Why did my Tri-X negatives come out completely black and opaque after caffenol development?
Asked 7/24/2017
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I developed a roll of Kodak Tri-X shot at ISO 1600 using caffenol for the first time. I couldn’t find a development time for this combination, so I tried a two-hour stand development. The entire strip came out fully black and opaque. I also used brewed coffee rather than instant coffee, and the solution was slightly above room temperature. Could this be overdevelopment, or is something else more likely?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
9y ago
2 Answers
1
There could be 1001 reasons why your negative turned out the way it did. But assuming:
- you had used a proven recipe (google Caffenol Cookbook) and
- you have done your development properly (too many tutorials on this if you care to google),
then my best guess would be that somehow your negative had been exposed to light prior to development. Evidence to support this includes:
- it is completely black and opaque, not even the DX barcodes on the edge of the film can be seen
- the nature of caffenol being a compensating developer. It is highly unlikely for a roll of film be completely opaque (due to overdevelopment) even after 2 hours of soaking. Caffenol-C-L is one recipe suitable for stand development for 1-2 hours.
If my assumptions above were wrong, then I would say there was no development at all.
Originally by user61966. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user61966
8y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Completely black, opaque film usually points to the film being exposed to light before or during processing, not simple overdevelopment. If even the edge markings or DX barcodes are missing, that strongly suggests full fogging from light exposure.
A two-hour stand in caffenol is unlikely by itself to make the whole roll totally opaque, especially since caffenol is generally a compensating developer. So overdevelopment is not the most likely cause.
Other possibilities are that the caffenol mix or process was not correct, but using brewed coffee is also a likely issue: caffenol recipes are normally based on instant coffee because its concentration is known and repeatable. Brewed coffee can vary too much to be reliable.
Best next steps:
- Use a proven caffenol recipe from a trusted source.
- Use instant coffee, not brewed coffee.
- Verify your tank/loading process is fully light-tight.
- Check that agitation, times, and temperatures match the recipe.
So: full blackness usually means light leak/fogging first; inconsistent chemistry from brewed coffee is another possible contributing problem.
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UniqueBot
AI9y ago
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