Any folks doing home E6 processing in Canada?

[iandvaag]

My lab (Don's photo) has increased their E6 developing price to $12 per roll. I will still use them as much as I can, but I want to shoot more film than I can afford at that price.

I want good results and don't want to compromise archival qualities.

As far as I can tell, the only place I can buy E6 chems in Canada is Argentix. Unfortunately, they only stock powder blix-based kits that I'd rather not use for critical work. I would convert it to a separate bleach and fix, the problem being that I also cannot find a source of ammonium bromide at a reasonable price in Canada.

I'm crazy, and I would be willing to mix my own blend from scratch (I'd be ok with a ferricyanide bleach although I know its untested), as is described here, but I can't source all the chemicals in Canada (artcraft did ship me some CD-3, so maybe I'd be able to source some of the other chems from them as well).

I'm wondering, how do my fellow Canadians develop E6? Do you put up with the powder E6 kits? Or is there another source that I'm unaware of?

 

[Jeff L]

Hi,
Argentina site says they have liquid E6 kits. Blix though. Do they not stock them?
Have you tried Beau Photo in Vancouver?
I will probably start doing my own E6 at some point. Interested to hear what you find.
Good luck.
Jeff

 

[iandvaag]

You're right, they are liquid! Thanks for pointing that out. Since the kits use ferric ammonium EDTA, I can use the much cheaper and more readily available KBr to separate the blix into bleach and fix as described (there was a url link here which no longer exists).

 

[adelorenzo]

I buy liquid Tetenal E-6 kits from Beau Photo.

 

[dale116dot7]

I'm in Calgary, and I have used the Argentix kits and they seem to work fine but you do need to keep the temperatures under control (as with any colour process). Velvia 50 turns out a bit dark so I'd lengthen the first developer around 20 to 25% if that's what you are using. I ended up getting a Jobo CPE and I bought two of the the Fuji-Hunt 5-litre 6 bath E6 kits from Freestyle. I used WorldWide Customs to deal with the logistics of importing ORM-D and it was no problem - but it did add some cost. Maybe my cost for the chemistry is $7 or $8 per roll, unmounted, not including the 35 or 40 minutes of time, plus I use two litres of distilled water per roll for rinses. I bought the kit so I could do it quick-turnaround instead of waiting for a couple of weeks. If I was in a city that had overnight E6 processing available I would probably not do my own E6, the cost difference isn't huge. I do use proper PPE when mixing and running the process and I recommend that. VOC-rated mask, face shield, apron, big gloves, basically everything as recommended in the MSDS. The 6-bath chemicals seem to last about two months after being mixed, provided I use some of the chemical preservative - the stuff from Tetnal that contains mostly propane should work, I just use propane from a torch. Propane is heavier than air so it forms a layer right over the chemical and prevents oxidation. Good luck!!!

 

[shoot6x7]

Another word for Tetenal from Beau Photo and they even shipped from BC to Ontario !

 

[skorpiius]

I just wanted to thank everyone for all the great and helpful comments!

 

[Craig]

Depending on where you are, another option is get a kit shipped from Freestyle to the border and pick it up there and import it yourself. I use At The Border Storage in Sweetgrass Montana, they will hold a parcel for up to 90 days for a cost of $5 per package.

I'll often organize my buying and get stuff off Ebay or other US vendors that offer cheap or free shipping within the US, and then make it worth while to do a drive to the border. It's not too difficult to make it worth while since I have the 90 day window to shop.

 

[drmoss_ca]

Speaking from the vast amount of experience that comes from a single one quart kit from Argentix (!), I have to say I was surprised at how easy it was to use and how good the results were. I've just ordered another for the next eight rolls of film.

 

[iandvaag]

Thanks for sharing your experience, drmoss_ca. I've ordered a couple kits from them and am waiting for some jobo tanks and reels to arrive. Now to see if I they will arrive by the end of the summer given the impending Canada Post lockout....