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Apr 10·edited Apr 10Liked by Ralph Turner

Really impressed with the quality of the pictures given its age. Also, the quality of the developing from Caffenol. I must try your formula. Can you point me to some instructions on how to mix up Caffenol?

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Apr 11·edited Apr 11Author

I came back to home developing when my go-to lab went to the wall just under two years ago. I figured at the time 'in for a penny, in for a pound' and ordered the ingredients for caffenol. I also bought an Xtol kit in case it all went pear-shaped but never needed it, as the results I got right from the start were pleasing, even though the recipe I used at the time caused a certain amount of fogging. This didn't seem to have an adverse effect on the scanning, though. All the film I've devved at home since has been with caffenol and I've been quite happy with it. (Disclaimer - I claim no expertise in any of this, these are just my 'two pennies/euros/cents worth' . Btw the coffee powder I use makes a far better developing agent than it does a hot beverage😁

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Apr 10·edited Apr 11Author

Thank you, Sir! It's not mine, I got the recipe from here:

https://www.caffenol.org/recipes/

I use longer times than their initial recommendation of around 10-12 minutes to get the density I prefer on Kentmere 400. Of course, you may find otherwise. Still fairly early days for me with this recipe (and my photographic output isn't the most prolific, so it takes a while). Hopefully soon I'll be giving the 100 iso version a go.

Another source of info can be found here. I've found the CH recipe works well, but gives somewhat denser, higher contrast negs:

http://dickkoolish.com/rmk_page/misc/The%20Caffenol%20Cookbook%20&%20Bible%20-%20Recipes%20and%20Tutorials.pdf

Hopefully these links will be of help. I'm still feeling my way with it to some degree. Mixing-wise, I start with the soda, then the vit C, then the coffee powder. This results in minimal effervescence. The aroma of the mix is something not all folks like, but I don't mind it. I believe the cookbook covers most, if not all, aspects.

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Apr 10·edited Apr 10Liked by Ralph Turner

Thanks Ralph.

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If you do give it a go, I hope all goes well with it🙂

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Thanks Ralph. Appreciate the help.

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Really nice Ralph, what a fun way to spend the day. 👍

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Many thanks, Ross.

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