C41 in ecn2?

pbromaghin · Feb 26, 2022

Lots of people put ECN2 film through the C41 process with varying degrees of success. But how would C41 film do if put through ECN2 (skipping the removal step)? I'm getting impatient waiting for enough rolls of exposed Visions3 to justify mixing up the kit, but do have a few rolls of Portra and Ektar laying around. Has anybody tried this before?

Joshua Reisbord · Feb 27, 2022

My experience says yes, you could develop your C-41 films in ECN-2 chemicals. However, like what happens with Cinestill the density of the negatives will be less, and the colors will differ.

Although Cinestill 800T was originally Vision3 500T, a film designed to be processed with ECN-2 chemicals, this video highlights what you could expect.

Auer · Feb 27, 2022

Portra 800 in ECN-2, Bleach Bypass.

Portra 160 in ECN-2. Bleach Bypass.

All shot with a Pentax 645N so 120 film.

koraks · Mar 1, 2022

Auer said:
Bleach Bypass.

That's probably crucial as ECN2 developer by itself and with the recommended ECN2 processing parameters will yield very low gamma/contrast images.
I assume you (or the scanning software) did fairly extensive color corrections on these images. They look nice; I kin dof like the muted palette you got on these. I am concerned if it would translate to RA4 prints, but perhaps that's not relevant for you.

Raghu Kuvempunagar · Mar 1, 2022

koraks said:
They look nice; I kin dof like the muted palette you got on these.

+1

Auer · Mar 1, 2022

koraks said:
That's probably crucial as ECN2 developer by itself and with the recommended ECN2 processing parameters will yield very low gamma/contrast images.
I assume you (or the scanning software) did fairly extensive color corrections on these images. They look nice; I kin dof like the muted palette you got on these. I am concerned if it would translate to RA4 prints, but perhaps that's not relevant for you.

I dont print color, so these were mostly a fun experiment.

Other than using Silverfasts orange mask removal I did not post much besides a very light crop as I scan with somewhat excessive borders usually.

Unless I take my film to a lab, developing color for me is pretty much always with bleach bypass, I much prefer the look and find it easier on my eyes.

pbromaghin · Mar 1, 2022

Thanks, lots of great advice. For the time being I will remain paralyzed by indecision and shoot some more Vision 35mm.

ludwighagelstein · Apr 16, 2022

it works well, you get a bit less gamma, but they scan really nice.

C41 in ecn2?

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