop colour film do you have to change the time or the formula or anything?

[No1BRC]

@psychodelicwalrus

Yes, dev times vary from film to film and you need to find out

the best dev times. However, you don't need to alter the formula

for color neg film.

[psychodelicwalrus]

Can you use oxyclean in place of the washing soda?

[No1BRC]

@psychodelicwalrus

Oxyclean seems to consist mostly of natriumhydrogencarbonat- which

is actually baking soda and that will not work.

[kidinheart]

hello!

im just curious, what would happen if you use colour negatives instead? is it possible to scan b/w negatives(or colour neg) with the same method as colour negs? because many shops somehow dont develop and scan b/w film in singapore! and if they do its pretty expensive, which is really weird seeing as i think b/w film is the easiest to develop?

[No1BRC]

@kidinheart (nice screen name btw ;))

Hey :-),

you can develop color neg film in caffenol. What you'll get is a b/w neg since only the b/w layer is affected. However the orange layer will still remain and so you'll get a strong orange/yellowish tint- but still "scanable" though.

I guess nowadays it's rather a cost-effective problem since there is not much demand anymore for b/w film to be developed in shops- even less than color film.

[No1BRC]

So that might be a problem: running two different developing units at the same time (developing machines do also the scanning and printing). You're right, B/W dev is less critical than color for sure.

cheers,

Dan

[kidinheart]

haha! screen name is random~

anyway, oh tats really interesting, haha how budget could i go? :O is there a replacement for the film reel thingy? haha

or a replacement for the fixer?

mm would i be right to say tat the scanning of BW is the same as scanning of colour, hence i can have a shop scan the film for me?

[No1BRC]

@kidinheart

Hey :-)

actually, a good film tank is an investment for many years of developing. I really recommend a two-film tank as you can fill a bit more developer in it and get sure you get an even developing... I think you can get a good film tank 2nd hand or maybe your school has a few and you can use them? I did it at school ;D

Unfortunately, I don't know about a successful attempt on making a good homemade fixer:(

[No1BRC]

The good thing is: fixer is rather cheap and can be used again and again. And powder fixer is cheaper than ready-to-use ones.

Yes, it shouldn't be a problem for a shop to scan b/w film. However, caffenol produces a tint but that shouldn't be a problem either.

Better ask them before.

Good luck ;D,

Dan

[kidinheart]

ah :( well the tank is just for school, since we are using it for my photog club :/ so no haha none in school!

lol no homemad fixer D: i guess i'll have to get both online:(

i heard that you had to buy chemicals in bulk and i dont want tat ( seeing as i can reuse the fixer) so.. is it possible to get it in slightly smaller amount D: would you know anywhere i could get it? and about how much are they (for the dev tank too!)

[No1BRC]

@kidinheart

I sent you a pm

[factoriamuzak]

can you develop paper with this...? vielen dank!

[No1BRC]

Hey :-)

Yes you can. Try 200ml water, 3 1/2 tsp coffee crystals, 2 tsp washing soda, 1/2 tsp Vit C.

beste Grüße,

~Dan

[complimenty]

HI! I am gonna develop black and white film with advised method but i have ISO400. Can you advise me developing time??

[No1BRC]

@complimenty

Hi, it depends on the film you use. If it's apx400 then the online "massive dev chart" (link provided in the descriptionbox right above) suggests 10minutes @20°C. But you need to test out a few times to find the perfect dev time with caffenol.

Good Luck :-) !!

[UAAR1]

Hi, congrat for your video!

2 questions: how about durability of this method (can you tell how it works without silver and standard developers?). Then: do you now any method to produce negatives and fine art quality paper without animal gelatine?

Thank you!

[No1BRC]

@UAAR1

thanks for your comment. The durability of the negatives should be just as well as with other developers because it works the same way("reducer"). The easiest method I know to make printing paper without gelatine is to make cyano prints(google search for: alternativephotography). However-they need very long exposure times and so are rather contact printing papers or maybe used in a camera obscura(which gets you neg. prints of course).I don't know any other method without gelatine,sorry.

[Ponnybit]

lol i luv ur vid!

lol why do you have a white hand and a taned hand?

(i'll send u my results when i do this with ur recepie for caffenol)

[No1BRC]

@Ponnybit

lol, by now they're tanned evenly ;)

looking forward to see your results!

[strikeronetuber]

This is an awesome video, very well made!

My sister had photography courses in college and when I told her this method, she got that evil cientist look on her face :-D

Unfortunately, I can't find sodium carbonate, but got some math done and 2 grams of lye in 5 liters of distilled water will provide a pH around 12.6, which is somewhat close to commercial developers.

Thanks for the vid!

[No1BRC]

@strikeronetuber

Thanks a lot for your nice and very useful comment :-)

It's great to hear your idea about using lye instead of sodium carbonate!!

Hope you and your sister will have fun by using caffenol :-)

Yours,

Dan

[Ponnybit]

fixer here costs like 30 USD 500ml .. i know u can reuse but with 30 eur i can develop 30 rolls (36 exp)

its 1 eur for 36 negatives.

but i so want to do this :( i love analog photography

[No1BRC]

@Ponnybit

30,- $ for a fixer??

I recommend a powder fixer which you have to mix by your own.

They are a bit cheaper than the liquid-ready to use ones I've seen.

..but never saw them that expensive.

Here, a pack powder "calbe a300" for 1ltr costs like 2-3 euros.

[fatstevens]

This is awesome! :) Thank YOU

Videotutorials can often be more entertaining than reading :) And this video is simply great! :)

Do you know if the negatives will last for long using this method?

[No1BRC]

@fatstevens

Thanks so much :)

So far I haven't heard anything bad about the durability of the negatives.

Mine, which I kept at the same conditions as my standard developed negs and slides(dark+film sleeves) are still in good conditions after one year.

Make sure you stop and fix well, then I think they should last just as long as developed normally.

yours,

~Dan

[BadAndy10]

What kind of vitamin C do you use? If it's pills, should I crush them up?

[No1BRC]

Hey, I use ascorbic acid powder.

Sure, you can use pills and should crush

them so they'll dissolve better.

Just make sure- they're 100% ascorbic acid pills.

~Dan

[BadAndy10]

Thanks, yo!

[No1BRC]

You're welcome :-)

~Dan

[fragmaster1960]

Thank you mate! This "could" be idiot-proof...Hmmm...maybe I'll try...

Well done! Really!

[No1BRC]

Thank YOU, for the comment :)

The whole process isn't really critical so

don't hesitate and start to experiment, mate :D

~Dan

[antiochus66]

great work..really well made and of great help to an idiot like myself..

cheers

[No1BRC]

Haha, glad this video was helpful :)

And hey, you aren't/weren't an idiot and since you've watched my

videos- you even proved that ;D

~Dan

[nobrainnobrain69]

Nice music and tutorial! I can't get Calbe A300, but is it posible to use other fixers? [sorry I'm new in developing film]

[No1BRC]

Thanks a lot :-)

And sure, any fixer will work.

~Dan

[ericofonen]

Love the video. Very clear on every point.

But the music, havn't I heard it in some other movies?? ;) ;)

//Björn

[No1BRC]

Hey thanks :-)

I'm pretty sure this is a famous music clip... and I hope this kind of stuff comes bigger in the music industry :D

~Dan

[mayavania]

there are 2 vitamin C powder I could find. Calcium ascorbate and ascorbic acid. Which one should I use?

[No1BRC]

Only use ascorbic acid. Calcium ascorbate is a mixture of calcium and ascorbic acid and therefore less acid.

It's better for your digestive tract... but not recommendable for caffenol ;DD

[jclspedding]

is that film sepia? - the photos look like they turned out yellowish brown like sepia. And is that home brand washing soda you're using?

[No1BRC]

Hi,

Agfa APX is a popular but normal b/w film.

The tint you see is due to the coffee, as caffenol

is a tinting developer :-)

It's normal washing soda(Sodium carbonate)

you should get in any drugstore.

~Dan

[superiordirk]

One thing I learned myself is to gently stir the coffee. I shook it up in a juice bottle and I could not get rid of the bubbles.... The recipe I used was almost Identical, except 1/2 tsp of vitamin C not 1/4. Your video is excellent. I was thinking of making my own as I do some film production now and then, but I see I don't need to now. Which is great. I have very little time on my hands myself.

Cheers!

[No1BRC]

Thanks a lot for your great comments, Dirk. Glad you like it.

With ilford film I'd look on dev times with Rodinal(1+50) and add a few minutes.

As Vit C acts like a booster try to lower its amount, too.

So maybe a dev time around 15mins and some less vit c might reduce

fog.

regards,

Dan

[ebwje]

I thought that Vit C was supposed to act as a restrainer, washing soda being a strong base and ascorbic acid being an acid.

[No1BRC]

Hi,

actually, Vitamin C and Ascorbic acid are the same thing. It's called Vit C as nutrient and ascorbic acid chemically.

At the caffenol process Vit C is given into the mixture to shorten the dev time which would be otherwise way longer.

Perhaps you're refering to "citric acid" which can be used as a stop? - that's something different.

greetings,

Dan

[superiordirk]

I just developed some Ilford HP5 in caffenol the other day and it turned out great. I wasn't timeing the agitations as I was busy doing some dark room clean up so I kept it in the soup for 25min. The results were great except for frames that were underexposed. And I mean brutally underexposed. I'm not sure if 25 minutes was too long. The negs show a fair bit of fog but from a little google research, it may be normal? I didn't see your video till just now.

[xtr4boy]

You Rules Man!

[No1BRC]

Haha, thx much, bro!

~Dan

[zoewut]

Really great edit and build, I'm stoked to try it out!

wish medium format scanners were cheaper.

keep up the good work!

[No1BRC]

Thanks a lot, Zoe!

I'll really try to make another video

on this topic.

Best regards,

Dan

[fencinggoldie]

do you have any recommendations for developing 120? Is this possible?

Also, as I'm new to this process, is there a fixer involved, or is it all in the caffenol mixture?

Thanks for the vid.

[No1BRC]

Hey :-) , sure- no problems developing 120 b/w film as I already did it :-)

Yes, you need a fixer... unfortunately there's no good DIY fixer.

But you can re-use that stuff very often and it's the cheapest chemical at b/w processing.

[jacobomg]

I was wondering, does the coffee stain the negatives its color? Can you develop color or b&w and be clear?

[No1BRC]

Thx for your comment.

The coffee indeed gives the b/w negs a toning. In my opinion it's really pretty and more natural than one you would get through photoshop when digitalizing.

It's a b/w developer and therefore not able to develop with color neg. However- of course you could develop color film as b/w film and get the b/w layer. But then you need to use a photographic chemical bleach to clear the color layers to see the b/w layer.

Better: Just use some cheap b/w film :)

Have fun!

[fencinggoldie]

thanks. i have a darkroom at school and can probably borrow some fixer from there.

[Theradracket717]

when you say 20min is the time for agfa apx 100, is that the same as it would be for standard chemicals? or is that a number found somewhere else?

i'm trying to do this same procedure, but using ilford hp5+ 400 film.

[No1BRC]

Hey,

20minutes is not the standard dev. time for apx. It is a time me and other together figured out a good time for that film.

However, looking at the massive dev. chart there no time for hp5+. But Ilford seems to work really well with caffenol(my experience)- so I would go for the Rodinal 1+50 time and maybe just add 1-2 minutes@ 20°C.

Please share your results :-)

[qiput]

the beginning is so clever! this video is so wonderful and informative without being boring.. it's the first time i can think of where i turned my computer's sound down to hear the video..usually it's the other way around :P thank you so much, i'm really looking forward to your future photography vids and photos :)

[No1BRC]

Thanks so much for your wonderful comment :-)

I'm really eager about making new videos. I already have some concepts and will try to realize them really soon.

Best regards,

Dan

[maxpin63]

i,m impressed!Nice way to develop.when you have more tricks,show us...then we can rescue the world with a little bit less of all that chemicals....thanx...

[No1BRC]

I really appreciate, Max.

I'm planning to make another video about making prints with this mixture.

I wish I can do it soon, but was short in time, lately :(

Best regards,

Dan

[sniggy]

some items passed by a bit too fast ;)

[skiptracer65]

very nice results, butu shouldnt the 1st steps be done in the dark?

[No1BRC]

Thank you.

I put that red mark left saying these steps have to be done in the dark.

Guess, it's not easy to read... sorry :-)

[skiptracer65]

no just missed it the 1st time through xD

im off to have my glasses checked now :-)