Tag Archives: paterson

Expired Tetenal C41 Kit meets Expired Kodak Portra 400

While cleaning up my photo gears, I see a box of Tetenal C41 kit that I got and opened a couple of years ago in Shanghai.  Since then, it made its way to Hong Kong and to San Francisco.  On arrival to SF, I discovered that one bottle of the Blix solution actually bursted and was leaking all over the box.  All these items were stored in a storage that was certainly quite hot (30C+) for months before making its way to the US.

I also found a few 4×5 film boxes of Kodak Portra 400 that I loaded about two years ago.  This is when expired chemicals meet expired film, a combination that has the word “disaster” written all over it.

Expired Tetenal C41
Expired Tetenal C41

I got my Paterson Auto Colortherm machine from Toronto some time back.  I refitted it so that I can use the roller for my jobo tank.  I mixed the chemicals into its three parts and noticed a few things.  First, the clear blix mixture has a lot of residue at the bottom and was stuck.  I warmed it out, it helped a bit but there are still chunks of it at the bottom.  Second, the stabilizer bottle have merely 50mL left.  1L mixture required 100mL, what the heck, just mix it.

I took my Graflex SG with a Fujinon 400mm f8 lens on my roof for the test shots in one late afternoon.

Graflex speed graphic with fujinon 400mm f8
Graflex speed graphic with fujinon 400mm f8

I shot the Kodak Porta 400 at ISO 200.  I developed the sheets slightly longer than the recommended times.  Developed 3:30min, Blix 5min.  When I opened the Jobo tank, I see images, solid images.  I scanned the negatives with my Epson Perfection V700.  The unedited result is shown here.

Expired Kodak Portra 400
Expired Kodak Portra 400
Expired Kodak Portra 400
Expired Kodak Portra 400

All the details are there.  The edges showed some funky chemical gradient that made the image looked like something out of a roll of lomography film.  The overall look of it is vintage and reminded me of a postcard from the 60s.

Overall, I am happy with the result and I guess I will develop many more sheets with the Tetenal kit before it runs out.

 

Large format trials part one

Two weeks ago, I took the Graflex Pacemaker Speed Graphic for a spin in the Gold Coast.  It was a bright sunny day and I thought would be perfect to try out the machine with some el cheapo Shanghai film.  Pointing towards the hotel as shown below, I was shooting at f11, 1/50.  From my experience with the Polaroid 800, these Shanghai 4×5 film is light hungry.  Even though it’s rated at iso 100, you have to compensate this by at least one click (shoot this at iso 50).  Most cases, I even have to shoot at iso 25 for low light conditions.  I got the most success when I compensate this by 1.5 clicks.

My view through the ground glass.
My view through the ground glass.

This unit is from 1955 and the ground glass is full of dirt.  Right in the middle of the glass, the fresnel is coming off.  I need to take the ground glass out and have a good cleaning of it and maybe replacing this.  I didn’t have a focusing cloth and I just used my dark bag which worked ok.  It was tough to focus in the 35C weather and the sun shining right at you.  On top of that, you have to bandage your head with the focusing cloth.  I should look at an angled viewfinder!  The Graflok worked perfectly and so did the Grafmatic film holder.

After the shoot, I quickly developed the film at home with my Paterson system 4 tank which came with my Paterson Colourtherm machine.  It was a really hot day and the water was at 28C.  I developed the Shanghai film with Kodak HC110 dilution H in 14mins and Kodak Rapid Fix for another 4mins.  I scanned the photo with my Epson V700.

The developed photo!
The developed photo!

When I looked at the negatives, it was fine.  When I scanned it, I looked at the top part and I was like, it looks a lot more cloudy than it should? It was a bright sunny day.  Looking closely I can see water bubbles!  This was the first time I developed 4×5 with the taco method in the Paterson tank.  The Paterson tank top is slanted, which allowed some movement of the 4×5 while developing.  The AP tank that I used before, the top part was relatively flat and it was fine.  Next time if I am using the Paterson tank, I have to use 900mL of solution rather than 650mL.  It’s these unexpected “boo-boo”s that makes analog film interesting.  The photo really has a vintage feel to it.  I look forward to another shoot soon!

 

C-41 Color Development

Breaking free from the many issues I had with photo development places in Hong Kong and Shanghai, I started to develop my own film again recently.  I have done a lot of BW development in the past.  Color, however, I have never done before and had always been at the back of my mind.  A temperature controlled water bath (at 38C) for the chemicals is a must for color.  When I was back in Toronto, I was lucky enough to find an unused Paterson Auto Colortherm machine from a really nice lady named Linda Power.  It was sitting in her basement for years and she was willing to let it go.  I was ecstatic about the find and it just barely fitted in my suitcase back to Hong Kong.

Paterson Auto Colortherm machine
Paterson Auto Colortherm machine

It was rather difficult to get home color development chemicals in Hong Kong, so I picked up a C41 Tetenal kit from Shanghai.  It was not cheap but nevertheless a good practice kit for the first run at this.  My Paterson tank can develop up to two 135 rolls or one 120 roll with about 600mL of chemicals.  I prepared the developer, blix and stabilizer all at 600mL volume.  With this, I can either develop 4 to 5 rolls of 120 or 8 rolls of 135.  With the 5L kit I got, I basically can develop about 64 rolls of 135.

I turned on the Paterson Auto Colortherm and set the water bath to the correct 38C temperature.  You need to wait about an hour until all the chemicals are at the stable temperature.  I started with a 5 minutes water bath, then developed for 3 minutes 15 seconds, blix for 6 minutes, water rinse for 3 minutes and ended it with stabilizer for 1 minute.  Viola, the negatives showed up nicely and I waited for them to dry.
I scanned them with my Epson V700 and they turned out great.  However, dust is never my friend when it comes to development and scanning and a lot of care has to be taken.

C41 Development with Paterson Auto Colortherm
C41 Development with Paterson Auto Colortherm

Here are a couple of shots from the development.

Shanghai Jingan Mansion, Fuji GA645Zi, Fuji Reala 100, C41 Tetenal Self Develop, Epson V700 Scan
Shanghai Jingan Mansion, Fuji GA645ZI, Fuji Reala 100, C41 Tetenal Self Develop, Epson V700 Scan
Shanghai Kaiba, Zeiss Ikon Super Ikonta 532/16, Fuji Superior 100, C41 Tetenal Self Develop, Epson V700 Scan
Shanghai Kaiba, Zeiss Ikon Super Ikonta 532/16, Fuji Superia 100, 30 sec exposure, C41 Tetenal Self Develop, Epson V700 Scan

Overall, the first run at C41 development was a success and am looking forward to develop more rolls.