If anyone still has any worries about developing colour film. The amazing guys over at Niks and tricks decided to develop some colour film in a field... In a tent.... Using a wok pan 😂 showing how easy it is to use and develop with. You can check the video out here ruclips.net/video/lOlnNaS9WpU/видео.html
The principal difference between the Bellini kit and DIY kits from other manufacturers is that Bellini uses separate bleach and fixer, whereas others adopt the user convenience of combining such in a one solution "blix". This makes the Bellini chemistry more reliable, particularly as the solutions are reused for successive rolls of film. This separation parallels the true C-41 process. It is imperative that the emulsion be completely bleached for the fixer to then remove the undeveloped silver halide from the emulsion. In a blix, particularly as the solutions are reused multiple times, the bleach component can exhaust at a greater pace than the fixer, causing a veil of unfixed halide to be left in the emulsion. The only reason for a combined "bliix" is product marketing. A kit with fewer solutions and steps is "easier" or simpler", which may be great in the advertising department, but creates risk of product failure for the user. Even the Bellini kit cuts corners. To get exact development timing given its very short time period, a weak stop bath (just like B&W) can be inserted after the developer, followed by through wash before the bleach step. Adding another wash between bleach and fix will protect the fixer from being degraded by bleach carry-over. More steps, but better and more consistent, quality results.
@@studiojege287 Yes. I'd error on the side of a weaker stop bath solution, something like a 3% acetic acid solution, continuous agitation for 30 seconds, then dump and wash for 1 minute, also continuous agitation and water flow, or several individual water baths and dumps. Otherwise, just use a Kodak or Ilford standard stop bath, diluted for film use as directed. All you are doing here is replace the alkali developer solution with an acidic solution, which instantly ends the development process. In theory, you could use any number of chemical solutions to accomplish the same result, but you want to use something which will easily and completely wash out of the emulsion before you add the bleach or blix.
@randallstewart1224 Ok, I use a stop bath for B/W dev for the same reason. It would be my first color dev at home, so want to be prepared :) Should I do a water wash after the stop bath (not so with B/W, I use the fixer immediately). Thx for the tip!
@@studiojege287 Absolutely Yes! Most stop baths are acidic. You must wash that acid out of the emulsion so you have a clean, pH neutral emulsion presented to the bleach or blix. Otherwise, if this is your first time using a "kit" to process C-41 color film, you might first consider just using the kit as supplied without chemistry modification. While I have no concern over the positive value of my prior advice, there is something to be said for just rigidly following the kit's instructions Initially, so you get familiar with the quality of its basic results and confidence in your ability, before you start introducing process modifications.
@randallstewart1224 Good idea! Yes, I'm confident developing B/W and just bought the Cinestill C41 kit to try color. I have a bunch of expired cheap color film (still good because I've tested) and want to try first before taking on the real deal 🙂 Thanks Randall
Timely, I just got the Bellini kit from Nicks and Tricks last week. I've just recently come back to photography for enjoyment after 20 years of my cameras being hidden away in the loft. I was surprised to see all of my developing kit still in really decent condition, well apart from the expired bottles of B&W chemicals. Ordered some new chemicals and after a quick refresher processing my first film was easy and painless. After discovering and watching your channel I was inspired to shoot colour film, which I had never previously thought about doing, due to the same reasons you described of costs, time, etc.. So after a bit of research via the power of YT and the useful info on the Nicks and Tricks website I thought I would give it a go. Funnily enough the 2 rolls of colour I shot were down in Hastings amongst the fishing boats as well. Due to a bout of flu I've not had a chance to develop the film yet, so hopefully next week I will be able to get stuck in. As an aside I recently purchased a Yashica Minister III but it will not fire the shutter. I saw on one of your early videos you said these are prone to the shutter blades getting stuck, so I removed the selenium cell and the front lens and tried the lighter fluid trick but still no luck. If you cock the self timer and fire the shutter the timer counts down but does not fire. Not sure if it's worth trying to get it fixed as it only cost £17, and just put it down to taking pot luck when buying from eBay. Anyway, keep up the great content, it's always entertaining and inspiring.
Hello Russell, thank you so much for your comment. I'm not sure where to start but thank you!!! I'm so glad to hear that you are getting back into photography. It's always so great to hear that we have somehow inspired someone in some way and it really means a great deal to us to hear that! I hope your journey with colour film goes smooth and you get some amazing results. The Bellini kit is honestly so so so good! I'm sure you will have a great time with it. Hastings is such a beautiful spot, we absolutely love it down there... Which I'm sure the videos on the channel will reflect. There's some really nice spots in both directions of the coast as well but I can't give too many of our secrets away 😜 That's a massive shame about your yashica minister, sometimes it can be frustrating but do keep trying with it. I sometimes find they need a great deal of work on the blades for them to start becoming free. Stick with it, hopefully it will start working ☺️ they're worth the time putting into them to get them back to a working state! I still absolute love mine and quite often pack it in my bag ☺️ Once again, thank you so so so much! It really means a lot to us for you watching and recieving comments like yours. It goes a long way! Let us know how you get on with your kit and I really look forward to hearing from you again! Josh & Tom
@@OnlyAnalogue Hi Josh and Tom, thank you for you kind reply. I finally got some time to get developing with the colour kit, and I can't believe it, I got a successfully developed colour film. I really am quite surprised just how easy it is, and there are recognisable images on every frame. The only issue I had was getting the chemicals up to temperature, I used a bowl filled with hot water from the tap which wasn't quite hot enough to get the liquids inside the mixing bottle up to temp, so had to add water from the kettle to get really hot water and then the chemicals came up to temp, and off I went. It probably will be worth investing in a sous vide machine, but at £100, the Cinestill one is a bit pricey, so Amazon might be my friend here. Anyway, I'm chuffed with the results and now I'm set for B&W and Colour developing at home. Who knew it was this easy?! Now just need to invest in some equipment to scan all these films I will be developing😀
Nail on the head, Josh. Control over the whole process is the Holy Grail for most serious photographers. I wish a kit like this was available in the 70s when I was shooting weddings. There was always the fear that the lab would mess up, never happened to me thankfully, and cause major problems. Also, a great series of photographs to illustrate the quality of the Bellini development process. Peace George
Hey George! Thanks for watching ☺️ This was an interesting one for me to cover. But it's such a great product I really couldn't resist! Haha yeah I can imagine, i still get nervous when a lab has my film. Luckily the ones I have down here are absolutely brilliant but I can only imagine the stress of shooting a wedding on film. Thank you very much, that means a lot! Great to hear from you! I hope you're well ☺️ Josh
Thank you very much! I'm very pleased on how these came out ☺️ Give it a go, it's honestly extremely easy! Thanks for watching and commenting. I really appreciate it!
I've been using cinestill cs41 chemistry for last couple of years but I have heard great things about the Bellini kit. I'll try switching to bellini for a bit, just harder to find in the US.
Hi Josh, really nice video mate. I'm not sure if you remember me but I sold you a scanner a couple of years ago. Really nice to see you still keeping up with the RUclips videos and shooting 👍
Hey man, thank you very much! Of course!! That scanner has served me well 😂 Are you still shooting and developing?? Thank you for watching, it's great to hear from you!
@@OnlyAnalogue Still shooting a bit of film. I've been travelling this year and just got home so haven't been developing for a while but might pick it back up. I've like to try out some large format photography. P.S the Bellini chemistry is awesome!
Loved how informative this video is. One question: you mention adding to developer to extend life of total kit. Would you be able to explain more about how to do that?
Hello, thank you very much! Really appreciate you watching and commenting 🙂 Yes. So you can buy any additional bottles separately instead of buying the whole kit again 🙂 so once your developer starts to weaken and you start noticing the negatives aren't developing as well. You can buy extra developer to keep the kit going as the other chemicals will most likely outlast the developer and then once they're eventually depleted you can buy those separately as well! 🙂 Hope that helps! It really is a great bit of kit though! I've had some brilliant results out of it and it does seem to go a lot further than the recommended number of rolls on the kit 🙂
Hi there. Your photos are absolutely amazing, I can only dream of producing images like yours. Just wanted to ask, in your experience, how long do the chemicals last once mixed? I've used Cinestill c41 chemicals twice now, and both times they didn't last two weeks. I've developed my own black and white film for years and never had issues with it at all. Obviously black and white film development is one shot etc, but people say c41 is just as easy. I'm currently just sending my c41 film to a lab, I know people say it's more expensive, but if I'm going to have to buy a kit every two weeks a lab works out cheaper. I just wondered if this kit lasts any longer. Thank you.
Hello, the stabilizer goes straight in to the tank and straight back into the bottle again ☺️ you can use an extra bath in between to avoid extra contamination but you can keep using it until you start to see a dip in quality. Hope this helps 🙏 All the best, happy shooting ✌️
Hello, I haven't actually experimented with any push/pull developing in the c41 kit yet which is something I will eventually get around to. For expired film however, I shot the film a stop or two over depending on when it expired and developed it with the normal development times and had no issue at all ☺️ I hope this somewhat helps a bit. Thanks for your comment All the the best, Josh
If anyone still has any worries about developing colour film. The amazing guys over at Niks and tricks decided to develop some colour film in a field... In a tent.... Using a wok pan 😂 showing how easy it is to use and develop with. You can check the video out here
ruclips.net/video/lOlnNaS9WpU/видео.html
The principal difference between the Bellini kit and DIY kits from other manufacturers is that Bellini uses separate bleach and fixer, whereas others adopt the user convenience of combining such in a one solution "blix". This makes the Bellini chemistry more reliable, particularly as the solutions are reused for successive rolls of film. This separation parallels the true C-41 process. It is imperative that the emulsion be completely bleached for the fixer to then remove the undeveloped silver halide from the emulsion. In a blix, particularly as the solutions are reused multiple times, the bleach component can exhaust at a greater pace than the fixer, causing a veil of unfixed halide to be left in the emulsion. The only reason for a combined "bliix" is product marketing. A kit with fewer solutions and steps is "easier" or simpler", which may be great in the advertising department, but creates risk of product failure for the user. Even the Bellini kit cuts corners. To get exact development timing given its very short time period, a weak stop bath (just like B&W) can be inserted after the developer, followed by through wash before the bleach step. Adding another wash between bleach and fix will protect the fixer from being degraded by bleach carry-over. More steps, but better and more consistent, quality results.
Would the stop bath be the same product as for Black and White dev.?
@@studiojege287 Yes. I'd error on the side of a weaker stop bath solution, something like a 3% acetic acid solution, continuous agitation for 30 seconds, then dump and wash for 1 minute, also continuous agitation and water flow, or several individual water baths and dumps. Otherwise, just use a Kodak or Ilford standard stop bath, diluted for film use as directed. All you are doing here is replace the alkali developer solution with an acidic solution, which instantly ends the development process. In theory, you could use any number of chemical solutions to accomplish the same result, but you want to use something which will easily and completely wash out of the emulsion before you add the bleach or blix.
@randallstewart1224 Ok, I use a stop bath for B/W dev for the same reason. It would be my first color dev at home, so want to be prepared :) Should I do a water wash after the stop bath (not so with B/W, I use the fixer immediately). Thx for the tip!
@@studiojege287 Absolutely Yes! Most stop baths are acidic. You must wash that acid out of the emulsion so you have a clean, pH neutral emulsion presented to the bleach or blix. Otherwise, if this is your first time using a "kit" to process C-41 color film, you might first consider just using the kit as supplied without chemistry modification. While I have no concern over the positive value of my prior advice, there is something to be said for just rigidly following the kit's instructions Initially, so you get familiar with the quality of its basic results and confidence in your ability, before you start introducing process modifications.
@randallstewart1224 Good idea! Yes, I'm confident developing B/W and just bought the Cinestill C41 kit to try color. I have a bunch of expired cheap color film (still good because I've tested) and want to try first before taking on the real deal 🙂 Thanks Randall
Timely, I just got the Bellini kit from Nicks and Tricks last week. I've just recently come back to photography for enjoyment after 20 years of my cameras being hidden away in the loft. I was surprised to see all of my developing kit still in really decent condition, well apart from the expired bottles of B&W chemicals. Ordered some new chemicals and after a quick refresher processing my first film was easy and painless.
After discovering and watching your channel I was inspired to shoot colour film, which I had never previously thought about doing, due to the same reasons you described of costs, time, etc.. So after a bit of research via the power of YT and the useful info on the Nicks and Tricks website I thought I would give it a go. Funnily enough the 2 rolls of colour I shot were down in Hastings amongst the fishing boats as well. Due to a bout of flu I've not had a chance to develop the film yet, so hopefully next week I will be able to get stuck in.
As an aside I recently purchased a Yashica Minister III but it will not fire the shutter. I saw on one of your early videos you said these are prone to the shutter blades getting stuck, so I removed the selenium cell and the front lens and tried the lighter fluid trick but still no luck. If you cock the self timer and fire the shutter the timer counts down but does not fire. Not sure if it's worth trying to get it fixed as it only cost £17, and just put it down to taking pot luck when buying from eBay.
Anyway, keep up the great content, it's always entertaining and inspiring.
Hello Russell, thank you so much for your comment. I'm not sure where to start but thank you!!! I'm so glad to hear that you are getting back into photography.
It's always so great to hear that we have somehow inspired someone in some way and it really means a great deal to us to hear that! I hope your journey with colour film goes smooth and you get some amazing results. The Bellini kit is honestly so so so good! I'm sure you will have a great time with it.
Hastings is such a beautiful spot, we absolutely love it down there... Which I'm sure the videos on the channel will reflect. There's some really nice spots in both directions of the coast as well but I can't give too many of our secrets away 😜
That's a massive shame about your yashica minister, sometimes it can be frustrating but do keep trying with it. I sometimes find they need a great deal of work on the blades for them to start becoming free. Stick with it, hopefully it will start working ☺️ they're worth the time putting into them to get them back to a working state! I still absolute love mine and quite often pack it in my bag ☺️
Once again, thank you so so so much! It really means a lot to us for you watching and recieving comments like yours. It goes a long way!
Let us know how you get on with your kit and I really look forward to hearing from you again!
Josh & Tom
@@OnlyAnalogue Hi Josh and Tom, thank you for you kind reply. I finally got some time to get developing with the colour kit, and I can't believe it, I got a successfully developed colour film. I really am quite surprised just how easy it is, and there are recognisable images on every frame.
The only issue I had was getting the chemicals up to temperature, I used a bowl filled with hot water from the tap which wasn't quite hot enough to get the liquids inside the mixing bottle up to temp, so had to add water from the kettle to get really hot water and then the chemicals came up to temp, and off I went. It probably will be worth investing in a sous vide machine, but at £100, the Cinestill one is a bit pricey, so Amazon might be my friend here.
Anyway, I'm chuffed with the results and now I'm set for B&W and Colour developing at home. Who knew it was this easy?!
Now just need to invest in some equipment to scan all these films I will be developing😀
Nail on the head, Josh. Control over the whole process is the Holy Grail for most serious photographers. I wish a kit like this was available in the 70s when I was shooting weddings. There was always the fear that the lab would mess up, never happened to me thankfully, and cause major problems.
Also, a great series of photographs to illustrate the quality of the Bellini development process.
Peace
George
Hey George! Thanks for watching ☺️ This was an interesting one for me to cover. But it's such a great product I really couldn't resist!
Haha yeah I can imagine, i still get nervous when a lab has my film. Luckily the ones I have down here are absolutely brilliant but I can only imagine the stress of shooting a wedding on film.
Thank you very much, that means a lot!
Great to hear from you! I hope you're well ☺️
Josh
Those are some impressive images from an array of cameras and film stock. Some day I'll tackle my own color processing.
Thank you very much! I'm very pleased on how these came out ☺️ Give it a go, it's honestly extremely easy!
Thanks for watching and commenting. I really appreciate it!
Thanks for breaking down this complex process in a way a layman like me can understand, quality video 👍🏼👍🏼
Thank you Rory! Really appreciate you watching and commenting ☺️
Superb, just at the right moment, got the standard Bellini kit yesterday.
Thank you, oh that is excellent timing! Best of luck with it... But you honestly won't need it! It's a great bit of chemistry! Enjoy it 😁
Great to see the FujiPress in action again!
Love the Fujipress ☺️ still can't get it looking quite as good as yours though I must admit 😁 thanks for watching, great to hear from you!
I've been using cinestill cs41 chemistry for last couple of years but I have heard great things about the Bellini kit. I'll try switching to bellini for a bit, just harder to find in the US.
Hi Josh, really nice video mate. I'm not sure if you remember me but I sold you a scanner a couple of years ago. Really nice to see you still keeping up with the RUclips videos and shooting 👍
Hey man, thank you very much!
Of course!! That scanner has served me well 😂
Are you still shooting and developing??
Thank you for watching, it's great to hear from you!
@@OnlyAnalogue Still shooting a bit of film. I've been travelling this year and just got home so haven't been developing for a while but might pick it back up. I've like to try out some large format photography. P.S the Bellini chemistry is awesome!
Very nice work on the images. Love the Portra.
Hey Tony! Thank you very much! ☺️ I still can't get enough of portra 160. Great to hear from you as always.
Love this video your shots are sick really remind of what willem would do but with your twist
Thank you, Andy! I appreciate that ☺️
Loved how informative this video is. One question: you mention adding to developer to extend life of total kit. Would you be able to explain more about how to do that?
Hello, thank you very much! Really appreciate you watching and commenting 🙂
Yes. So you can buy any additional bottles separately instead of buying the whole kit again 🙂 so once your developer starts to weaken and you start noticing the negatives aren't developing as well. You can buy extra developer to keep the kit going as the other chemicals will most likely outlast the developer and then once they're eventually depleted you can buy those separately as well! 🙂
Hope that helps! It really is a great bit of kit though! I've had some brilliant results out of it and it does seem to go a lot further than the recommended number of rolls on the kit 🙂
Hi there. Your photos are absolutely amazing, I can only dream of producing images like yours. Just wanted to ask, in your experience, how long do the chemicals last once mixed? I've used Cinestill c41 chemicals twice now, and both times they didn't last two weeks. I've developed my own black and white film for years and never had issues with it at all. Obviously black and white film development is one shot etc, but people say c41 is just as easy. I'm currently just sending my c41 film to a lab, I know people say it's more expensive, but if I'm going to have to buy a kit every two weeks a lab works out cheaper. I just wondered if this kit lasts any longer. Thank you.
Good job on the processing and the video man. Keep it up. :)
Thank you very much, really appreciate it! ☺️
Hello, Im' wondering how you use the stabilizer ? Do you reuse it ? when do you make fresh one ? Best
Hello, the stabilizer goes straight in to the tank and straight back into the bottle again ☺️ you can use an extra bath in between to avoid extra contamination but you can keep using it until you start to see a dip in quality. Hope this helps 🙏
All the best, happy shooting ✌️
Are you scanning your negs, if so what scanner are you using. Great video
Epson v500 thank you for watching
Hi I was wondering what developing times you use with pushed film and expired film?
Hello, I haven't actually experimented with any push/pull developing in the c41 kit yet which is something I will eventually get around to.
For expired film however, I shot the film a stop or two over depending on when it expired and developed it with the normal development times and had no issue at all ☺️
I hope this somewhat helps a bit. Thanks for your comment
All the the best,
Josh