Saturday, October 19, 2019

Color Chemistry

I've been using the Unicolor C-41 kit from Freestyle for quite a while and have been very satisfied with it.  When I went to order a new supply, however, I found it was on back order.  So, I decided to give the CineStill kit a try.  The price was not much different and the instructions for use seemed very similar to those of Unicolor.  The CineStill liquid components are quite a bit easier to mix.  The results seemed very similar to what I was used to with the Unicolor product.







In addition to the somewhat easier preparation of the liquid components, the CineStill kit includes some useful information on push/pull processing and variable temperature development.  The information packet also suggests that developing time should be increased by 2% for each roll of film developed.  With that in mind I've made myself a little developing time chart to follow as I use the kit.  I've been able to get quite a few more uses from the Unicolor kit than is recommended, so I'll be interested in seeing if the CineStill kit performs as well in that regard.

I see in visiting the CineStill site now that the C-41 kit is now on backorder there as well as at the Freestyle site, and the Unicolor kit is presently unavailable as well.  A bit of a mystery.

3 comments:

Jim Grey said...

These look good. If you said you sent them to a lab for processing I'd not be the wiser.

Here's hoping the unavailability is only temporary.

JR Smith said...

Hmmmm....I wonder if a certain chemical is in universal short supply or....

Mike said...

It seems unlikely there has been a big rush of people wanting to buy c-41 developer. Maybe I will post the issue to Rangefinderforum to see if there is anyone there with insider info.