20 Comments
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Heycameraman's avatar

I’ve only used cinestill color developing and been happy with the results. I’m curious what examples make the adox better for you versus cinestill?? I’m open to other developers glad you brought this up as an option.

Have a great day

Laz Abalos (Kansas City,Mo)

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Molly Kate's avatar

I have loads but can't share them in the comment section - maybe a future post? but the adox was far more clear, crisp, and colors were much much nicer and spot on. I felt I never got great color out of the box with Cinestill, always had to alter quite a bit at times. And the Cinestill weren't as clean as well compared to lab results. always good to have options! thanks :)

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Heycameraman's avatar

Thanks for the insight I’m just about at the end of my cinestill developer. I’m gonna have to give Adox a try. Thanks for the reply!

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Fuat's avatar

Your photos came out great!

In the cost breakdown, you don't need to factor in high res scans. Regardless of whether the lab developed the film or you did at home, you can still scan the film yourself at whatever resolution you are capable of...

I send my film to a lab because I don't feel comfortable with working with the chemicals in an apartment where I don't have a safe space to work.

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Molly Kate's avatar

thank you! and that's smart - better not to try to make it work if its not safe!

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Alex Luyckx's avatar

These look good! And no surprise it came from Adox, they're good people and know how to make developers! My trick with powder is a magnetic stirrer, which makes this pretty safe and fast!

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Molly Kate's avatar

Really need to get myself one of those lol and yes! Adox are top notch :)

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Rachel Brewster-Wright's avatar

Love love LOVE this Molly Kate! Thanks so much for sharing your experience with us. Beautiful images.

Can I ask what V600 scanner settings you tend to use? I have the V550 and it would be super helpful to be able to compare (if you have the time!) Rachel

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Molly Kate's avatar

Thank youuu!!! I scan using the regular Epson Scan software at Negative - Color Film - 48bit color - original size - 1200 or 2400 dpi to TIFF or JPEG depending. I have to reconnect my scanner to see if there are any other settings I missed though!

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Rachel Brewster-Wright's avatar

Aww thanks so much for the run down! These are very similar to the ones I set, so good to know ☺️

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Molly Kate's avatar

oh that's good to hear too! I'm always wondering if there are better settings I should be using but I've stuck to those now for a bit.

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scott norton's avatar

Thanks for the review! I have only used the CineStill kit and was never completely satisfied. I will definitely give this a try.

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Molly Kate's avatar

sure thing! see if it might give you better results that you like - it definitely did for me for the first rolls :)

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Poniatowski's avatar

Great article Molly. It is a shame that its liquid. Liquid chems are getting so problematic to get through the post and of course you're paying for water shipment in a big part. I use the Cinestill 2 powder kit due to postage issues. But it has increased in price 100% of the last 5 years here in Australia. I cross process 250D in it and I like the results - but I like the savings of bulk rolled 250D from 400ft rolls more :)

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Molly Kate's avatar

thanks! maybe they might make a power kit someday for better shipping, that's awful abotu the price where you are for Cinestill kit, guess the bulk rolling compensates lol

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Andrew Van nunen's avatar

great photos, the Ilfocolor looks great, from my shooting with Kodak Gold 200 and EkTar 100 this looks similar to both, Gold has more fidelity in the Green/red spectrum; and the EkTar has less visible grain, but still good colours, sharp, good job overall, esp. as its a home kit, normally from what others have said on YouTube, colour is finicky, exact temp and time, but this colour kit looks easy, like the Ilford 'simplicity' kit for Black & white {from YouTube videos of it}.

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Julian Rickards's avatar

Any idea as to how long the unmixed chemicals will last? I don't shoot colour as much as B&W which is why I've never invested in kits that force you to mix all of it and then only get 3 months before expiry.

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Molly Kate's avatar

good question! I can't remember if it said or not and can't find it. I imagine it might be something like a year or few but definitely something to research more. Yeah, that's tricky - sometimes, I'll wait until I have 10 or so roll to mix a kit for that reason but then its hard to wait too!

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Mark White's avatar

Thanks for this. I've been stockpiling my shot rolls of color with my Cinestill kit still unopened. The directions seem daunting! One thing you didn't mention is the shelf life of mixed chemicals. When Stored in collapsible bottles (to remove air from the chemical's surface) you can dev your estimated max # of rolls if you process them all within 6 months. That's my understanding from others who dev color at home. 6 months shelf life. But The shelf life can be reduced by 1/2 or more if stored with surface air.

I am not speaking from experience, but from many conversations and online instructions. So maybe you have a different experience?

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Molly Kate's avatar

that sounds about right - in my experience, the Cinestill kit isn't good after a couple months, but I store mine in black bottles that aren't the collapsible ones, they would make it longer with less oxygen exposure!

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