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-   -   Economic Digibase C41 Developer (http://www.film-and-darkroom-user.org.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=13314)

John King 19th July 2020 06:52 PM

Economic Digibase C41 Developer
 
The current 1st Call website show they have a 5lt Digibase kit for C41 for £47.19 I have just started a Tetenal 2.5 l kit that cost me £10 more. I wish I had seen this 1st. The life of C41 developer is exceptionally good so I would be able to use it all with no wastage.

On the same section there is also a downloadable detailed PDF sheet giving the dilutions for very small tanks up to 1Lt. It actually sounds too good but it is there in black and white.

What I do like is the bleach and fix are separate baths which I feel with give fully bleached and fixed negatives negatives

alexmuir 19th July 2020 07:40 PM

I also noticed this, John. I can’t say that I would use enough film to justify the 5 litre kit, but it certainly looks like good value.
Alx



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Mike O'Pray 19th July 2020 08:02 PM

Isn't one of the additional pluses with Digibase that you can buy developer separately so if for any reason the developer has aged to a questionable extent before being completely used you can replace the developer by itself?

I also thought that Digibase does mini/midi and maxi kits to cater for users whose volume throughput can vary a lot ?

Mike

Mike

John King 19th July 2020 09:49 PM

Digibase
 
I have found that if you break into a large complete kit the life of the developer which is the part that 'goes off' is the one that is pale yellow. The other two are pretty stable, as are the bleach, fixer and stabiliser. So they can be opened and used as and when they are needed.

This decay can be put off almost indefinitely if you mix say 1 litre of working solution and store this in screw top glass bottles around 100cc which have neoprene inserts this will last around 6 months in full bottles.

The remaining 4/5ths of the kit can be made up as and when needed. The 2.5 litre kit I have just finished the last of a 1/2 litre of working strength solution was made up about 4 months ago and it performed exactly as if it were new. It was a little darker but absolutely nowhere near unusable.

After filling the small bottles with working strength solution I heat the bottles up to about 45C (I use an old microwave) and then screw on the caps. As it cools there is a partial vacuum formed and I believe this is what helps preserve the chemical.

Tom Kershaw 20th July 2020 10:34 AM

If you want a kit the Fuji one tends to be good value.

https://www.firstcall-photographic.c...-5-litres/p613

John King 20th July 2020 11:20 AM

Fuji Kit
 
Yes I agree but they have quite a number of bottles to make up a working solution including one where if only making up a small quantity and one of these requires only a few CC's which is difficult to measure accurately. I believe it is intended to make up all the 5L at one go which for some is not easy to store.

It is also about £20 more than the Digibase kit 5Lt kit.


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