Recent, Large Price Drop on Jobo E6 Kits... Kodak E6 Chemistry Possibly Incoming?

[Scott J.]

I've been keeping an eye on a few online retailers (primarily Cinestill and Freestyle) to see when Kodak's new 5-liter E6 kits will finally be available. The release date of these kits has been getting delayed -- and then delayed some more -- for the last several months, with the most recent update from Cinestill suggesting they might be available by the end of this month (January 2026). Still nothing yet, but interestingly: the price of Jobo's 2.5-liter E6 kits has just been slashed in half on Cinestill's website, which I think must have happened only in the last few days.

At first, I wondered if these were simply short-dated kits that Cinestill was looking to sell before they officially expired, but the website makes no mention of this. I also know the Jobo kits had only recently been restocked by Cinestill because I received a restocking email about it a few weeks ago, so that would seem to argue against the idea that these are just short-dated kits.

Given that the listed per-liter price of the Kodak kit (~$120/5 liters) is considerably less than the (former) price of the Jobo kit (~$130/2.5 liters), one is tempted to speculate that this might be a move to bring the Jobo pricing more in line with Kodak's. And if so, perhaps the Kodak kits will be available imminently?

 

[MattKing]

Cinestill are the worldwide distributors for the Kodak branded photo chemistry, now manufactured by the new licensee, Photo Systems.

 

[gordrob]

Are the Kodak 5L E6 kits going to be available in Canada?

 

[MattKing]

I communicated with Photo Systems and Cinestill early on when the Kodak branded photo chemicals made by Photo Systems started appearing. Cinestill responded and indicated they were still looking for Canadian retailers and local distributors.
They (Cinestill) responded quickly to my enquiry initiated through the Photo Systems Kodak website: https://kodak.photosys.com/pages/contact-psi

 

[BMbikerider]

I don't use E6 because of the cost of the film, but taking into consideration that Kodak branded C41 developer is again available in UK I would think on balance that it may well be.I am a low user of C41, now following the demise of my NOVA processor, but the 2.5 litre kit that I opened around 6 months ago is still very much in pristine condition after all this time indicates it has also had it's concentrate life improved with no drop off

 

[Owlch]

There’s a small caveat to me for the Ilford/Jobo kit. It states the roll capacity at only 4/L for normal, standard processing time without replenishing or reuse. The same applies to their C-41 and ECN-2.

I’ve used both Kodak and Bellini kits, and both of them stated capable of 8/L one-shot. I’m just a bit uneasy for the idea of extended dev time than standard to achieve higher roll capacity. I also personally find Kodak’s C-41 kit perform better than the Ilford one. YMMV.

 

[mshchem]

There’s a small caveat to me for the Ilford/Jobo kit. It states the roll capacity at only 4/L for normal, standard processing time without replenishing or reuse. The same applies to their C-41 and ECN-2.

I’ve used both Kodak and Bellini kits, and both of them stated capable of 8/L one-shot. I’m just a bit uneasy for the idea of extended dev time than standard to achieve higher roll capacity. I also personally find Kodak’s C-41 kit perform better than the Ilford one. YMMV.

I think the 4 rolls is correct if you're using a larger tank, not 1 shot. It's standard chemistry.

 

[pentaxuser]

At first, I wondered if these were simply short-dated kits that Cinestill was looking to sell before they officially expired, but the website makes no mention of this. I also know the Jobo kits had only recently been restocked by Cinestill because I received a restocking email about it a few weeks ago, so that would seem to argue against the idea that these are just short-dated kits.

Given that the listed per-liter price of the Kodak kit (~$120/5 liters) is considerably less than the (former) price of the Jobo kit (~$130/2.5 liters), one is tempted to speculate that this might be a move to bring the Jobo pricing more in line with Kodak's. And if so, perhaps the Kodak kits will be available imminently?

I wonder how this is possible? Was someone price "gouging" if that's the right word?

pentaxuser

 

[Scott J.]

I wonder how this is possible? Was someone price "gouging" if that's the right word?

pentaxuser

I don't think so -- at least, not at the retailer level. For example, Fotoimpex currently sells the same Jobo kit for 83.19 EUR (without VAT and before shipping), which works out to about 99 USD. So, if you factor in shipping and US tariffs, 130 USD in the US seems on-par with pricing in Germany.

If the price drop to 65 USD is real and persistent, I'd guess someone (presumably Jobo) is reducing the price to remain competitive with the forthcoming Kodak kits... though, we're still waiting for those to be released.