Caffenol: Developing Photos with Coffee and Vitamin C
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- Опубликовано: 3 янв 2025
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One little tip I’ve learned the hard way... When loading in the dark bag, remove your watch. Especially smart watches as the screen may suddenly turn on whilst ur wrist is in the bag and fog the film!
I’d stopped wearing one for ages and so completely forgot that I had it on for this!
Also keep your mobile well away from the dark room... as well as a bunch of strange things that I never imagined will be luminescent! lol
Lol
Now this brings up a good question. If were talking an oldschool lumed watch, is that enough light to fog film? And more so, does the slight radioactiveness of the radium lume have any chance of causing damage? Say the film falls over the face of the watch when loading it? Now by common sense I'd say the light would fog film, but in practice I've never noticed any thing that I could contribute to wearing the watch when I forget. But the green spectrum of light film is obviously sensitive to. Maybe down to a weak lume because all my watches are older. That's not a fashion statement or anything, I just like wearing a watch that's a proper mechanical mech in it and I'm cheap. But the times when I've forgot that I had one on while loading film is a fair bit at this point and I've never noticed any issue on the negatives. I'm not sure why that is because its basicaly films 2 worst enemy's. Light outside of the exposer and radioactive contamination combined, all be it very small on the radioactive scale. Just something over noticed by fluke when I forget to take off a watch, but it still puzzles me why there seemes to be no issue with it. Maybe the dark bag isnt very reflective and the films I've loaded never got directly exposed to the watch face? I'm curious if anyone has an answer
@@MrRecall200 I doubt radioactivity of an antique luminous watch would cause any trouble, since some of pentax's 1960's lenses contained up to 20% thorium by weight in the rear 3 glass elements. I have one and use it and white it is mildly radioactive, it doesn't fog the film and won't give you any issues unless you ground it up and ate it.
The ultimate coffee and film photography crossover! Thanks for the mention, really appreciate it :) ✨
Yes love your channel too!
“I wanted a hobby that was slow, difficult, and with no instant gratification.” This is so who you are James, and the number one reason I connect with you. Don’t ever change.
I think the main takeaway from this video is that we learned that James Hoffmann just casually keeps suspicious chemicals in his kitchen.
Thank you so much for the shout, James! Really appreciate this! I’ve actually got a similar video planned shooting photos for my local shop and roaster, Rost Coffee, and developing the film using their beans. Should be a fun one!
Looking forward to it!
Two gods, one cup (of coffee)
"I wanted a hobby that was slow, that was difficult, that has no instant gratification, that has gratification that you really had to work for," says no one ever except for this fine gentleman right here 💯
it just blows my mind. who does that on purpose.
Having switched from digital to film over four years ago, this was actually part of my thought process as well. The "instant gratification" in digital can be somewhat of a curse, when you end up taking hundreds of photos of the same things trying to "get the perfect shot" -- In film you just have to take the risk and hope it comes out, and accept the fact that anywhere along the way your photos may not come out at all. To me it find of reframes the hobby of photography as something that is more about the process, than the outcome. When you get good photos out at the end it's just an added bonus :)
..and traditional archery nerds lol
just gotta say that im a a film photography hobbyist and honestly pretty much everyone that gets into it has said that at least once.
Golf?
i don't wanna be that guy but this is like the most hipster thing ever.
It feels like an instant stereotype, but you can't deny the appeal!
Film photography is probably the most satisfying 'hipster' things, I think. It's not as cheap as DSLR photography (kit lens at least) but getting your negatives/prints back turning out great is a wonderful feeling.
@@angelobianchi8474 not if you use premium ultra acidic light roast coffee tho
Hi are you aware you’re watching a channel about extremely specialty coffee and espresso? It’s quite centrally located in hipster village.
That describes James doing pretty much anything on this channel.
The giveaway I'm waiting for: prints by James Hoffman
Lmao that classic Willem Verbeeck background music at 07:30
My two obsessions have collided, I'm nerding out
Angel Bravo Me too....(can l say that now...)
Along with literally everyone else of your generation
Angel Bravo Absholuuteely !!
Weird coffee science ✔️
James ✔️
Interesting ✔️
= Great content
Don't forget the hair
I don't think it technically counts as "weird coffee science" unless he's wearing a white coat. Surprising coffee science? Interesting coffee science?
I studied photography my first year in college, and truly loved my time in the darkroom. I was drafted and did a year in Vietnam as a combat photographer, sounds bad, but mostly I ran around for the Stars and Stripes publication shooting folks like Bob Hope. My career led me to the position of creative director at advertising agencies in New York and Los Angeles.
I was really touched by the joy you seem to have discovered in "old school" photography. Appreciate the details, whether the beauty of a well exposed photo or the crema on a morning espresso.
I've been using caffenol for five years now: 35mm, medium format, 5x7, and even 11x14. It's a pleasure to use and simple. What's fun about it is that you can also use for developing contact prints, too.
The smell with instant isn't awful, just bad. There are plenty of terrible (and sometimes worse) smells with plenty of other dark room chemicals.
I'm over 5 years into Caffenol. High five! You can kinda get used to the smell after some time :P
Next: Willem Verbeeck freezes his barrel aged coffee and drinks coffee martinis with disgust
This is type of content is exactly why I follow your channel!
Of course James "just getting into film photography" gets a mamiya
Holy shit hahaha
Maybe he couldn't find a Hasselblad?
@@pjaj43 hahaha!!
@@pjaj43 - I sold all my film cameras about 21 years ago, including my Hasselblad. It's the only camera that I sometimes miss. Whenever I consider buying one again, I fortunately, I come to my senses and remember that I was hardly using it when I sold it.
bro those older ones aren't even that expensive..
Peter Jennings - the first part of the word Hasselblad is Hassle. I couldn’t stand them. They were way too finicky and pricey to repair.
I was a die hard Rolleiflex TLR user - Zeiss lens, like the Blad - and Bronica fan.
Catching up on my RUclips subscriptions whilst developing film all day, I didn’t anticipate a Paterson tank turning up in James’ feed, what a treat!
I organized a caffenol shooting project about 10 years ago. I got a couple of bricks of Fuji Neopan Acros which is a great film for shooting at night as there is no reciprocity failure up to 2 minutes exposure time. It was a comedy of errors getting started as we're using 40-50 year old cameras and developing equipment. Yes, we're the original owners. Overall about 1/3 of shots were ruined for one reason or another. The good negatives were great. I did all the developing. Same recipe but tweaking process as we went along. Most comments we got for the bad negatives were that we were over/under agitating during developing. It was never clear what was going wrong. I have 2 by 3 foot night-shot print of an alley that is being lit by one street lamp and the moon. It's about a 60 second exposure and is gorgeous. 35mm .
I actively put my hand over my mouth in delight at seeing those photos, this was a fantastic reminder of how much I love film photography
I know it's royalty free music, but it can't be a coincidence that you used the "Willem Verbeeck theme" in your developing film with cofee video XD
There are no coincidences
Dang James, I remember you writing on Twitter about this, and I'm very glad you got a chance to do it.
Edit: And above all, the results are fantastic. Film's role in the world today is absolutely one of slowing down and respecting the craft, similarly in line with coffee. Story is everything and you've captured it very well.
"I've got to say, the moment you pull a developed roll of film, a roll that you've shot yourself, developed yourself, the moment you pull that out of the tank and see the negative is one of the most satisfying things ever." --James Hoffman
I can't wait to hear him describe the first time he sees a sheet of exposed photographic paper come to life in a developing tray.
when space travel is commercialized, James will be the one to teach us how to brew in zero-g
Of course!
Probably Aeropress.
@@voxdeharlequin8118 Definitely Aeropress! Glad to see I'm not the only one who though that way! :)
As a professional photographer and coffee enthusiast, this is the best crossover ever!
"Coffee expert takes photos of coffee developed with coffee, YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT HAPPENS NEXT"
There's a movie just released called “bait” about living in Cornwall. It's filmed and developed in coffee by the guy on 16mm film. Check it out
I have literally been watching nothing but baking, photography and coffee videos on RUclips during lockdown. If you'd managed to include some sourdough this would be perfection. In an insane sort of way.
James try this. Take a photo of a person you love and care, develop the film, print it using an enlarger, frame it with a hand written message on the back and give it as a present to this special person. The feelings doing this are amazing for both.
The quality of your videos comes from your love about what you do. Thank you!
Accidental ASMR at its finest, such a relaxing voice.
This makes my life so much easier, I only now need to watch one RUclips channel to see the majority of what I’m interested in. You make an excellent RUclips photographer. I actually feel similarly when I pull a roll out of a tank to when I make a good siphon pot or another kind of weird coffee thing. This is an excellent hobby for you!
Is this the Willem/James crossover we've all been waiting for?
are you fucking serious?? omg i saw the notification about film developing from James Hoffmann and i was stunned for a moment, and then he bring out the rb67, i just melted bruh
Absolutely haha
and the music at 7:22 as well
Holy crap, the ending! I have a complete RB67 kit that my father bought in the 70's that was professionally restored relatively recently. I haven't shot with it in a few years, he bought it for weddings. This video feels so personal to me seeing the process of using the camera, thank you James. I won't make any critiques of the finished product for fear of sounding too hipster, but subjectively I love it.
I just wanted to say I’ve been following you for ages! I bought your book and it has actually helped a lot. Thanks for everything 😁
I thought I just can't like you as a person even more, but YOU'RE INTRESTED IN FILM PHOTOGRAPHY, MY GOSH!!! James, thank you for the video and accurate explanations. Your my number one role model!
"I recently got into old school photography" 11:08 - pulls out a pretty pricey, medium format professional grade studio camera (not one of those hipster plastic cameras or a run of the mill "previously owned" 35mm cameras found in an antique camera store) LOL
You can pick up RB67's with lenses for peanuts on Ebay. First one I found was $400.
@@tim_biller And that level of gear is built really well, and is very satisfying to use. But even a cheap Chinese Seagull TLR (6x6) is great - makes you slow down, compose, and think about your pictures.
I've had a Lubitel 2 since 1973. It's about as sharp as a piece of cheese, but it lit a fire in me for taking pictures that has never gone out.
@@tim_biller 'peanuts'
Joe Baker It certainly is compared to a new medium format digital camera plus a lens.
after 30+ years of doing mono photography I have never tried doing that and I have to say I am really surprised how well they came out! Well done James.
James : So I've been using Skillshare to hone my photography skills
Me: ok yeah its just and ad he's not really doing that *pshaw*
James: Ok so we're going to be developing film with coffee
me: I AM SO SORRY I EVER DOUBTED YOU
As a film photography RUclipsr myself and a lover of coffee, this is the crossover I never knew I needed.
And remember, don't drink the developing solution!
Given that the developer solution is basically coffee with vitamin C and a carbonate buffer, it would be less of a health risk than the fixer -- the fixing solution is real nasty stuff.
@@Stoney3K Yeah, I miss the smell of darkrooms but I don't miss smelling the chemicals on my hands for days afterwards. Like a chemical, egg-y, adic-y smell...
Holy cr*p! Those photos look AMAZING!
I mean, it's medium format, that thing is huge and packed with image resolution, but taking into account they were developed with coffee, I'd have expected them to look actually worse.
Congratulations for the great photos James.
so cool, definitely going to try this out! also thank you for the shoutout, means a lot that you’ve been watching my videos! 🙏🏾❤️
The stand-out most interesting video on RUclips so far. Period. I recall learning to develop photos as part of a qualification back in the 1990’s and it was tough but rewarding.
Guys, we've reached peak coffee. I'm scared
I think you mean we've reached peak Hoffmann
Nice photographic work, Mr. Hoffmann!
Loved the video James, a tip that has really helped me loading 120 medium format onto paterson reels is to snip the corners off the film before loading. that has really helped reduce the catching and snagging that can make the paterson reels a pain to work with.
As someone who admires film photography, may I just say...
Those photos were STUNNING James. I loved them and I know a lot of people did too. Much love from the Philippines
Yeah, when I saw them I was like “wait a minute, these are great!” up there with the best of the film photography youtubers
"Watch them load the film, but skip the part that's actually tricky" ain't that the truth of Film Photography channels. So good man, dope to see you getting into it! The photos looked great!
I wonder how many people have loaded their Mamiya and Hasselblad backs with the film backwards because of that.
Marrying my two great loves together - film photography and coffee. What a joy.
Great episode James, great images and good old fashioned science. I applaud you for choosing that BEAST of a camera. Enjoy the journey. :)
As a coffee and photography fiend as well as someone who loves exercises in frustration, this made my day.
It's not lifechangingly awful, just a little bit gross. Thats the description of my moka pot coffee
How can you possibly make bad moka pot coffee?
@@RobertoPavan Too coarse grind, bad water, too high heat, bad coffee...
Yes! Avid Film and Coffee buff here. Salute Mr. Hoffman!
So disappointed! 13.20 and you didn't even tell us how the developed film tasted?
Yeah, I was curious about mouth taste!
😉
Right up until he added the bromide probably could have been safe lol.
Household cleaner with a bit of ashtray at the end?
What I love about James Hoffmann is that he tries new things with coffee, which makes us entertained and gain some knowledge about it. I really like how you spice up things, which makes your channel unique from others. Also you inspired me to get into coffee making, specifically on espresso. By the way, photography is the best hobby to have, so happy to you're getting into it!
One more thing here is photography channel that I recommend, "ruclips.net/video/VArISvUuyr0/видео.html"
James please do a review of some semi automatic machines for the every day man, something for us blue collar guys. Something that you love and we can afford! Please and keep up the great work
Even the background music is a nod to the analog community. Love it!
New product line: Darkroom Roast
Surprise! It’s a light roast
As someone who has been using film as their medium in photography for a long time and having experimented with caffenol in my teens, seeing this video made me really happy. Nice one James! :)
"I want to make my life a little bit harder"
I like to hand spin yarn, because hand knitting is not slow enough.
LOL!
Wow! This was a big surprise. I usually watch your videos for the coffee but this is probably my favorite video. I have developed prints in caffenol-C. Thank you for posting this. You just became my favorite RUclips channel. ♡♡♡
Of course you're shooting an RB67. Good selection, it's a beautiful machine. A little bit of philosophy for you. Film photography captures and embeds the actual photons that were emitted in the scene at that moment in time. It's kind of amazing, at least to me. It truly is a physical artifact of a moment in time.
Great video....what a wonderful surprise to see film being developed on a coffee post! It is always a magical moment to see that the pictures have become visible on opening the tank.
Thank you, James, all power to Caffenol.
Wow posted 17 minutes ago... I’ve never been so early for anything.
This is so oddly satisfying. I started my love in coffee around the same time I dived into black and white film photography. Hence, none of my rolls went without a coffee shop photo. Seeing the photographs of roasting space just warms my heart.
My new life goal is to pronounce "vitamin C" like Jim does.
Premium coffee and film photography. This is the ultimate combination of FAFF, i love it!
"I wanted a hobby that was slow, that was difficult, that has no instant gratification, that has gratification that you really had to work for "- so you have to start with having children 😂
I have a lot more experience watching film photo videos than coffee videos, and I must say the results here were so much better than I've come to expect from the typical "I shot ______ camera at ______ location" youtube videos, both compositionally and in the look of the results. Very nicely done!
The "weird stuff" he says is the instant coffee
Aside from ordinary instant coffee, try using Robusta Beans, it’s more acidic in comparison to that of Arabica Beans. That acidity is going to aid in the developing process quite extraordinarily. I’ve done a test between the ordinary instant vs Robusta, there’s a subtle difference in the black and gray.
James “I want to be make my life harder” Hoffmann
Came for the coffee stayed for the photos!
Nice photos you take James 👍👌
when you use the same music as willem verbeeck...
James, you have the most soothing voice. You should have your own audiobook !
I know I'm super late to this video but I Cant express how much joy it brought me to see James shooting a medium format film camera. One side note I might point out is that Robusta beans apparently have a higher amount of caffeic acid which is why instant coffee is normally used.
Don't dispose the chemicals directly in the sink! There are silver halide particles in them (specially the fixer) from the film you used and without a proper filtering method they can go directly to groundwater. The proper way is to store them separately in sealed plastic bottles and label them (developer, stopper, fixer) until you can dispose them properly. In the UK I think there are local waste/recycling center that you can drop them off. Another solution is to contact local darkrooms/photo labs and ask them if you can send your waste chemicals to them.
Another tip: try using an apron when developing film because these chemicals can leave a stain in your clothes and they don't come out. And a pair of gloves as well because they can be bad for your health in the long therm. Safety first. :)
After all that: I love your channel! I'm learning a lot about coffee and was really surprised to see a video about caffenol here. Cheers from a Brazilian coffee lover photographer!
fantastic video! it's very nice to know that it can be done with real coffee and not the instant one :)
just for fun, I've experimented with Caffenol in the past. so I can tell you some useful tricks :)
1) fog is often high with this developer, so maybe you can try to use it with a slower film (because a small base fog is often industrially embedded in high-ISO films to boost film speed, to pass over the activation threshold). a small pre-existing fog will be wildly amplified by this developer.
2) you can try to lower the fog lowering the sodium carbonate and extending the developing time accordingly. try 2/3 of the carbonate, or even less.
3) if you use a slow (iodide-poor) film, you can use iodized salt as a restrainer (instead of the potassium bromide). I've done it and it works (even if the action mechanism is different). try 5 grams per liter.
3) you can substitute sodium carbonate with a concentrated extract of wood hash (which contains carbonates and sodium hydroxide). just infuse the hash in boiling water for long enough time (1-2 hour) and filter it. but be careful: the inevitable amount of iron embedded in the wood will act as a catalyser for the oxidation of the ascorbic acid, so mix it just before use
4) if you are very hardcore, you can try to substitute the vitamin C powder with a concentrated extract of ascorbate-rich vegetables. I've tried with peppers, but with inconsistent results up to now
5) don't try to fix the film in a concentrated solution of sodium chloride (leaving it there for 2 or more days), because no matter what you do, it will not dissolve the silver iodide (which is present even in the low-ISO films)
I'm sure you had fun! :D
As an avid coffee drinker that took up film photography a couple of years ago, this is the kind of esoteric content that I'm here for.
I did something recently that you may want to do a video on. I rejuvenated some somewhat stale beans in my microwave. I took roughly 4 double shots quantity of beans arranged in a ring on parchment and microwaved just till a bit of smoke shown. The result was pretty much like fresh roasted. I had bought a large bag of medium roast at a big box store expecting my wife to drink but she didn't... I am a dark roast fan. I happened to run out of my coffee, so having some experience roasting I thought what do I have to loose. I was more than surprised and delighted with my results.
Can't believe I missed this, two of my favourite things combined into one James Hoffmann video
Ha you actually did it! And glad to see you're using potassium bromide, it makes a difference.
If you want to avoid traditional photo chemicals completely you can also use a lot of salt diluted in warm water. Fixing will take a loooooong time, but could be a life saver if you run out of fixer and need to fix a roll.
Welcome to the caffenol family
I love watching your videos because I'm enlightened everyday to the things that coffee can entail; would never have thought of developing photographs in coffee. Very intriguing.
Nice photos. I love the contrast of older film photography methods on subjects using a dell monitor; the old and new. Great video, thanks.
As much as I love your guides and reviews, the bonkers coffee adjacent stuff you get up to is always my favourite.
Same here :D
This is the crossover content I’ve waited my entire life for
Just read your book, James. Fantastic to say the least. If anyone is thinking about purchasing it I would thoroughly recommend!
My worlds are colliding and i love it.
I love all the youtubers you tagged too!!
My two favourite things, Coffee and Photography. I used to load those darkbags all the time with my 35 and 120 film. Brings back some nice memories.
I can definitely see James becoming a world ranking medium format photographer. While sipping his coffee.
Hi James, just stumbled across this - thanks for posting such a detailed run-through. I have done a lot of developing in Caffenol and other plant extractions, but I'd always heard that fresh (and Arabica) coffee was not great for developing. I've just got hold of 10KG of waste dark roasted beans not fit for human consumption (first pass through a new roaster), so really happy to see that it works if extracted as espresso. BTW, Iodised Salt (at 20x volume of the required kBr) works beautifully, and is significantly less harmful to the environment, so I highly recommend it. Cheers!
I love how you combined two of my favourite hobbies together! Keep shooting!!
I used to do caffinole a bit. I've never tried fresh coffee. Using regular developer ended up being more economical. Its super fun though, and a great way to learn about how the chemistry works. You could try cross developing slide film or regular colour negative film in caffinol and see what happens. I had some really strange results doing that. And a couple last tips. Try pre-soaking the film in ordinary cool water for 15-20 min (you'll get some fun coloured water but don't freak out) I found that helped keep grain under control. And lastly, Stand Developing is interesting, its where you would keep the film steeped in the developer over an hour, and while strickly not necessary I recommend you do one rotation at the halfway mark. It takes longer but again helps with the grain. I mainly used 35mm film so the grain is more of an issue. You are one of my fav youtube people so thanks for the content! :)
Thanks James. I never thought I'd see a video where someone combined my two teenage hobbies. It bought a little tear to my eyes when I saw that Paterson dev tank.
This is fantastic, I took film photography all through highschool and I miss having such an easy access to everything, seeing thinks like this really helps me find affordable ways to get back into film.
I started with film photography and doing film and prints developing in dark room, then i cam across James, now i am developing filter coffee every morning
It reminds me when I was making printed circuit boards at home using vinegar, hydrogen peroxide, and table salt. Eats several millimeters of copper in a couple of minutes!
Equally satisfying is the moment you see the image forming on a print in developer while in the darkroom. I remember my friend's excitement seeing this the first time.
The most satisfying aspect of photography is cashing the clients cheque and realizing you got paid to mess around with cameras.
That was incredibly fascinating; never in a million years would I even think to think this was thing. Can't wait to see those photos!
Coffee, photography & film photography all you need now is to add some woodworking & that's my entire RUclips experience in one video. Great stuff, I've never tried developing in coffee?
James, 2 in a row. My son is still laughing. First, cloth filters now Caffenol. I use Caffenol CL and stand develop my FP4 for 70 minutes. I love the results on medium format and 4x5. I know it is hipster to do this, but I don't care. I have been rediscovering shooting film for the last 5 years after doing it for the first 30 of my life. It is a beautiful hobby and caffenol had made it even better. Nice shots. Loved the window. Surprised you were able to get that at box speed. I probably would have pushed it to 800 to avoid use of tripod. You need a good tripod with that beast. My 4x5 monorail is probably the same weight. I use instant but your use of real coffee is interesting me. Stand development is way cheaper CL would need less coffee I would think. If you do try it let me know your recipe!
C-L uses less soda, but the same amount of coffee. I've used it for Fomapan 400 and HP5+, usually at around 55 minutes the results are the best for me.