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

[snaggs]

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.

 

[Nick Zentena]

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.

 

[Mick Fagan]

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.

 

[David Nardi]

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

 

[radiantdarkroom]

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.

 

[Rolfe Tessem]

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.

 

[snaggs]

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.

 

[Tom Kershaw]

Daniel,

Did you buy the ATL-1500 new or used?

Tom.

 

[snaggs]

Used So I can't complain too loudly.

Daniel.