Fuji-Hunt 6-step E-6 Now Available In USA

Ken Nadvornick · Aug 6, 2015

Fuji Hunt Chrome 6X E6 Processing Kit - 5 Liters

Just to give this its own thread in order not to miss any who might have been waiting for this to become available. These kits are now available for order from our good friends at Freestyle in California.

Availability is stated to be August 21st. However, I just successfully placed an order for a single kit.

These are classified as ORM-D hazardous items for the purpose of shipping, and so may only be shipped by ground transport within the continental USA.

My understanding is that these kits are a trial to see if there is sufficient general interest at the listed price point. So if you might like to see these kits continue to be available, you may wish to consider placing an order.

Ken

Oxleyroad · Aug 6, 2015

This is good news Ken. Thanks for posting.

I'd been wanting to use this chemistry in Oz but left the country before I got around to ordering it in from the UK as others do. I'd be using this chemistry for developing my Ferrania 16mm home movies amoungst other reversal films.

Alan9940 · Aug 6, 2015

Hi Ken,

It looks like whatever quantity is needed at a time can be mixed from the concentrates. Any idea of the shelf life of the concentrates if stored under cool conditions? And, I'd probably decant into smaller brown glass bottles and/or use Protectan.

Thanks!

Best regards,
AlanH

Ken Nadvornick · Aug 6, 2015

I found this PDF of the instruction manual. Don't know how current it is.

Fuji Hunt Chrome 6X Processing Kit Instructions 5L

At the top of page 3 is a section Storage of Solutions. But it appears to only discuss storage of already mixed solutions and not unmixed concentrates?

Ken

rbultman · Aug 7, 2015

What are the advantages of this kit over others?

Thanks,
Rob

Rudeofus · Aug 7, 2015

Rob, the main claim to fame of this kit is that it uses separate bleach and fixer instead of BLIX, which makes processing more elaborate but results are claimed to have better archival stability. IMHO it is still much cheaper to convert a BLIX based E6 kit into one with separate bleach and fixer, but I guess some people will pay extra for having a complete kit from a reputable manufacturer plus less hassle with self mixing stuff.

rbultman · Aug 7, 2015

Thanks Rudy. I saw your article on creating separate bleach and fix. I'm just getting into home processing of C-41 and E-6 and have bought the Arista 1L kits for first attempts.

Correction: I have the Arista E-6 and the Unicolor C-41.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Ken Nadvornick · Aug 7, 2015

Rudeofus said:
IMHO it is still much cheaper to convert a BLIX based E6 kit into one with separate bleach and fixer, but I guess some people will pay extra for having a complete kit from a reputable manufacturer plus less hassle with self mixing stuff.

That's as may be. But I'm not looking to save a few dollars on this adventure. I just want to give the process a try. I've never done home E-6. It's been on my bucket list.

I've got the darkroom and all of the necessary processing equipment, including precision temperature control. If I'm going to go to all of the trouble to do this, why not just do it right the first time out? I can always cut corners later if the mood strikes me.

If I can get the process under repeatable and reliable control, I will then also give 8x10 transparencies a try. Those are on my bucket list as well, and I have everything I need there too.

I thought the idea here was for everyone to do what they could to use more E-6 film and supplies in order to help support that market. Not to find DIY ways to use less of those things, which in the long run can only hurt that market.

Ken

Alan9940 · Aug 7, 2015

Ken Nadvornick said:
I found this PDF of the instruction manual. Don't know how current it is.

Fuji Hunt Chrome 6X Processing Kit Instructions 5L

At the top of page 3 is a section Storage of Solutions. But it appears to only discuss storage of already mixed solutions and not unmixed concentrates?

Ken

Thanks, Ken. Yeah, the instructions talk about storage life of already mixed solutions. I'll try to find an answer regarding the concentrates and post here, if I'm successful. I'd like to give this kit a try, but I'm not doing a lot of E-6 at the moment; therefore, I'd have to have some assurance that the kit would last awhile before I'd spent the $$.

Best regards,
AlanH

Rudeofus · Aug 7, 2015

Ken, I'm not trying to dissuade anyone from getting the original kit, and especially to those, who try C-41/E-6 for the first time and are unfamiliar with home brewing, I would highly recommend to stick with a kit until they get comfortable with the process.

About shelf life: I can only speculate, but would assume this: First developer and color developer won't be much different in shelf life from Tetenal's offerings. Bleach, fixer and STAB concentrates will last seemingly forever, much better than Tetenal's BLIX components. I'm not sure about the reversal solution, but if (there was a url link here which no longer exists) is an indication, then I would expect shelf life comparable to what you get from FD and CD. I'm even less sure about the prebleach bath, but would dare a guess that it lasts quite some time.

Oxleyroad · Aug 8, 2015

Polyglot here on Apug, if I am correct, uses this chemistry and has stored partially used concentrates. He might pipe in and tell us, or correct me.

Ken Nadvornick · Aug 26, 2015

The initial delivery to Freestyle of these six-step E-6 processing kits has happened. These kits are now listed as In Stock. I also received notice this morning that my preordered kit has shipped.

Fuji Hunt Chrome 6X E6 Processing Kit - 5 Liters

Ken

wildbill · Aug 26, 2015

I think they accidentally added a 1 to the price. At $199, it's 4x what I paid for my last kodak e6 kits. I just cannot justify the costs. I AM glad they're doing it, maybe other vendors will follow.

Ken Nadvornick · Aug 26, 2015

While I understand price point sensitivities, it's still only two-thirds the cost of commercial 6-step E-6 processing, with the added benefit of free push/pull services and one-hour turnaround for those willing to hustle.

Film photography is no longer, if it ever was, for the faint-of-wallet. I too am glad they're doing it. But if someone doesn't buy it, they won't continue doing it. One of the unintended consequences of 'cheap' is often 'extinct'...

Ken

wildbill · Sep 2, 2015

Ken, you can get that kit cheaper by ordering it online and paying the high shipping costs from germany. I looked into it and felt it wasn't worth it (last year). At even more $$$, Freestyle's price makes no sense.

guyjr · Sep 22, 2015

Well after quite an absence from the forums I just discovered today that this is available in the U.S... finally! I will absolutely be ordering two of these, but am a bit disappointed that the current ETA is December.

I have been using the full six-bath process for a few years now, and as a home hobbyist, I have always stuck to one-shot processing. I try to save up several rolls and run them through the Jobo all at once so as to keep the volume of chemistry used as economical as possible, and so, even with this high a cost, I estimate that it is around $5.55 to process one roll of E-6. Not a bad price point at all IMO.

I have imported these kits from both Macodirect and AG-Photographic in the past, but my understanding is that nowadays both of them will refuse to ship these overseas. So... Freestyle is pretty much the only source if you want this kit.

I did try the Tetenal 3 bath kit this year after I ran out of the Fuji, and so far haven't noticed much difference. But... seeing as the difference is supposed to lie in the long-term archival properties, I will gladly pony up the extra $ for the full Fuji kit.

Sorry this post is long-ish... I am really very very excited!

dale116dot7 · Dec 31, 2016

So far I've run through three of the Fuji-Hunt 6-bath E6 kits with excellent results. I feel that the colour palette of Velvia 50 seems just a bit better and smoother with the 6-bath kit than with the 3-bath kits I have tried - in particular I find that the 3-bath kit seems to have a slight yellow cast and a slight disconnect between the dye colours with certain subjects where the 6-bath seems just a bit more natural. I have also never had a process failure with the 6-bath kit and a Jobo except when I experimented with mixed solution life and I have had two runs of the 3-bath kit go sideways (dark, magenta cast). The 5 litre size is perfect for me, I usually use up 4 to 5 litres in 6 to 8 weeks - 6 weeks is the published life of the mixed chemistry though at 8 weeks I can't see any difference. At about 12 weeks it goes south pretty quickly for me. It is definitely worth the extra money to me.

mshchem · Mar 28, 2017

dale116dot7 said:
So far I've run through three of the Fuji-Hunt 6-bath E6 kits with excellent results. I feel that the colour palette of Velvia 50 seems just a bit better and smoother with the 6-bath kit than with the 3-bath kits I have tried - in particular I find that the 3-bath kit seems to have a slight yellow cast and a slight disconnect between the dye colours with certain subjects where the 6-bath seems just a bit more natural. I have also never had a process failure with the 6-bath kit and a Jobo except when I experimented with mixed solution life and I have had two runs of the 3-bath kit go sideways (dark, magenta cast). The 5 litre size is perfect for me, I usually use up 4 to 5 litres in 6 to 8 weeks - 6 weeks is the published life of the mixed chemistry though at 8 weeks I can't see any difference. At about 12 weeks it goes south pretty quickly for me. It is definitely worth the extra money to me.

What 1st Developer time do you use with Fujichrome? I've got Velvia 50, 100 and Provia F. I'm planning on using 38C ? The dopey instructions with the kit kinda leave you in mid air?
Best Regards Mike

dale116dot7 · Mar 29, 2017

I use 7:30 for Velvia shot at box speed and 38C in a Jobo with lift. I use 10 to 15 second drain times depending on the size of drum. Tony Santo had 7:30 on his youtube video, I went with that and I get results I like. I think that goes along the same lines as those that say Fuji Velvia 50 is closer to 40.

mshchem · Mar 29, 2017

dale116dot7 said:
I use 7:30 for Velvia shot at box speed and 38C in a Jobo with lift. I use 10 to 15 second drain times depending on the size of drum. Tony Santo had 7:30 on his youtube video, I went with that and I get results I like. I think that goes along the same lines as those that say Fuji Velvia 50 is closer to 40.

Thank you my friend. This is exactly what I plan to try first. I'm going to use my fancy auto bracket feature on my F5 . I'm going to shoot the first roll using +/- 1/3 EV, probably shoot some using my trusty Minolta incident light meter, then let the fancy 3D color matrix meter in the camera decide. I refuse to surrender, I'm going to shoot slides, color negative film and develop the film and print the negatives and watch the slides on a screen. I also shoot 2 1/4 slides which are like the IMAX of home slide shows.
I have had good luck with processing Ektachrome with Kodak's 5L kits in the past, but that was all inversion in a small tank in a water bath. I used the 3 bath Tetenal and got good results with the Jobo and Fujichrome Provia F.
Tony Santo did a great amount of work producing those videos. Pretty fun to watch. The work it takes to get into the field to make 8x10 chromes! Very impressed.
Best Mike

sdzsdz · Nov 1, 2017

Hello Guys. Very interesting thread! After using Tetenal 3 bath kit so far I also wan´t to try the original 6 bath process with my Jobo ATL 2. The films I use are Velvia 50 and Provia 100F. I plan to use the chemistry as one shot. My Drum needs 270ml of mixed solution. But I still have some questions:

- are there new informations about shelf life of the first developer. My Tetenal FD is chrystalizing after 6-8 weeks despite of brown glass bottles and protecting gas.
- Does anybody know the Minimum amount of FD concentrate per film roll?
- I used 6:30min at 38°C with my Tetenal kit and I am happy with the results. On different threads I read about 7 or 7:30min for the Fuji FD. Should I really develop a Minute longer than with the Tetenal kit???

I would apreciate ANY hint because the Information about this kit on the WWW is very thin.

Best regards, Sebastian

Rudeofus · Nov 1, 2017

E6 FD from Tetenal and Fuji will be very similar in composition and action, therefore you can use instructions and hints, but most importantly: your own experience, interchangeably.

RattyMouse · Nov 4, 2017

Too bad this is an old thread. I thought Ken had returned!!

Fuji-Hunt 6-step E-6 Now Available In USA

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