I love the way you always put philosophical books in the background

I have been using monobaths for awhile. Used to use R3/R5 but getting it seems to keep ending up being a problem and HC 110 is crazy expensive for making it myself. So when I saw that Cinestill was selling a monobath I figured I would give it a go. The fact that they have it available as a powder now also adds to the versatility.

Eduardo, you have the best photography channel out there! I love how you can explain things and talk about cameras, film, developing, etc. in such a conversational tone. It really puts the viewer at ease, especially newbies to film photography like myself. I am just starting to plan on developing my own film after shooting for less than a year, and I've found your videos to be quite inspiring. I will give Df96 a go, as it seems tailor made for someone like me just starting out. Thanks again for the great content and your easygoing style!

Started with a film camera just over a month ago. Decided on black and white with the hope of developing myself. I love this stuff cause I don’t need anything more than a tank, a jug of this, and a thermometer

It is really nice to see Fran in your photos. You guys are goals.

This is awesome. Developing for beginners is super daunting. I could actually see myself getting this. See if they can make you an affiliate link, lol.

Test rolls or not your compositions are always strong! Nice shots Eduardo!!! That Acros shots with the sun as backlight are lovely 😊

Want some developer, kid?

This stuff is great! I’ve been using It for a couple weeks, put about 4 rolls of hp5 120 through It and I’m real happy with the results thus far. I agree, probably not much room for experimenting and getting wild, but to get a good negative without much fuss, this is the jam.

I'm on my second jug of this stuff. Primarily processing 400TX pushed 2 stops regularly. I was able to process expired neopan ss as well. The timetables depends on how much you wanna agitate. I soup at 95 degrees 30s first agitation stand for 2 minutes then next 30s agitation and slowly pour it out (final agitation) at the 5 minute mark. I love it. For my use it totally beats buying D-76 powder, stop and fix. It's virtually idiot-proof.

Df96 has a 3 month shelf life. So what I do Is shoot 8+ rolls then start developing. Personally I love this monobath. I started using D76 but was not too happy with the initial mixing, then I switched to HC110 but realized that I was not a fan of mixing everytime I wanted to develop film, so I stopped shooting black & white. When this was announced I drove to Freestyle to pick some up. So far it's been great. I developed 2 120 film rolls in one night where I'll usually just do 1, and I love the results.

I was excited to see your review of this as soon as you mentioned that you had it. As a long time film photographer but complete developing newbie, this stuff sounds great. Great reason to shoot more b&w as well!

Thank you for this! I used it yesterday, to develop my first-ever roll of film. It was super-easy. And good to know about the Acros. It says somewhere that tabular grain film has to be processed for longer but maybe not the Acros? That's what I developed yesterday, at just the standart timing, and it seems pretty okay. (But I am a total noob so it's kind of guesswork.) Besides the simplicity, I really like it that it uses so little water. I have to haul my water in by hand so this is a real plus. Shelf-life is 2 months, once you've opened it.

I really enjoy the honesty in your videos ... you’re not afraid of failing and enjoy the journey - it comes through 👍

Just subscribed. Down to earth, funny, and a very talented photographer. Loved the video!!

no sé mucho de fotografía pero la verdad es que ver este vídeo con subtitulos me hará mas fácil el trabajo de aprender. Escucharlos en español aunque sea por ratitos siempre es tan grato. yeiii!

Thank you for reviewing this. I have some hp5 laying around waiting to be developed. Definitely trying this developer.

I have cine still c-41 I lost count how many rolls, but still going good ! I didn’t really add any 15 sec last one I did 4 (+30sec)for A and 9min (+1)for B Was hesitating on this ☝🏼, now I see it’s good 👍if Eduardo says so😎👌

I just developed the first roll of film in my life using this developer. Worked great and very easy to use.

yess! thanks for making this... been wanting to try it for a while now!

Thanks for turning me onto this stuff, Eduardo. The ease of use is probably going to finally get me to start developing my own film.

Chemistry lifespan: Expected shelf life is 1 year from purchase, and once opened should be used within 2 months. Film will still finish processing as chemicals age but will eventually produce thin negatives when developer is exhausted.

great episode. Maybe one of the best. I missed the drums tough

I love that 25 ASA film

Thank you for explaining this so well, I'd been interested in the DF96 but wasn't sure whether it would be good for me. Works out cheaper than buying my normal stuff and at the most I'm only developing a roll every week or two. I just ran out of DD-X so might just take the plunge!

This is a very helpful and informative episode, thanks. Except for a little motion sickness, watching you wash film while holding the camera, I very much enjoyed both the information and, especially, all the photos.

Thank you Ed for opening my eyes to CineStill df96, seems like an excellent product, especially for newbies and people with time constraints. I would expect its shelf life to to be extended by storing it it the refrigerator. I'm most interested to see what grain structure it gives with different films compared to normal developers. Cheers

Gracias Eduardo por la reseña, la estuve esperando ya que quiero empezar a revelar película b&w, disparo poco principalmente por el costo de los rollos y el revelado. Soy de Ciudad de México aquí solo conozco dos opciones los revelados "baratos" del centro con malos resultados por lo que terminan siendo un desperdicio de película y dinero; y el Laboratorio Mexicano de Imágenes, creo el más profesional que hay por lo menos aquí en la ciudad pero caro y me queda lejos. Quiero probar este revelador para empezar y talvez en el futuro probar con otros más "complejos". Saludos!!

Cinestill actually has pretty good developers. I use their C41 stuff to develop and am always pleased with the results

that thing is a dream for a newbie like me! can't wait to get some b&w film and try it at home!

I miss darkroom photography. Glad to see you are committed to it! :)

Man your Photos are Amazing !!!!They look so good

"30 conchetupico" fue lo mejor de ese monobath

What an amazing video! So informative, literally chalked full of good info!

The main reason why I wouldn't use monobaths is my doubt over it being archival. I recently scanned a couple of rolls of a documentary photographer taken some 15 years ago and she apparently wasn't very careful with her processing back then. It hurts when you lose images just through laziness! She wasn't very bothered because it was stuff from school, but I wouldn't want that to happen to any of my work! But then, I'm probably not the target demographic for this stuff anyway, I tend to process batches of 40+ rolls in my jobo 5 roll tank + rotary processor and leave the developer unused for months. HC110 is the best option for me. It doesn't really matter that it takes about 25 min for one 5 roll batch, because I don't have to babysit the processor, I just set a timer and go do other stuff. For me the bottleneck isn't the development, it's the editing. Dust spotting scans takes me forever!

Great video. Well done with an honest, helpful, informative review!

Fantastic!This will be a boost on film developing!

Great review and I’m stoked on your pushing results, but I’d have to disagree with one thing. Because of the 2 month shelf life after opening, I see it being more beneficial for the photographer who shoots a lot. You’d need to shoot about 2 rolls a week to get your moneys worth OR know that you have a big series or assignment that requires a lot of rolls. I’m using Ilfotec HC and Ilford rapid fixer. Just two chemicals.

This looks really exciting. Can't wait until it arrives in Europe.

Gracias por este video Eduardo, yo acostumbro el black and white casualmente. Me gustaría que lo uses más allá de los 8 minutos para ver si es possible. Siempre muy admirado con tu trabajo de fotografía!

I'm just about to jump into the world of developing my own film and I shoot very casually, so this seems like a perfect option for me.

Did not expect to see the phenomenology of spirit in the background...

Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit at the background rocks :D (Y)

Brilliant and really helpful Ed, thank you!

The problem with these is the expiration, they expire two months after opening it, so to make the most out of it you would have to shoot 16 rolls in two months. That leaves out the casual shooters, wich like you said were the main target of the product. Of course it is cheaper than developing in a lab but, like you said, in some cases it's more convenient to use other developers which have more shelf life and (in theory) give better results, even if the overall process is a litte more complicated than this

Great review, thanks. I only wish I would have had something like this years ago. I will definitely be giving this a try. I shoot 30-40 rolls a year typically so I can definitely see a place for this along side using my D76 + TF4 fixer combo for larger batches. Peace.

Hace poco revelé un Double-X 5222 con D-76, pensando en comprar el D-96, y ahora que lo pienso, este multiquímicos de CS, contendrá el mismo agente revelador que el Kodak D-96

Excellent video very informative & extremely useful. Alan in the UK

Yes ive been waiting for this!!

Looks simple, maybe I will try developing my first film some day. Thanks for the tip!

I should get some of this, I rarely get to shoot more than three rolls at a time and its usually box speed.

this is great for me. I have never developed film at all. So this would be a good start.

cuando empeze a ver modismos en los subtitulos me estrañe, pero cuando estabas agitando y dijiste conchutupico, lo entendi todo 😆. se agradece una opinion honesta de un producto, saludos!

Really interesting product. Thanks for the video

Very cool video Eduardo. At the 3:30 mark however you can see the msds labels for the monobath. Next time I would air on the side of caution and use gloves and goggles just to ensure you get none of it on your skin or in your eyes. It is classified as a mutagen and irritant and can increase your risk of developing cancer.

Cuando empezaste a contar en español dije “este weon es chileno!?” Y dijiste conchetupico 😂😂😂🫶 me muero, gracias!

Great Vid and the voice would also go with film too... the first roll is free lol.

Thanks, don't shoot much b&w and have only tried FPP's monobath which is limited to film up to 400iso but easier to use color film developing. Looking to branch out so thanks for the review!

Lasts for 16 rolls and 2 months once you open the container.

I wonder if you should be rinsing with distilled water, at a certain temperature. Tap water is kinda cold.

Greetings to your Kaiser

As for how long it lasts I think CineStill says once the bottle is opened it is good for 2 months. I wonder if stored in one of their collapsible bottle with almost no air if it would last a bit longer.

It looks like they only show the developement time for pushing/pulling one stop. What if I wanted to push HP5 2 stops?

Great video! :) Seems like a really interesting product. This might actually be what gets me into processing my own film instead of sending it off to a developer... I'm guessing there's no similar product for color film though?

Quality of results aside, the most efficient usage to exhaustion is going to exceed $1 per roll. Once opened, the shelf life per Cinestill is two months. If you are the casual shooter he contemplates here, that cost goes up to more than $2 per roll, and you throw out half used monobath which has aged out. That puts a pretty high relative cost on the convenience factor for df96. I'm not sure that using a monobath is a good teaching tool for beginners in the darkroom, as it is a dead end learning curve. It seems better suited to the person you doesn't want to learn anything more about film development than the bare minimum required to get a result, which is fine for a lot of folks..

My question is how does it work though. It develops, stops, and fixes it all at once??

Edu, sos un craaa

Nicr video came here becuase an awesome camera video , see you talking spanish were are you from? Yo soy de Puerto Rico saludos :)

How about the contrast? The sample online pictures look kind of flat to me but your pictures don´t.

even though i prefer english for everyday conversation yo tambien cambio a español cuando cuento.

Eduardo, when you are drying the film, do you use a squeegee or your fingers to get the excess water off? Going to try to develop my first two rolls using this process but forgot to get a squeegee. 🤦🏽‍♂️

Hi Eduardo. You show great results using Cinestill df96 with HP5 pushed to 1600. Can you tell me what temperature you used and for how long as the Cinestill pdf only shows 1 stop pushing to 800? Great work. Keep it up.

I am not sure it is ok to drop the used developer back in the container with fresh developer. Just saying. I tried this df96 once and I thought it was ok too but like you, I am unsure of the shelf life. However, as I don't shoot a lot sometimes, especially in winter (in Québec winter is ...really winter), I noticed after a while that there was a deposit in the container. At that point, I didn't want to mess with my films so, I dumped what was left. I'm wondering if anyone else experience this deposit thing.

have u ever tried Ilfotec LC29 expansive but will develop 50 35mm rolls @ a 1:29 ratio more done with a quality development

Interesting! Sad but can't find it in China tho... also including so many other chemicals

on the kitchen counter where you prepare your food ???????

I have tried to develop 3 rolls with Cinestill Monobath DF96 and Lab Box, and I have damaged all 3 rolls, I do everything according to the manual, and the videos I have seen on the internet, and the film is not revealed, the emulsion remains stuck to the film, the product is new, any suggestions? Thanks in advance

Someone get this man a funnel

Qué cantidad del químico se tiene que poner? O solamente con que cubra el rollo?

how did you make that voice?! @16:35

Is anyone able to comment regarding the shelf live? Really interesting question

Hello, can this developer work with fomapan 35mm 100,, I am waiting for a response, thank you..

Thank you so much for your review Brother. Have you had a chance to try it with Tri-X? I wonder if it retains its famous exposure latitude with this process. I am hoping to get back into photography after decades of life getting in the way and a simple process for small batches seems ideal.

Holas! Consulta ,como guardas los negativos? No se si ya lo comentaste en algún video pero seria interesante :D. Saludos!

What is your process for printing or scanning?

I'd love to see a video about how to get started developing your own film just sayin :)

Great I must get it 👌

Hey, Ed! I was wondering how you dried your chemicals! I'm having some issues with lines or scratches on my negatives! Thanksssss

Hola Eduardo, could you comment on the shelf life? Have you tried using it beyond the one month recommended shelf life? Thank you so much for all this info and your channel in general :)

Is it archival?

nice hegel book in the bg

can you prewash the film first to remove the stains? will it have any effect of the developer?

Yes but yes but .... getting the monobath to the right temperature is a really big pain! It is like doing colour without an automatic water bath - not recommended. Compare: I can mix a 1:3 ID-11 at 20℃ really quickly (

Your Pictures are awesome!! Which Scanner do you use ? Greetings from Germany

love it

Y que pasa con el fijador?..si no se fija la pelicula puede perder la imagen...creo???

Can you try Rodinal? I really want to know your opinion of it.

Thank you Eduardo. Very interesting. I will try it too. But man, stop teasing with Hegel :).

Hey! What are the pros of pushing your film to 1600?

Love your videos! I stumbled upon your channel while looking for anything Mamiya C330 as I recently got one. And now I am getting way ahead of myself and wanting to develop the rolls myself. And so I saw again one of your videos which is this on. Upon reading lots of forums I found out about "Cafenol", it's a household mix of coffee, ascorbic acid and some sodium carbonate (I think, not sure about the last ingredient). Anyway was wondering if you have heard and tried about it? Also, what rolls would you recommend for someone like me, a complete beginner in analog photography? Thank you!