Help: Where to find E-6 chemicals in Montreal, Canada

MrT · Jun 18, 2008

Hello all,

Does anybody know where I could find manageable quantities of E-6 chemistry in Montreal?

Nobody has the small Kodak kit anywhere around, and the local distributors have only huge quantities to sell (like 25 gallons, and only in batches of 4 at a time) I would't mind for the money but I couldn't use it in time because of the shell life. B&H doesn't ship chemistry out of their store.

I just bought a used Jobo on EBay, and was hoping to develop my 4X5 Provia and Velvia at home. I feel like I bought a car after the last drop of gas on earth was used

Thanks in advance for your help.

Tudor, Montreal
Canada

PHOTOTONE · Jun 18, 2008

You have to face the fact that NO ONE on the local level is going to stock small quantities of photo-chemicals for color processes anymore. You must get used to mail-order. Kodak markets E-6 chemicals in concentrates to make 5 gallons of working solutions. These packagings are fairly manageable for the higher-volume amateur. There are other vendors (in North America) that market their version of E-6 chemistry in 1 gallon mixes. Kodak may still, I don't know, as I have always used the 5 gallon size. You can certainly get all the chemistry you want, probably from within Canada, but you will just have to mail order. I own and operate my studio and lab in a relatively small town in middle-USA. I have had to mail-order EVERYTHING for the last 20 years. Kodak has changed its order policies in ways that make it very difficult for a small retailer to order anything..rather they have to go thru a middle-man. If you have a "Kodak" dealer in your town they "might" be able to order what you need, though, or might not.

Terrence Brennan · Jun 19, 2008

Try Claire Vrana at JD Photochem: Dead Link Removed.

Michel Hardy-Vallée · Jun 19, 2008

Have you called Photo Service? http://www.photoservice.ca, the last time I was there I saw an old E6 kit laying around at the back of the store.

Otherwise, you should be able to order pretty much anything Kodak if you have the catalog number.

Mike Wilde · Jun 19, 2008

consider adding to a local photofinsiher order?

Find a local guy, and sweet talk him into showing you his catalog of chems. My local guy deals with Kodak via Mondrian Hall - I order individual bottles of the 6 bath (plus stabilizer) e-6 line. Some products come as 2 or 3 bottles worth of 10L per box. The Bleach, and Fix concentrates I leave as is. There is also a 5l kit with all the needed chems. Some are sold as replenishers only, and need a starter, and some are used at one strength for replenish, and just diluted a bit for starting use.

First developer and the developing agent part of the colour developer concetrates I decant into amber glass bottles, full to the brim, top with nitrogen, butane, etc. They will oxidize gradually via the plastic bottle they are sold in. The other parts of CD,a nd the other chems I leave in the plastic.

Find a first developer starter locally - they come in boxes of 4, and one bottle will start 25l or something. I have three extras - one can be yours for the cost of postage if you are stuck. If you get into larger Colour dev you will need starter II. Here about 50mL will keep yu going a long while - it is added in at a rate of soemthing like 2mL per L to start to stuff. Since all of your chems are used one shot in a jobo, then mix all chems as though they were starter.

MrT · Jun 20, 2008

E-6 developing

Thanks a lot for your help, so finally I've found a local distributor who has the chemicals (in relatively big) quantities, but there's one product that's called "bleach starter" that's not available, and I didn't have it in the small kit

Is it required to start the bleach, or is it optional for a rotatory type processor (Jobo)?

And a question for Mike: the amber glass bottles you mention, are they the chemistry lab type? How big? 2L, 5L?

Thanks again

Tudor,
Montreal

Terrence Brennan · Jun 20, 2008

MrT said:
Thanks a lot for your help, so finally I've found a local distributor who has the chemicals (in relatively big) quantities, but there's one product that's called "bleach starter" that's not available, and I didn't have it in the small kit

Is it required to start the bleach, or is it optional for a rotatory type processor (Jobo)?

And a question for Mike: the amber glass bottles you mention, are they the chemistry lab type? How big? 2L, 5L?

Thanks again

Tudor,
Montreal

It's definitely required to start the bleach. Don't let anyone jive you, starters exist for a reason.

Try calling Kodak and see if there is an alternative you can use. Or, ask a local lab which processes E-6 for some.

Mike Wilde · Jun 20, 2008

MrT said:
Is it required to start the bleach, or is it optional for a rotatory type processor (Jobo)?

Not 100% sure - one of the bleach issues is that oxidation - which a jobo excels at- actually helps in this situation. Optionally - no starter, consider tryiong to strepch the bleach time. Bleaching gets rid of the uncoupled dyes, so I don't thing that it is possible to over do it; it is possible to under bleach.

>the amber glass bottles you mention, are they the chemistry lab type? How big? 2L, 5L?

Amber is helpful, but if the chems are stored in a dim/dark place, not crucial. It is just that the type of bottle that you are likely to want usually is made with amber galss at no price premium. I use a mix of 1L, 500mL, and 250mL. That way it is easy to keep the bottles full, as they are used up.

The formal name for this glassware is amber boston rounds. There are also varaints that I think are called 'packers' that have a wider mouth.

I also keep and recycle empty automatic bread machine yeast bottles. They are amber glass, and while are more of the packer style as far as the width of the mouth openning, the lid (closure in the packaging parlayance) is metal, and has an excellent gasket.

Other options are 'Groelsch' imported beer empties - there is a reclosable bung and wire bail on these beer bottles.

2F/2F · Jun 20, 2008

Have you asked a plain-ol' photo store instead of a large distributor? A few months ago I was able to special order two Kodak 5L Single-Use E-6 kits from Samy's here in L.A. with no problems, no questions asked, and no minimum order...just a two-week wait. Any photo store that carries chemicals should be able to special order this kit.

I know that Freestyle has this kit literally *on the shelf* in their retail store at this very moment for about $50. I could have it in hand before noon if I wanted. If you still can't find it after some more searching, go ahead and look into all the shipping fees, tariffs, regulations, etc. from Los Angeles. If it seems legal and worth your while, I will go pick it up for you and ship it to you...or just ship you one of the ones that I already have and replace mine with one from Freestyle.

Erik L · Jun 20, 2008

If you don't mind shopping in the US, there are a variety of options. I just received 2 - 5 liter kits from freestyle of Kodak single use E6 from Freestyle. A little closer to your area that I have ordered from is Adorama and Badger Graphics. I noticed that Freestyle didn't have it on their web site that I could find, but I just asked on the phone and they had it in their stores. The kits are out there, you just need to search a little. 2F/2F is making a generous offer you might consider!
Good Luck
Erik

MrT · Jun 20, 2008

Wow, you guys are really something and I really, really appreciate your help. Thanks particularly to 2F/2F, indeed very kind of you.

Finally I ordered the kits from Adorama, had them delivered in NY state (because they don't ship chemicals to Canada), and I'll go there myself to get the kit; hope I won't have problems when I cross the border...(a 2 hour ride; but it's worth it).

Strange though that there is no bleach starter in the small kit, and you need it in the larger individual bottles for E-6 processing...

Thanks again to all of you; I'll try to pass it forward if I can

PHOTOTONE · Jun 20, 2008

The small "amateur" kit has concentrated "bleach" in it. The professional size E-6 chemistry only has "bleach replenisher", which you have to use "bleach starter" to make a working solution of Bleach. All the professional chemicals are sold as "replenishers" and while some may not require "starters" to make working solutions, the First Developer, Color Developer and Bleach do require starters. Do not be disturbed about the large bottles, you can mix up smaller quantities of working solution. A little math with a calculator will give you the volumes you need of each concentrate.

Rob Landry · Jun 23, 2008

Wow 2F/2F, that was an amazingly generous offer. It's gestures like these that will help keep film shooting alive and well.

Help: Where to find E-6 chemicals in Montreal, Canada

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