Another go with Caffenal and Kodachrome

Managed to snag some ascorbic acid this morning... haven't been able to find any locally for months now. But with some in hand now, resumed my project of shooting some old Kodachrome and developing it in caffenol.

I just fired off 6 frames to test the solution, and the ascorbic acid sure makes a HUGE difference. Without it, the film was dark and muddy, with very little contrast. Took a lot of editing to even get a decent image.

Add the ascorbic acid, and the negatives just pop right off the film base!



Pardon the water spots..... this was just a test run.

480sparky said:

Managed to snag some ascorbic acid this morning... haven't been able to find any locally for months now.

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What is ascorbic acid used for? I've only heard of it as Vitamin C.

Is there a significant difference between Citric acid and Ascorbic acid in this process? I don't think the negative needs the nutritional benefits of the ascorbic, and the citric is about 1/2 the price...

hark said:

What is ascorbic acid used for? I've only heard of it as Vitamin C.

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My understanding is it helps the coffee develop the image better. And if this test is any indication, it does.

FredKingston said:

Is there a significant difference between Citric acid and Ascorbic acid in this process? I don't think the negative needs the nutritional benefits of the ascorbic, and the citric is about 1/2 the price...

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I'm not sure what the difference is, at least for developing K40. But all the caffenal recipes online have ascorbic acid (hence the name caffenal-C).