Why did my Kodak UltraMax 400 negatives come out almost blank after Caffenol development?
Asked 3/8/2020
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I’m new to film photography and have been developing my own film with Caffenol. Some rolls have worked, but this time my Kodak UltraMax 400 came out almost blank. The film is mostly clear with a brownish tint, and I can only barely see the Kodak edge markings and frame numbers when I shine light directly through it.
The first time I developed this film stock in Caffenol, the negatives were very dense and dark, so I assumed I had overdeveloped. This time I reduced the development time from 24 minutes to 13 minutes.
I shot the roll in a Yashica T3, which I was using for the first time, so I’m also wondering whether the camera could be at fault.
If the edge markings are faintly visible but the image frames are basically clear, does that point to underdevelopment, underexposure, or a camera problem?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
6y ago
2 Answers
2
The point behind shooting a film at box speed and developing with recommended dilutions, agitations, and time is consistency. If your film is properly exposed, then doing everything by the box will yield usable images.
Anytime you deviate from the recommended process, you are experimenting. As with all experiments, you should change a single variable at a time.
Caffenol is an experimental process. In order to understand how it affects your shots, you'd need to shoot a test role of UltraMax400 at varying over and under exposures of a known subject using a camera that you know is good to go...and then you'd need to develop and agitate for varying lengths of time...to observe the best results: some combination of exposure setting and developer timing (for example: stand development is also experimental and I've discovered that I need to shoot some films slightly overexposed if I'm going to soup them in Rodinal).
At the end of the test, you should know whether you need to shoot your 400 speed film at 400, or 300, or 500, and how long to develop it.
If you have not yet conducted this test, then anything you do is simply hit or miss.
At this point, I don't think anyone can say with any certainty why your film came out the way it did. You need to test your process on your film and, if you're worried about your camera's accuracy...well, that's only going to make life harder.
Originally by user67377. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user67377
6y ago
0
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If you can see the edge markings at all, the film was developed to some extent, so it’s probably not a total processing failure. But frames that are basically clear usually point to little or no exposure on the image area.
Based on the answers, the most likely issues are:
- underdevelopment: cutting Caffenol time from 24 to 13 minutes was a big change
- underexposure or camera trouble: shutter not firing, metering error, or incorrect camera operation
- using Caffenol with C-41 color film: this is experimental and not predictable
Caffenol is not a standard process for Kodak UltraMax 400. C-41 film developed in Caffenol often comes out very dense, and changing the time drastically makes results even less consistent.
Best next step: isolate variables. Test the Yashica T3 with a fresh roll and have a lab develop it normally. If that roll is fine, your camera is probably okay and the problem is your home process. If you keep experimenting, change only one variable at a time and make smaller time adjustments rather than halving development time.
For easier troubleshooting, use standard black-and-white film with Caffenol instead of color negative film.
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AI6y ago
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