4X5 E6 occasional home processing

I need a little advice when it comes to E6 home processing. I do fine in the B&W realm, but color is not something I have ever ventured into. Here's where I'm at. I have probably 100+ sheets of Fujichrome 50D and a few more sheets of Fuji 50T film. I'd like to pack a couple of holders loaded with the Fuji when I go out to shoot 4X5 B&W and then process them at home. I don't think I'll have a problem catching on, but I'm wondering how to contain cost.
Questions????? What kit do I buy? Can I replenish it? How long will the chems last? Or do I store up shot film and process it all at one time, then discard the developer. I have a SP445 developing tank and plan on using that. I also have a roller drum that holds eight sheets, but would like to use the SP445 tank if I can.
If I remember right the Unicolor 6 step kit would allow you to mix up just the amount you needed at the time, but that was with kit's about 30 years ago and I don't know if there are kits now that allow mixing just what you need.
If this works for me I will try my hand at 8X10 processing since I have 75 plus sheets of Fujichrome D and T. I'm just trying to do this as economically and efficiently as possible.

Thanks,
JohnW

Hi

Look here: https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/any-tips-on-developing-4x5-e6.187597/
Others and myself wrote some detailed posts in this thread about E6.

Chris

Freestyle carries a number of kits.

https://www.freestylephoto.biz/category/13-Chemicals/Color-Chemicals?attr[]=30-141

As does Photowarehouse also know as Ultrafine.

https://www.ultrafineonline.com/cophch.html

What is critical is temperature control.

Thanks guys! I think I’m going to just grab a 3 chem kit to test if I can do it and also how my film has weathered the storage. Is there any 3 chem kits that are better than others?
JohnW

Good question, my best guess is that all 3 are rebranded from the same manufacture. Last I processed E 6 I used Kodak, so price, or rapid vs standard, depending on your temp control method it may be easier to keep temp with the rapid kit.

Paul Howell said:

Good question, my best guess is that all 3 are rebranded from the same manufacture. Last I processed E 6 I used Kodak, so price, or rapid vs standard, depending on your temp control method it may be easier to keep temp with the rapid kit.

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Yes, it's probably 6 to 1 and a half a dozen to the other. JohnW

I've done well with my first two E-6 3-bath kits. I think they were both Unicolor rebranded? It wasn't really hard. I just used a sous vide water bath to keep everything at temperature. I'm also using a separate large bucket with a sous vide to warm up unfiltered wash water.

With a Jobo processor and the 3010 Expert Drum or equivalent, color processing is no harder than black & white processing. I always save up enough film to run batch after batch to use up the color chemicals in two days, so I always start with fresh chemicals and do not worry about the color chemicals again or getting cross contamination.

Sirius Glass said:

With a Jobo processor and the 3010 Expert Drum or equivalent, color processing is no harder than black & white processing. I always save up enough film to run batch after batch to use up the color chemicals in two days, so I always start with fresh chemicals and do not worry about the color chemicals again or getting cross contamination.

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My Tetenal 3 bath kit just arrived from Freestyle. I'll be using an older Imagemaker 8 sheet tank on a roller base so we'll see what happens. I'm not going to try this until after the holidays, but will let you all know how bad I screw up when I do. JohnW

John Wiegerink said:

My Tetenal 3 bath kit just arrived from Freestyle. I'll be using an older Imagemaker 8 sheet tank on a roller base so we'll see what happens. I'm not going to try this until after the holidays, but will let you all know how bad I screw up when I do. JohnW

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It is as easy as falling off a moving motor cycle.

Sirius Glass said:

It is as easy as falling off a moving motor cycle.

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Hey, I was really good at falling off a motorcycle after I left the pub! Sounds like I can handle it ok. Oh, I got older and wiser about the motorcycle riding. I sold the damn thing. Then I quit drinking cuz it wasn't any fun anymore not falling off the murdercycle. Johnw.