First time developing E6 (Lots of questions)

[Daft Vader]

Based on PE, processing at 75F for normal and pulled film is not a concern at all. For pushed film, processing at 113F (2 stops) with a duration of 06:15/07:00 for the FD is still recommended.

Interesting - is this from personal experience or did you find this online? I think maintaining a warm temp is ok, it's just maintaining any temperature that's the issue - with a few thermometers and some patience I'm sure I can get it to 38*C

 

[Daft Vader]

To the OP, please read all manufacturers' spec sheets concerning E6. You'll be able to filter out whatever humbug that's being posted in your thread if there's any.

Where did a reference to ISO 400 film shot at an EI of 100 come from? That doesn't apply to the OP's circumstances.

 

[clingfilm]

To the OP, please read all manufacturers' spec sheets concerning E6. You'll be able to filter out whatever humbug that's being posted in your thread if there's any.

I've found the instructions for the Tetenal kit, some JOBO manual for E6 processing (that is of questionable age), but that's it - I can't find any advice from Fuji on doing E6 processing of their films, unless it's with their 6Bath Hunt kit... I would appreciate all the .pdfs you've got if you have any to hand.

 

[Rudeofus]

A lot of these "instructions for processing film from vendor x in soup y" come from anecdotal evidence or experts posting about their personal experience, and may not at all be applicable to the setup proposed here. Note, that the precise conditions under which exposure is measured can differ by quite a bit and have just as much impact on slide appearance as differences in development regime. Experience reported by others can contribute only so much to your own work, at some point you have to start gaining experience yourself. Settle with some initial setup, try to be as consistent as possible, and then tweak the process to better match your expectations.

 

[Photo Engineer]

Try this: http://www.fujifilmusa.com/support/ServiceSupportContactForm.do?catid=464128&prodcat=879599

I can no longer find the URL with process instructions. You might try the Kodak site as an additional thought.

PE

 

[MattKing]

Here is the page on Tim Gray's excellent 125px website where he has links to archived Kodak technical documents, including E6 process manuals: http://125px.com/techdocs/kodak/

 

[clingfilm]

Note, that the precise conditions under which exposure is measured can differ by quite a bit and have just as much impact on slide appearance as differences in development regime. Experience reported by others can contribute only so much to your own work, at some point you have to start gaining experience yourself. Settle with some initial setup, try to be as consistent as possible, and then tweak the process to better match your expectations.

Very true - an extra minute of FD is, from the Tetenal development manual, half a stop of 'pushing'; almost intangible.

I agree with you totally; find a start point you can live with and then go from there. In absence of any word from Fuji, that start point for me will be Tetenals instructions : )

 

[clingfilm]

Here is the page on Tim Gray's excellent 125px website where he has links to archived Kodak technical documents, including E6 process manuals: http://125px.com/techdocs/kodak/

Dude this page is quite the resource - thanks for posting this : )

 

[clingfilm]

Try this: http://www.fujifilmusa.com/support/ServiceSupportContactForm.do?catid=464128&prodcat=879599
PE

I sent off an email to the UK and Japan (for good measure) offices this morning looking for help but yours was more specific so hopefully 3 messages to Fuji will do the trick : D thanks for finding the correct contact resource!

 

[Photo Engineer]

In about 1990, Fuji had to recall their first E6 film. It did not work properly, and they revised the process time as per this discussion (among other changes). I remembered this during this discussion because it was the same time that they had an ad - "Fuji film, from the people who brought you Pearl Harbor". It was quickly withdrawn and replaced by one "These eyes are more subtle and see color more accurately". The former is an exact quote, the other is a paraphrase.

They do suggest more FD time.

BUT, quit agonizing about this. Just process your film. Try each time with non-essential film. Do something but agonize!

PE

 

[clingfilm]

BUT, quit agonizing about this. Just process your film. Try each time with non-essential film. Do something but agonize!

PE

I'm on holiday at the moment so I can't start for another week or so; at the moment the agonising is keeping me from drinking all day

>>>> there are no 'non-essential' films

But in all seriousness, I know you're right - I should just get on with it. Hopefully Fuji gets back to us one way or another definitively so that in the future threads like mine don't need to be quite as long!

 

[Rudeofus]

Here is the page on Tim Gray's excellent 125px website where he has links to archived Kodak technical documents, including E6 process manuals: http://125px.com/techdocs/kodak/

I would like to add to this, that while Kodak's bleaching and fixing is quite different from Tetenal's BLIX, FD and CD are very similar (except that Tetenal's CD contains the reexposure chemical which comes in a separate bath in Kodak's chems). This means you can use many of Kodak's trouble shooting guidelines even with your Tetenal kit.

 

[clingfilm]

At the risk of dragging it up again, I got a response from Fuji about the extra minute thing;

Thanks for your email. I will try and explain the best I can but if you do need more infomration or wish to disuss please give me a call.

All films have an iso which depending on the film type and processing conditions it will change that iso. E6 traditionally is a 6 bath process which has to be set up correctly and be consistant. For example aggitation, temperature and time will all effect the density of the film processed. With a dip n dunk machine everything is consistant with 3 bath process this isn't so you will have some variables.

What I would do is set everything up so you know it's correct and consistant and process a clip test of one one of the films and check the density of the film after processing and then change dev time accordingly.

In short what I am saying is if film has been exposed correctly to the correct iso of the film and processed correctly you should get a good density of film. This is for all film types you shouldn't need to be giving an extra minute for certain types of film. It could be that for your set up you need to give an extra minute for all films which is why I recommend doing a clip test.

Hope this helps.​

The email was from Leyton Prosser who's job title is 'Technical Operations and Service Logistics Manager' for Fujifilm UK.

@Rudeofus @Photo Engineer @MattKing

 

[Photo Engineer]

Yep, all very true! Back in about 1990, when Fuji first introduced their new E6 Fujichrome, results were remarkably poor. It was withdrawn and later reintroduced with a recommendation of a longer FD development time than comparable Kodak films. This is where my information comes from. I may even be able to find the old Darkroom Techniques magazine that describes this problem.

I suggest you do as he says. He does not answer your question though.

PE