C-41 & E-6 for Jobo ATL-1500

My ATL-1500 arrives on wednesday, so I'm ready to start cooking. As I understand it so far, since I have an automagic machine, I should run the 6 part E6 process.

I can only get Tetenal and Kodak chemistry here in 5L kits (Fuji I have to buy in 10L kits). I want the most consistant results, and the less powder mixing the better.

Other than Velvia, I think I'm preferring the Kodak colour films, though I havn't compared Fuji 160S vs Kodak Porta extensively.

Q1. Can I develop Fuji neg films in Kodak C41 soup?
Q2. Can I develop Fuji Velvia in Kodak E6 soup?
Q3. Is there any reason I'd want to use Tetenal instead of Kodak?
Q4. How many 4x5 negs can I develop from a Kodak 5L kit?
Q5. What B&W developer should I use for HP5+ and FP4 suitable for Jobo?

Thanks,

Daniel.

Q1. Yes C41 is supposed to be C41.
Q2. Yes E6 is supposed to be E6. Jobo used to recommend different times for older Fuji film in their machines but I don't know if they still do.

Q4. Just grab the docs off the Kodak website. How many you can do will depend on your tank and not just the chemicals

Q5. I find D-23 1:3 works fine in rotary but you'll want to test what you like best.

Chemicals for photographic paper purposes as far as I know, tend to be designed to process a square metre of material per litre.

I'm not sure about film development chemicals, they are probably designed in a like manner but not necessarily so.

All of the small kodak and the now defunct Agfa kits for E6 and C41 that I have ever used, mentioned a rate of 8 rolls of 135 film per litre.

Each roll of 135 uses an almost full 8x10" paper for contacting purposes. Therefore 8x4 = 32 sheets per litre is about the maximum you should be able to get.

In practice however, especially if you do one shot processing for E6, you will find things a bit different.

If you are on a developing binge and running a serious amount of film through in a weekend, then a partial replenishment system may work quite well. I would suggest you download the documents off Kodak's site as Nick suggests.

C41 will be very similar.

With B&W sheet processing of HP5+ & FP4+, I suggest you find what you can get locally, then learn to develop your negatives to suit your intended purpose, which in your case I assume isn't for an enlarger.

I myself have recently and quite successfully gotten 4x5" FP4+ down to pat with Kodak D76 1+1, which is effectively the same as Ilford IDII developer.

If you haven't developed B&W film before, see if you can find someone to help you in the initial stages. B&W developing is quite variable and if you don't know what you are looking for you can go in circles a bit. That said it isn't hard.

The colour developing is more or less straight time, temperature and agitation, with very clean equipment and solutions.

Mick.

I have a Jobo ATL-1000 which is identical to the 1500 except for the user programmable feature. My answers are as follows:

Q1. As Nick mentions C-41 is C-41.

Q2. I develop Fuji Velvia in Kodak E-6 all the time with wonderful results.

Q3. If I had a choice to process in a 6-step process (Kodak) vs a 3-step process (Tetenal; not sure if they have a 6-step) I would choose the 6-step every time. E6 6-step is the industry standard. I actually get cleaner, seemingly more brilliant colour films than the labs with my machine. You will love the 1500. I beleive you can push/pull a little more with the 6-step process and you have much better (truer) longevity potential.

Q4. I can do 100 4x5 sheets in the Kodak 5L kit. Thats 20 sheets per litre. The large drum can handle 12 sheets; the small drum 6 sheets; and then I load the small drum again with only 2 sheets on the outer guides (closest to the drum wall) to finish off the litre of chemistry. I have 3 4x5 film reels for speedy changes.

Q5. Since I focus mainly on colour I have little reference for B&W developers in this unit.

Cheers,

David

David S. Nardi Photography
(647) 444-4959
david@davidnardi.com
www.davidnardi.com

Dev Fuji E6 film for 30sec longer than Kodak to get correct density. Use distilled water for rervesal and color developer. Any B&W developer that is usually used with said film will give excellent results in Jobo.

The cheapest solutions are the Kodak 5 liter kit for E6 and the Tetenal 5 liter kit for C41. B&H will not ship the Kodak kit but Adorama will. I used to use Tetenal for both E6 and C41, but Tetenal raised their prices by a serious amount on the E6 6-step kit and it now seems unavailable.

I use an ATL-1000 and get great results with both. Mix up 1 liter at a time into glass bottles and the chemistry lasts a long time, so no worries there.

Thanks all.. gone for Tenenal in C41 and Kodak for E6. Just waiting for it to arrive. In the meantime, I need to get the thing setup. My wife doesn't want it in the kitchen, so I think I'm going to have to get the portable water kit for it. Do I need the immersion heater?

Now, I also didn't get many of the reels etc. Can someone tell me what tank and reels I need to order for 4x5 processing? 6 sheets should be sufficient.

Regards,

Daniel.

Daniel,

Did you buy the ATL-1500 new or used?

Tom.

Used So I can't complain too loudly.

Daniel.