Developing Colour Film With Tetenal Colortec C-41 Kit

Learn how to mix the chemicals and develop colour film at home with this simple step-by-step tutorial using a Tetenal Colortec C41 liquid kit.

Intro : 00:10
Mixing the Developer : 2:34
Mixing the Blix : 4:10
Mixing the Stabiliser : 5:10
Developing the Film : 6:19
The Images : 10:25

You can also find all the steps in the article :

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Directed & Edited by DANiEL BREEN

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Transcript :

You’ve guessed it! Today we are developing colour film. It’s a first time for me but I’m sure it will be alright!

It's something I've been wanting to do for a long time but I was afraid of messing up as it requires more care and precision than B&W development process.

There are a few options to develop C-41 films at home but for today we'll be looking as this Tetenal Colortec C-41 kit. In total, you can prepare 1 liter of developer with this kit and can develop between 12 and 16 rolls of films before you exhaust the chemicals.

You get 6 different bottles of 200ml each that you need to mix in order to create the developer, blix and stabiliser. Everything is clearly labeled and it's very easy to get the chemicals ready.

Part 1 - Preparing the chemicals

Before we start mixing our chemicals, it's important to make sure the water is between 20 and 45 degrees Celsius. To make our life easier it should be around 30 degrees, we will see later why.

For this recipe you need the following equipment :

1 x C-41 kit. Liquid or powder version
3 x 1 Litre bottles with sealed cap (collapsible bottles are best)
1 x Funnel (3 are recommended though to avoid chemistry contamination)
1 x Darkroom thermometer
1 x Bucket (or recipient) big enough to cover the bottles with water

Developer: The first thing we need is 400ml of water. 200ml of part one, same for the 2nd part and another 200ml of part 3 to finish. That’s it guys, our developer is ready.

This one is the most critical in terms of temperature so we are going to let it sit in a bucket of water that’s around 30 degrees celsius to make sure the temperature is correct for the development. With C41 developer you can be off by +/- half a degree so we must be precise here! There are other temperatures you can develop at but today we’ll go for the 30 degrees.

Blix: Here we need 600ml of water (again between 20 and 45 degrees Celsius). Then 200ml of part 1. This looks like fake blood! And complete with 200ml of part 2.

Stabiliser: This is the easiest as it requires only 800ml and 200ml of pure stabiliser.

Our chemicals are now ready! You can see all the steps in this video if you want to see me in action.



Part 2 - Developing the film

As I mentioned earlier all chemicals should be at 30 degrees (you can also develop at 38 degrees but developing time needs to be shorten), especially the developer as it’s the pickiest of the 3 solutions. The temperature ensure that all layers are developed correctly and colours don't shift.

My suggestion is to let the bottles in a bathtub or bucket, for at least 15 minutes, filled with water at 35 degrees. This will ensure to have the right temperature when time is over.


There are 5 steps to follow when developing colour film:

1- Before putting the chemicals inside the tanks we need to pre-soak the films for 5 minutes with water at 30 degrees. This step helps the chemicals to develop the film evenly and also to warm up the developing tank.

2- When pre-soaking is done so it’s show time for the developer. Pour it into the tank for 8 minutes. We are going to agitate for a minute at the beginning and then 4 inversions every minute. Then put the developer back into the bottle because it’s reusable.

3- Next phase is the Blix. This one should be between 29 and 31 degrees and it has to stay 6 minutes. We will repeat the same sequence of agitations and inversions.

4- Before putting the stabiliser, we need to rinse the film with clear water for another 6 minutes. It should be with water between 30 and 40 degrees Celsius. Recycle the one from your bucket or bathtub for example if you want to help to save the planet (on top of keeping film alive!). Simply fill the tank a few times then refill with fresh water and repeat for at least 6 minutes.

5- The stabiliser is the last step before your negative can see the light! It should be between 20 and 40 degrees Celsius. Just pour it in and agitate gently for 1 minute.

All of these images were shot with a Smena 8M. If you want to know more about this camera, check out this article.

[depht_]

This is mental, are you in Cork? I googled a guide on mixing chemicals and this is the first video I watched - some of these shots were taken about a 30 second walk from my house 😂 great guide!

[SvenAquatics]

Thank you for the video! This helped me a lot.

[markharris]

I get the 2.5ltr and make up 500ml at a time. My Paterson tank needs 300ml to cover 120 film, allowing for the waste you naturally get I get 8 films out of one batch of mixed chemicals. That is roughly what I shoot in six weeks, which I think is the shelf life of the mix. I don't use glass bottles and use the brown collapsible bottles that I can push the air out and I'm just left with liquid in the bottle. It also needs to be stored out of the light. That way I believe it will last longer before going off. You are right, agitation is crucial as are the temperatures. I went wrong the first time not taking enough care getting the film on the the Paterson spool and where the film didn't get enough chemicals, through touching itself, it was totally blank. I thought it may have been a fault with my auto-winder on my Bronica ETRSi or my back, but if that was the case the negatives that did develop would have had double exposures. I've done lots of films since with a new spool and not had the problem again but I now know the importance of taking care, I've also started using an agitation stick rather than tumbling the entire tank like I do for B&W. To me developing my own film is often the best part when I finally see what is on the negatives, not that they are brilliant photos but just the fact there is something there. A very good video, with excellent scanning, did you use Silverfast?

[TheJimsmart]

Thank you. Nice images, for first time too.

[CasnioMiCasio]

can you mix only 250 ml of the package, even if its not specified in the mixing user manual?

[danthomson]

Excellent video, You may have convinced me to try developing some colour film myself!
Just a quick question, how many rolls of film can you develop out of a kit like this? And for how long do the chemicals last? My only reluctance is that I don't shoot too much film, so I don't want to only develop a few rolls before the chemicals have gone bad.
Loving your channel, keep it up!

[nwphotography]

Really enjoyed watching this especislly as i am looking to also do colour developing. Out of interest how long did your chemicals last in those bottles? I as as i always read it is recommended to have bottles from which you can remove as much air as you can.

[MichaelZieschang]

Well, reminds me to myself, but shouldn’t there be slight thoughts about self-protection when working with chemicals ?

[MarioJaar]

can you make a video on how to scan the negative? it would be very helpful to me :D thanks! and keep the good videos coming :D

[SinaFarhat]

Hi!
Welcome to the club of being able to develop color film!

You did a good job of explaining the steps from mixing to working with the chemicals!

I went through that adventure myself last year and I have since the beginning of 2017 upgraded myself to developing slide film at home, you need to have a water bath where you can control the temperature very correctly and allot of patience as it takes 25 minutes per roll to develop slide film!
Other than that it is an easy method and you get to see developed slide film allot faster than sending it to a lab!

If you want to have someone that can answer your questions and is a helping hand i will happily do that, use either the youtube messaging way of contacting me or find me on twitter as "belola" there I have a link to to my website which where you can find my email adress.

Have a good day

/Sina

[edwardarevalo]

So does the water have to be 38 degrees Celsius before or after adding your chemicals?