News

CineStill Film: B&W Monobath Developer

Bill ManningJune 19, 2018

In our interview with CineStill Film, they hinted they have a lot of ideas coming down the line for the film community in 2018. They kept their word! On Tuesday, June 19th, CineStill Film announced they’ve been working on a black and white monobath formula for the past two years: The Df96 Monobath Solution.

We have an exciting new announcement for you! We have been working on monobath technology for the past two years and finally have a perfect solution for B&W film. A modern monobath solution for modern film photography! We believe that this will not only get people interested in film developing at home, but will also improve the results of veteran darkroom enthusiasts as well.

This monobath solution simplifies the black and white development process by combining the developer, stop, and fixer into a single step. According to CineStill Film, the Df96 monobath removes the questions of developer dilutions, agitation times, stop baths, and overdeveloping. Ultimately making it easier to develop film at home for both novices and veterans.

Over-processing is impossible, because the fixing action overtakes chemical development while aiding physical development, creating better image uniformity and finer grain negatives.

Monobath solutions are nothing new. Monobath solutions go as far back as 1889. As you may recall, recently shutdown New55 made a monobath solution called the R5. However there were drawbacks with previous monobath solutions.

Our monobath is unlike home concoctions or old technology that failed years ago. Df96 uses a more effective processing technology (akin to D96 motion picture developer) that buffers fixing, and archival fixing agents that are more solvent and aid in breaking down the silver and redepositing it, to achieve crisp uniform grain and wide development latitude.

Previously mentioned, overdevelopment cannot take place. So how do you push or pull development? According to CineStill Film, that is easily answered. You adjust the temperature by +/-10°F per stop. CineStill Film includes a list of features of the new monobath developer.

FEATURES:

Ready-to-use processing for traditional B&W film in 1 bath
Worlds fastest process at 80°F in just 3min!
Flexible processing temperatures (70-80°F)
Instructions for processing at any room temperature included
Temp. tolerance is +/-2°F
For normal or push processing
Push/Pull processing by adjusting temp. +/- 10°F
Reusable, all-in-one solution.
Processes over 16+ rolls of film
Process 1-8 rolls at a time
Extremely versatile self-completing process
No special processor needed (use standard processing tanks and reels)
Fully archival
Economical!

Okay, less technical talk, let’s see some images. CineStill has provided samples across several different emulsion types. It will work across all black and white films, however it is formulated to work best with cubic-grain emulsions with high silver content such as Tri-X and BwXX.

Tri-X 400 Developed in Df96

BwXX EI 250 Developed in Df96

Tri-X 400 EI 1600 Developed in Df96

TMAX P3200 Developed in Df96

The final question out of all of this: How much does this cost? According to CineStill Film, a one liter kit is $16.99 and will process 16+ rolls of film. Once a roll has been developed, you pour the contents back into the bottle and add 15 seconds for each roll previously processed.

Available at CineStillFilm.com for only $16.99, and will distributed worldwide through our Dealers. 1L of reusable monobath solution will easily develop 16+ rolls of film. Simply pour the used chemistry back into the bottle and add 15 seconds for each roll previously processed.

Ultimately, we’re really excited to see this hit the shelves and we’ll be sure to get our hands on it to do some extensive testing!