A few weeks ago I found a cardboard envelope in a box of stuff. It was the kind of sturdy envelope that I used to send 4x5 colour film to the lab for processing. This one had “2 sheets Ektar 100, January 2015” written on the outside, but nothing else… I had no idea what was on the film inside, or why I never sent them off to be developed.

I had read somewhere that it is possible to develop C41 colour negative film in B&W film chemistry, so I gave it a go, and loads the two sheets of Ektar into my Unicolor drum. I took a wild guess and developed the film as if it were Ilford Delta 100 — 9 minutes in stock Xtol in the drum processor at 70F, with normal fixing. I was amazed at what popped out. The film still had the characteristic orange tint in the base, but there was a decent looking B&W image in there.

It was a pic of my teenage daughter, and based on the pic above, it was probably taken when I was playing with homemade lenses, which were usually some kind of magnifying glass lens rigged to a shutter. That would explain the soft out of focus and blurred edges… I have no memory, really, what I used to create the pic. DIY lenses was a phase I went through …

The B&W image on the C41 film was a bit dense, for sure. I don’t know if that was because it was overdeveloped or because the lens/shutter combo I likely used was inaccurate, causing overexposure. Maybe a combo of both. Printed on Ilford Multigrade RC paper at Grade 2 (no filters), although I suspect the Elgar’s orange base tint made it print more like a Grade 1 or 0 …

It was an interesting, unexpected result. I have 14 sheets of Ektar 100 4x5 left in my cupboard, and I suspect I will use the rest of it as B&W film in Xtol to see if I can figure it out. I think it might have great use for portraits, as the skin tones I see in this neg were really quite nice. They have a soft and luminous feel…