Caffenol? Idle curiosity question: I'm wondering whatever became of the Caffenol developer? Does anyone still use it? As far as I can tell - from blogs I've seen

RiJoRi Loc: Sandy Ridge, NC

Idle curiosity question: I'm wondering whatever became of the Caffenol developer? Does anyone still use it? As far as I can tell - from blogs I've seen - it was "The Best Thing Since Roll Film" until about 2015 or so, then everything stops. Dead. No explanation, no "Goodbye, I'm going back to D-76", nada!

Just wondering...

rook2c4 Loc: Philadelphia, PA USA

I'm sure there are some who still make their own caffenol developer. Of course there are the many others who tried it once or twice, then decided that it was too much work and returned to buying developer. The rising cost of instant coffee may also have something to do with the declining interest in producing caffenol.

JohnSwanda Loc: San Francisco

It seems to me the main advantage to caffenol is making your own developer from household ingredients less toxic than conventional developers. Is anyone claiming it does a better job than conventional developers?

Pablo8 Loc: Nottingham UK.

Never heard of it (Here in the UK)

richardsaccount

RiJoRi wrote:

Idle curiosity question: I'm wondering whatever became of the Caffenol developer? Does anyone still use it? As far as I can tell - from blogs I've seen - it was "The Best Thing Since Roll Film" until about 2015 or so, then everything stops. Dead. No explanation, no "Goodbye, I'm going back to D-76", nada!

Just wondering...

There is a You Tube channel run by a fellow in Great Britain who lives on the Isle of Wight.
He has a video made in February 8th, 2019 titled, Caffenol developer, my first attempt.
The channel is, Shoot Film Like a Boss. His videos are fun to watch. He really enjoys analogue
photography.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

The articles I've read about it, it's a make your own. It seems pretty easy to do. I've been tempted but stick with what I know works and how it works.
--Bob

RiJoRi wrote:

Idle curiosity question: I'm wondering whatever became of the Caffenol developer? Does anyone still use it? As far as I can tell - from blogs I've seen - it was "The Best Thing Since Roll Film" until about 2015 or so, then everything stops. Dead. No explanation, no "Goodbye, I'm going back to D-76", nada!

Just wondering...

clint f. Loc: Priest Lake Idaho, Spokane Wa

My friend uses it. Gets wonderful results, though I’ve never examined the actual negatives. He uses a negative holder he built and “digitizes” them with his camera. The prints he makes look very good.

RiJoRi Loc: Sandy Ridge, NC

rook2c4 wrote:

... The rising cost of instant coffee may also have something to do with the declining interest in producing caffenol.

Could be; although almost all recipes call for "the cheapest coffee you can find." :D

Could

RiJoRi Loc: Sandy Ridge, NC

JohnSwanda wrote:

It seems to me the main advantage to caffenol is making your own developer from household ingredients less toxic than conventional developers. Is anyone claiming it does a better job than conventional developers?

Better? Not that I've seen. Equal to? Yeah. I understand it brings up details in highlights and shadows. And the price - economic and ecologic - is hard to beat.

RiJoRi Loc: Sandy Ridge, NC

Pablo8 wrote:

Never heard of it (Here in the UK)

I hadn't heard of it until a few weeks ago. I Google'd it and came up with blogs and the recipe book (PDF). Again, it all seemed to halt around 2015 or so.

RiJoRi Loc: Sandy Ridge, NC

clint f. wrote:

My friend uses it. Gets wonderful results, though I’ve never examined the actual negatives. He uses a negative holder he built and “digitizes” them with his camera. The prints he makes look very good.

That's what I understand. Guess I'll need to pull my frozen B+W film and shoot some test rolls!

morethancaffenol Loc: Buffalo, NY

I've been experimenting heavily with eco friendly developer formulae after finally deciding to try a Caffenol formula two and a half years ago. I'm still creating new developers. I haven't developed in a commercial film developer in two years. About half of my developers use no coffee, tea, beer, red wine, or simmered sweat socks lol.
I've used at least twelve different films for comparison. "Caffenol" is very much alive in my work.

morethancaffenol Loc: Buffalo, NY

I'll be posting more on the caffenol subject here going forward. We all are just borrowing the planet. Today's children and young adults will have to live with and try to solve the messes adults made for generations.

User ID

Pablo8 wrote:

Never heard of it (Here in the UK)

Tea drinkers ...

morethancaffenol Loc: Buffalo, NY

Green and black tea work. Most formulas out there for caffenol use instant coffee, which has no other purpose. One certainly shouldn't drink it. It's disgusting.