Caffeafine (Using Caffenol-C as 2 step developer)

A friend of mine recently told me about Diafine, a quite famous dual solution developer that is said to push mid tones by 1 stop. Diafine is a compensating developer, meaning you put in Solution A, let the film rest for 4 minutes with maybe 1 slow agitation per minute, pour out Solution A (both solutions can be reused) and then put in Solution B and let it develop further 4 minutes with agitation that is specific to the used film.

I was amazed about the tonality that the developer brings, and because I like experimenting, I thought why not try out something like that with Caffenol. Of course I knew that it will most probably not push the mids, and I cannot reuse the Caffenol mix, but it was fun for the experiment.

This is the procedure, that I used:

1. Mix 240ml water with 7 Teaspoons of Instant Coffee
2. Mix 100ml water with 4 Teaspoons of Washing Soda and add 2 Teaspoons of Vitamin C
3. Put the Coffee mix into the developing tank, agitate once per second for the first minute
4. leave it for another 2 minutes, agitate for 10 seconds every minute.
5. Pour out 100ml of Water and add the Washing Soda mix.
6. Agitate once per second for the first minute
7. Agitate for 10 seconds every minute for 9 miutes
8. Stand development for another 4 minutes.

I don’t think that the Coffee pre-wash did anything to the negatives, but this has to be proven.
So the plan is another experiment by comparing 2 same films in different developers. So stay tuned and meanwhile have a look ath the Caffeafine pictures, exposed in the range from 400 – 3200 EI:

Ilford HP5 Plus