E6 film processor, process speed up

[jzagaja]

Is it possible speed up E6 by using concentrates instead of solutions I have an idea of rack procesor for 16mm Ektachrome (2253). Minimum amount chemistry and 1-2 minutes per bath would be nice.

 

[gzhuang]

If you're rich enough, why not?

 

[jzagaja]

Why reach?

 

[JOR]

Immersion times for the E6 process were determined by Eastman Kodak and cannot be ignored. The presentation of the concentrates will make no difference. It is the diluted chemistry that is important. Some vendors combine bleach and fix, which saves a minute or two but amending the first and colour developer times is very unwise. Carryover can be a significant problem in continuous processors with a leader. Make sure that the squeegees are functioning properly.

 

[jzagaja]

My idea is to print small tanks and insert with rollers so that working solution is small but circulation pump refresh solution from external bottle. Rollers distance can be changed required for FD or others if necessary.

Do you know nominal pH and specific gravity of Tetenal E6 3-baths?

 

[wildbill]

a bad idea.

 

[jzagaja]

a bad idea.

Lomo tank is brittle, capacity is 10 meters only or 20 with double spiral (2 litres solutions).

 

[gzhuang]

I think it'll only work for the First Developer?

 

[jzagaja]

Ok let's start design. Any suggestions for circulation pumps and air blowers (pressure needed 2 bars). 12V mini-pump made out of polyolefins should withstand solutions.

 

[wblynch]

Blowing air into your chemistry will oxidize it and kill the longevity. That's why Refrema machines use nitrogen.

 

[Photo Engineer]

Bad idea.

Color processes include diffusion as a factor. Therefore increasing concentration defeats the proper diffusion of the chemistry by changing rate of diffusion and swell.

PE

 

[jzagaja]

wblynch - circulation pump blows air?

 

[wblynch]

He said air blowers so I thought that to mean for agitation purposes...

 

[Rudeofus]

Kodak (and presumably other companies) invested significant research into speeding up all kinds of photographic processes, as exemplified by their C-41RA (rapid access) process line. Speaking of C-41RA: if you look at the process manual, C-41RA colour developer uses the exact same process times as the standard C-41 process, the real speedup comes from faster bleach, fix and wash procedures.

Where does this leave us with E-6? First of all, we have two separate developer steps, which apparently can not be sped up without sacrificing image quality (see C-41RA, but also PhotoEngineer's comments). Both E-6 developers are already quite concentrated (FD is mixed 1+4, CD is mixed 1+1+3 from their respective concentrates) and very active (E-6 FD would develop Tri-X in less than one minute at room temperature!), so increasing their concentration may not give you much faster action anyway. Also, E-6 material was never modified to use the faster Ammonium Ferric PDTA bleach, and with Ammonium Ferric EDTA bleaches you can't really increase concentration all that much with positive effects on bleach speed (say hello to ionic strength!).

This leaves you with fixer and washing, the only process steps which you can really speed up. You could presumably use the fixer from C-41RA and some aggressive washing procedure (38°C water, strong agitation, frequent water changes), but the overall process speedup will be less than 50%, and you'd need strong evidence that your high speed wash procedure keeps process liquid carry over under control and gives archival stability of your final result.

 

[jzagaja]

He said air blowers so I thought that to mean for agitation purposes...

no no - for drying
100-200 kPa sufficient?

 

[JoJo]

Maybe you should ask this guy here (text in german only):

http://www.echolot-online.de/Echolot/Entwicklung.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijmW9RFKYuI

Joachim