Doing E6 slide development yourself

[Willie Jan]

Is it hard to do the E6 development yourself for rollfilm (velvia)?
I see that freestyle has an arista E6 kit available.

 

[jmailand]

Its almost the same as B&W, just different chemicals, warmer water, and you have to agitate the film a little more. Mix up the chemicals with distilled water and they should keep for around 2-3 months, maybe longer but I haven't risked it. The kit lays out all the details. If you are experienced with B&W development you will have no problems.

James.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Is it hard to do the E6 development yourself for rollfilm (velvia)?
I see that freestyle has an arista E6 kit available.

Surprisingly easy, even in small tanks (use a bucket of water for temperature control) but even easier with a CPE2.

Kits are also available from Tetenal which may be cheaper for European postage.

Cheers,

Roger (www.rogerandfrances.com)

 

[Willie Jan]

Thanks james.

Are there any (large) differences between the developers of e6?

 

[jmailand]

I'm not positve on this but I think they get the kits from Tetenal. You can buy Tetanal kits in Europe. I would think the shipping would be much cheaper.

http://www.tetenal.co.uk/acatalog/COLORTEC__E_6.html

James,

 

[jmailand]

Thanks james.

Are there any (large) differences between the developers of e6?

I don't think so. I thinks its pretty much the same type of developer for all E6 processes so there would be a standard between labs. Others on this site would know for sure.

James.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Tetenal '3-bath' kits give instructions for varying colour balance via pH of colour dev; some others don't. And 'real' E6 is 6-bath though plenty (including me) are perfectly happy with 3-bath. Actually it's 4-bath: first dev, colour dev, bleach/fix, stabilize. Stabilizer is nominally optional but a very good idea.

Cheers,

R.

 

[Ole]

I've started doing my own E6 due to a lack of good local labs that can handle anything larger than 35mm. It's surprisingly easy with a CPE2 and a Tetenal kit. Even the 5x7" slides come out great from my paper drums, the only reason I haven't tried even larger films is that it's hard to find Ektachrome in 24x30cm.

 

[hka]

I use with good results the JOBO E6 kit. Easy handling and superb quality. Self life of the chemicals are also great.

 

[Kevin Caulfield]

I do E6 with Agfa, butwill obviously have to change suppliers pretty soon. It is easy and rewarding though.

 

[Willie Jan]

it sounds strange but often it is cheaper to buy it in the usa than in england for me...
besides that i regulary buy stuff from freestylephoto along with other guys to split the shipping costs. For example the fuji across 100 film (120 format) is 1 euro cheaper than overhere. The tetenal e6 kit costs 23 pound, that is something like 37 euro, but the arista kit costs $20 = 16 euro....

 

[Fotohuis]

Jobo chemicals = Fuji Hunt, they supply a lot of minilabs in Europe.
Tetenal E6 is 3 bath, not with all E-6 films 100% compatible.

 

[Monophoto]

Home-processed E-6 is easy to do. The main advantage is turnaround - you can shoot film, process it immediately to check results, and then shoot more film, all in the same day.

Economics is a consideration, and the key consideration is the exhaustion rate of the chemicals. The kits that I am familiar with were rated for 6x36 rolls of film, and if process six rolls the cost per roll was significantly less than commercial processing.. You could process six at once (you could - I wouldn't!), or you could process three batches, two rolls per batch, by extending the first developer a bit for the second and third batches to compensate for partial exhaustion. The problem is that shelf life of the working solutions is only about 30 days. If you aren't shooting a lot of film, its possible that the chemicals can become exhausted through age before they have been depleted by use, and in that case the cost of processing may exceed the cost of commercial processing.

 

[roteague]

Thanks james.

Are there any (large) differences between the developers of e6?

There are differences, the Kodak and Fuji (I believe) both have proprietary formulations. However, the differences are so small, most people can't see the difference. I'm sure Photo Engineer will see this thread and elobate much more than I can.

As for processing E6, I used to do my own all the time, but I used a Jobo processor. Quite easy to process.

 

[Tom Kershaw]

I understand that 4x5 film can be processed in a Jobo processor or combiplan tank etc. but what about 8x10 E6 and C-41?

Tom.

 

[Ole]

I understand that 4x5 film can be processed in a Jobo processor or combiplan tank etc. but what about 8x10 E6 and C-41?

I believe I mentioned larger films five or six posts up in this thread?

 

[srs5694]

I've used both Paterson Chrome-6 and Kodak E-6 kits. The Paterson was a 3-bath kit that was easy to use but it went bad fairly quickly. (The instructions claimed you could put two or three rolls through each solution, IIRC, but I always got poor results with the second roll, probably because the developer had gone bad by the time I processed it a few days later. Either the first or second developer -- I don't recall which -- turned very dark after a while so I ended up ditching about half the kit.) The Kodak kit is harder to use because it's more chemicals, all of which require mixing and dilution prior to use, so there's a lot of prep time involved. Aside from this issue, though, it's not particularly tricky to use, just a bit tedious to set up. Kodak advertises their kit as being for one-shot use, and that's the way I've been using it. I've had it for longer than I've had the Paterson kit, and so far it's still good, so I'd say the Kodak kit's shelf life (for unmixed chemistry, anyhow) is longer.

The Paterson kit is out of stock everywhere (AFAIK) at the moment because of Paterson's recent production problems. I don't know if they plan to bring it back when they get those problems sorted out.

 

[Flotsam]

Have a good, accurate thermometer and use a water bath as temperatures are very critical. Watch your times and agitation to keep everything consistant. And then enjoy.
Long before I had an enlarger, I started out in photography doing E-4 in a two-reel stainless steel tank in my basement. It is nice to see the slides that you shot in the afternoon that evening.

 

[fatboy22]

I just started doing my own E6 in a JOBO this summer, it is very easy in the JOBO. I use Kodak one shot chemistry, a 5 liter kit is $50 and you can mix just enough of the concentrates to run the film you have. All films have come out perfectly so far. Its really nice not having to depend on a lab anymore! Besides they all closed up in my area, I didn't have much choice. Lots of used JOBOs on EBAY.

Jamieson

 

[Alan9940]

I've processed many 4x5 chrome films in Expert Drums on the Jobo with Tetenal chemistry. Very straightforward and the film comes out fine. As a matter of fact, unless you use a lab that processes E-6 in a "dip-n-dunk" system, rather than roller transport, you'll find home processed in the Jobo is better than most labs.

Good luck!

 

[Paul.]

Yep dead easy. Ive done it in the garden in summer, the kitchen in winter and now use the darkroom because it is there. I use Tetenal chemicals, buy the 5 litre kit, due to house move finished my previous kit 3yers after it was opened, slides came out fine and the kit had been stored in the attic for over 2 years.
Use washing up bowl to hold tempering water and small tank to process, ensure correct temp. of chemicals and water and provided you can load the tank in the dark it can be done anywhere its that easy, the kit has all instructions and is multi lingual.
Buy the kit and go for it , you will not be disapointed.
p.s. I use Fuji sensior and multi speed films.
Regards Paul.