Caffenol, developing negatives with the power of coffee!

Over the last 25 years, I have used a lot of different cameras, developers and film.

With all the digital technology available, I am still most comfortable shooting with a film camera.  I enjoy shooting with the most basic of manual operating cameras, over the sophisticated and mulch-dialed cameras of today.The process of loading a limited amount of frames or holders, going out into the environment, using a light meter and your gut to determine a good exposure is pretty fantastic. I find the slower I work, the better my photos are. In digital you may cull the best image from a group of 20. Heck 4 more frames and you've shot an entire roll of film!

One thing that I have been more conscious about is what happens to all the chemicals that are used in developing film. I have always been an environmentalist, and it is nice to know what you are putting down the drain.

Photo developers are all mostly pretty nasty, they contain harmful chemicals that can effect fish and wildlife. I started using Eco-Pro developer about two years ago. It is a lot more environmentally friendly developer.  I haven't had the time to shoot multiple rolls of film lately, so the mixed developer would go bad before I had a chance to use it up.

I was looking for a one shot environmentally safe photographic developer. After searching the internet, I finally found what I was looking for: Caffenol!

 According to Reinhold G, author of "The Caffenol Cookbook Bible," coffee based developers have been around since WWII. In 1995 Caffenol developer became an alternative means to traditional photo chemistry. The addition of vitamin C and washing soda has made it a better and more stable developer. For more history on Caffenol check out this link.

So what exactly is Caffenol developer? There are many different recipes, but the basic formula is four ingredients:

Washing Soda
Instant Coffee
Vitamin C
Water

That's it!

Here are the ingredients for making a batch of Caffenol C-M all weighed out and ready to be mixed together.

Since I mix a lot of chemistry for different process (wet plate, cyanotype etc.) this was a breeze. Add the three ingredients one at a time, let it sit for a few minutes and then use it as a developer.

Caffenol developer all mixed and ready to use.

 The only drawback is the pungent odor that comes from mixing coffee, washing soda and vitamin C together. It is, well, a strong fishy smell to describe it best.

I took a test roll of 35mm Ilford FP4-Plus (125 ISO), put it in a beater of 35mm camera a Mamiya/Sekor 1000 DTL, and shot away.

The results were very surprising. The Caffenol developed the 125 ISO film to look more like Tri-X 400 ISO film. There was a little more grain than I expected, but overall the film came out great. The old Mamiya camera has seen better days, and the shutter curtains do not sync anymore. So I had 3/4 frame developed negatives rather than the full 24x36 mm frame that usually comes from a 35mm SLR. Accidents are sometimes nice, and because of the shutter problem the images have a Holga-esque look to them.

Snow, trees and the Salt Fork river behind my house. I love the way film renders all the different gradations of lights and darks, and does not blow out the highlights or block in the shadows.

A close up of one of my prairie plants.

I am very happy with Caffenol, and will be using it to develop film from now on. I need to tweak the developing times, or possibly try one of the many formulas available, to find the right film and developer combination. Other than that, I am glad that I found an environmentally friendly developer that can do the job of other more expensive commercial (and more harmful) developers on the market.