Developing Film with Coffee using Caffenol! - DIY Darkroom

Do you use this same recipe for color film as well?

Nice video. Great information but please don't speed up. We as your audience are very patient to learn this. Thank you for a great video. Please don't be offended it's just everyone does that and it's not needed, hence the purpose of a how to video. 😊

I’m insipired !!
Don’t have access to d-76 or c-41 developing chemicals where I live but these are easily available . Need a bunch of B/w films to stock .
Thank you so much .

Where is the Fixer video?

Didn't work for me at all, film was bearly visible, way over exposed, simply doesn't work, don't know why I was stupid enough to do it. And I have to ask about the environmental impact. Sorry, not one for me, digital all the way.

Thank uuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

when will you make the video on DIY fixer?

I develop film with Tylenol

I see you are using an AP tank. That's my favorite too, I find the spiral with it's big guide tabs easier to load than Paterson, the lid leaks a little on that one too but not as bad as the old Patersons I have. I wonder how hard it would be to make a developing tank actually watertight?

Caffenol is interesting but my current budget developer of choice is the good old Rodinal. Dirt cheap (something like 15 euros for 500ml which will literally develop a hundred 120 films) and easy to use, especially in 1:100 dilution semi-stand (I develop for 50 minutes, agitation at the beginning and half way through, nice and relaxed for a lazy slob like myself), and long shelf life. Gives maybe a little grainier results than some but as I mostly shoot medium format it's not too bad, I like the look I get. For 35mm I usually use Pyrocat HD for less noticeable grain, another very economical developer with a long shelf life but not nearly as cheap as Rodinal.

I use Ilford Rapid Fixer 1:4 and it seems to last for a long time, I do a "snippet test" after every couple of films and it still clears the film in about 40 seconds after doing at least 20 films. I don't use a squeegee, I just do the final rinse in distilled water (I distill my own water) with a few drops of Ilfotol and hang to dry in the bathroom (I run hot water from the shower for a while first to get rid of the dust and raise the humidity to lessen curling of the film), no problems.

It'a a shame how everything gets more expensive all the time but fortunately black and white film is still reasonably priced, especially budget brands like Fomapan and my new favorite, Kentmere, (and I have a good stash of FP4 and HP5 from the time they were still affordable) and developing can be done quite cheap too. If I had to pay color film prices and send my film out for developing I would have to go digital.

Hi Mat how about the DIY rapid fixer recipe?

Such great walkthrough! I'm just starting out with analog photography and feel like a knowledge sponge :D
I love how you explain every step and detail very visually and easy to follow. Will try this pretty soon I think!

I have been hooked on with that idea to use coffee for film development - and I was in such mood till I see the scanned negatives... All these white spots and lines in the frame does not look good to me...

I don't know why, but after the first times i began to ...like that silly smell :)

whenever i develop my images appear but the area around it doesnt go clear. what do i do?

Can you use Soda? Or Orange Juice? Or monster

will it work if I make only 250ml ?

This is absolutely awesome. Some Kentmere 400 + this stuff is going to make for some CHEAP shooting. Question though, I've been using a DIY stop bath (watered down white vinegar) for my Ilfosol 3 for a while now. Does this need a stop bath or is it altogether unnecessary? Thanks!

Amazing work.

Looks like there’s some bubbles on some of the images, though - is this something you’ve been able to eliminate through longer mixing of the coffee in the developer?

nice job. it looks pretty good

So.. how about that fixer you mentioned for cheaper?...