I realized the other day that my fixer solution is over a year old. This may be acceptable, but my Tri-X negatives, which are normally transparent, have already begun to look purple (a sign of expiration). It would be nice to have an advanced warning for something like that! (TL;DR — get advanced warning for expired/exhausted chemicals with Chem Log — analog.cafe/app/chem-log).
Today’s update, Analog.Cafe v3.32.46, adds the long-overdue 2-level warning system to the Chem Log and Film Log (analog.cafe/app/film-log) apps. If you use either of them, you’ll get a yellow or red warning when your chemicals are nearing their end.
I’ve tuned the warnings to the following expiration and exhaustion thresholds:
*Bleach & C-41 developers* will get highlighted with a YELLOW warning after 1.5 months or 12 rolls. This is generally a safe amount of film for both 500ml/pint and 1L/quart; however, a RED warning — 3 months or 20 rolls — will be a significant issue for the pint-sized volumes and warrants action for the larger ones.
Note: You will need to toggle your developer to “C-41” to get these warnings. You can do this on the Chem Log homepage.
*Fixers* will get highlighted with a YELLOW warning after 6 months or 100 rolls and a RED warning after 11 months or 120 rolls.
*Stop bath chemicals* will get highlighted with a YELLOW warning after 11 months or 100 rolls and a RED warning after 14 months or 120 rolls.
*Prebath chemicals* will get highlighted with a YELLOW warning after 1.75 months or 15 rolls and a RED warning after 5 months or 30 rolls.
These approximate expiration times and roll counts are based on datasheets from Ilford, Arista, Kodak, and others, as well as personal experience. They assume storage in tightly-capped containers with little or no air inside the bottle (collapsible bottles can be a big help: analog.cafe/link/collapsib…).
Clicking the warnings displays a pop-up with the relevant expiration or exhaustion thresholds from above, along with the time elapsed, in months or weeks.
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I already have a few yellow and one red in my chemistry inventory. Gonna risk it until I have time to get replacements. Wish me luck! 😅
Dmitri