bmattock
Veteran
I happen to have found some old exposed C-41 color print film that I had never had processed. No longer even knew what was on them. Didn't want to spend the money to have them processed commercially to find out. Don't want to do C-41 development myself. Besides being color-blind, I just don't want to get involved in it.
So, I decided to take a chance and process them in Diafine, a two-part B&W developer. I knew I might get garbage and I might get nothing. But I considered it an experiment.
This photo was taken in 2004 or 2005 of a wedding of a relative. 120 roll film, Bronica C with 50mm lens as I recall. Film was Kodak Portra 160. I scanned this image on an Epson 4490 flat-bed scanner using Vuescan under Linux. Adjusted levels slightly and did some minor dust/scratch removal with The GIMP.
2016-01-18-0002_edit by Wigwam Jones, on Flickr
The next two photos were taken in Detroit, around John R and 7 Mile, sometime around 2007 or 2008. Film was labeled Walgreens Studio 200, but the film edge markings revealed it to be Ferrania 200.
2016-01-18-0003_edit by Wigwam Jones, on Flickr
2016-01-18-0004_edit by Wigwam Jones, on Flickr
Camera was Canon T60 with Canon 50mm FDn f/1.4 lens. I scanned the above with a Konica-Minolta ScanDual IV at 3200 dpi using Vuescan under Linux and again edited with The GIMP.
I processed all of this C-41 film along with a bunch of B&W film of various types, ranging from Shantou ERA 100 to Agfa APX 25 to Ilford FP5. I used Diafine, as previously mentioned, on Hawes reels in stainless steel tanks. I processed them for 5 minutes in Solution A and 5 minutes in Solution B, then fixed using a hardening fixer for 15 minutes, then rinsed in tap water for 20 minutes. Then I hung them up to dry and scanned the results.
I noticed that the Ferrania 200 C-41 film did not produce much of a change in the color of the various developers or the fixer, perhaps a mild straw tinge to the chemicals. However, the 120 roll of Kodak Portra turned the A, B, and fixer solutions a brilliant day-glo orange that even I, color-blind as I am, could see clearly. I do not know what effect this will have, if any, on my chemistry, but I kept it all anyway. We shall see going forward if it causes any problems.
So there you have it. Yes, it is possible to process your C-41 film in B&W chemistry. I don't know that I would recommend it. The negatives I got were extremely dense. If I was printing instead of scanning, I think I would have had a lot of trouble. I certainly think traditional B&W film would have done a far superior job. But I did get images, and they're not awful, perhaps a bit flat. But Diafine is known for that anyway, if there is not a lot of contrast in a scene to begin with.
Here are a couple shots that I got with B&W film in the same batch, just by way of comparison.
2016-01-18-0046_edit by Wigwam Jones, on Flickr
2016-01-18-0037_edit by Wigwam Jones, on Flickr
2016-01-18-0036_edit by Wigwam Jones, on Flickr
2016-01-18-0035_edit by Wigwam Jones, on Flickr
2016-01-18-0033_edit by Wigwam Jones, on Flickr
So, I decided to take a chance and process them in Diafine, a two-part B&W developer. I knew I might get garbage and I might get nothing. But I considered it an experiment.
This photo was taken in 2004 or 2005 of a wedding of a relative. 120 roll film, Bronica C with 50mm lens as I recall. Film was Kodak Portra 160. I scanned this image on an Epson 4490 flat-bed scanner using Vuescan under Linux. Adjusted levels slightly and did some minor dust/scratch removal with The GIMP.
2016-01-18-0002_edit by Wigwam Jones, on FlickrThe next two photos were taken in Detroit, around John R and 7 Mile, sometime around 2007 or 2008. Film was labeled Walgreens Studio 200, but the film edge markings revealed it to be Ferrania 200.
2016-01-18-0003_edit by Wigwam Jones, on Flickr2016-01-18-0004_edit by Wigwam Jones, on FlickrCamera was Canon T60 with Canon 50mm FDn f/1.4 lens. I scanned the above with a Konica-Minolta ScanDual IV at 3200 dpi using Vuescan under Linux and again edited with The GIMP.
I processed all of this C-41 film along with a bunch of B&W film of various types, ranging from Shantou ERA 100 to Agfa APX 25 to Ilford FP5. I used Diafine, as previously mentioned, on Hawes reels in stainless steel tanks. I processed them for 5 minutes in Solution A and 5 minutes in Solution B, then fixed using a hardening fixer for 15 minutes, then rinsed in tap water for 20 minutes. Then I hung them up to dry and scanned the results.
I noticed that the Ferrania 200 C-41 film did not produce much of a change in the color of the various developers or the fixer, perhaps a mild straw tinge to the chemicals. However, the 120 roll of Kodak Portra turned the A, B, and fixer solutions a brilliant day-glo orange that even I, color-blind as I am, could see clearly. I do not know what effect this will have, if any, on my chemistry, but I kept it all anyway. We shall see going forward if it causes any problems.
So there you have it. Yes, it is possible to process your C-41 film in B&W chemistry. I don't know that I would recommend it. The negatives I got were extremely dense. If I was printing instead of scanning, I think I would have had a lot of trouble. I certainly think traditional B&W film would have done a far superior job. But I did get images, and they're not awful, perhaps a bit flat. But Diafine is known for that anyway, if there is not a lot of contrast in a scene to begin with.
Here are a couple shots that I got with B&W film in the same batch, just by way of comparison.
2016-01-18-0046_edit by Wigwam Jones, on Flickr2016-01-18-0037_edit by Wigwam Jones, on Flickr2016-01-18-0036_edit by Wigwam Jones, on Flickr2016-01-18-0035_edit by Wigwam Jones, on Flickr2016-01-18-0033_edit by Wigwam Jones, on Flickr
