C-41 Processing

A few days ago I set up my Jobo Processor, and mixed up some C-41 chemistry.  C-41 is the process that is used to develop color negative film.  It is pretty straight forward, but needs to have the temperature maintained at 38C for the entire process.  The temperature controlled water bath of the Jobo processor is ideal for this.

C-41 is also used with chomogenic black and white films.  I believe that the only one that is still made is Ilford's XP-2.  The silver particles in the emulsion are converted to dye during the development process and this results in virtually grainless negatives.  I wish they still made this film in 4" x 5" format, but sadly it is only made in 35mm and 120 roll formats.

I don't shoot a lot of color film, and I generally save up the exposed film in the fridge until I have a large enough batch to justify mixing up the chemistry and setting up the processor.  I generally only shoot about 20 sheets per year of 4x5 and around 5 of the larger 8x10.  The film has become very costly and I am mostly just using up old stock that I have on hand.  New stock costs about $12 per sheet for 4x5 and $45 per sheet for 8x10, and the chemistry is about $65 per 1L kit.  Obviously I have to be very selective about what I shoot.  This time around I had accumulated 45 sheets of 4" x 5", five sheets of 8" x 10", and three rolls of 35mm.  One of those 35mm rolls was some XP2 black and white that I shot on a Beer Parlour Project outing.  I used two 1L kits to process all of the film.

The Expert Drums that I use on my Jobo hold 10 sheets of 4"x5"... and I have a larger one that holds 5 sheets of 8" x 10".  So this was five drums to run the 4x5 stuff, plus 1 for the 8x10, and a third tank to run the 35mm.  It took me a couple of days to get through all this stuff.

This scan is a 4" x 5" sheet of Kodak Portra 160VC.  This is the North Saskatchewan River, upstream of Abraham Lake, on the Kootenay Plains.  I took this shot almost two years ago, in 2024.  I used my Ebony SV45Ti view camera and a Fujinon 180mm lens.  No filter was used.  I took the shot on May 13th of 2024 at about 2:30 in the afternoon.  I seem to recall that my brother in law Shawn and I were out on an afternoon drive from the cottage.  The exposure was for 1/15 second at F29.0.