On Tue Jan 23 at 12:08:49 AM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> Does anyone have experience home developing negatives at home? What
> products are available? What difficulties? I have had lots of experience
I've been developing almost all of my C-41 at home for several months
(though my shooting has been fairly light recently because I've been busy
with other responsibilities). I've used both the Unicolor RapidScan and the
Unicolor K-2 kits. As far as I can tell, the results are about the same with
both. The RapidScan requires less time for processing, but does cost a
little more. So I've been using the K-2.
I'm just using the same equipment I had for my black and white -- stainless
steel tanks and reels. The most difficult part has been getting the
temperatures (usually around 102 farenheit) just right and maintaining
them. I have a tub (kitty litter box) that I keep warm water in, and I keep
the cups of chemicals and the processing tank in it to help keep the
temperatures correct.
So far most of my results have been excellent. The first roll I developed
wasn't great (I think my temperature was a little off); it was
over-developed, kind of grainy and the color was shifted. But since then
I've been more careful with my temperatures, and I haven't had that problem
again. The only other problem I've had is what seems to be
dust. Occasionally, I see white specks all over the picture when I scan
it. I can see the specks (black on the neg, of course) in the frame when I
look at it with a loupe, but the film cleaners I've tried can't get rid of
it. So I'm not sure if this is something I'm doing incorrectly with my
processing, or if it's just well-embedded dust, or what. I keep meaning to
post a query about it to some newsgroups to see if anyone has any ideas, but
I haven't gotten around to it yet. That particular problem is annoying and I
need to track it down, but it's only happened a couple of times so I'm
overall very happy with my results.
Not that you can really tell much from a web image, but here's a frame from
a roll of Kodak Supra 400 I developed at home:
http://www.dogcow.org/s/gallery/gallery.html?act=display&image=16
sean
--
Sean Harding [EMAIL PROTECTED] | "It's cryptofascist mania,
http://www.dogcow.org/sean/ | it's silicon deliria."
| --Dar Williams
