My first steps in e6 processing.

Peter de Groot · Aug 22, 2010

Yesterday I finally got devolp 4 4x5 slides. I have been doing a lot of reading and watching that scottish guy on youtube. I have marked all the measuring beakers and got the water in the Jobo cpa colorprocessor on temperature. After warming up the drum I mixed the first devolper and poured in. The the rinse 2 x 2 minutes all on 38 degrees celsius. While rinsing I mixed the color developer. And there it went wrong. Instead of following the marks on the cup I decided in my infinite wisdom I needed the same amount part 2 as the part one of the developper. And I realised my mistake moment after pouring it all in. I use the tetenal kit for 1 liter by the way. And last the blix and stabelisor. The blix 40 seconds too long as well. To my great surprise I still did manage to get viewable photo's. Yellow ones. Here are the results.

So the mistake was obviously the poor mixed of the color developer. But that is not stopping me. I will take some more pics and give them de e6 treatment as wel. The film used was really outdated Fuji 100D.

Foto
Foto

Because for some reason I can't show the photo direct I'm posting the links instead. Sorry about that.

hrst · Aug 22, 2010

Always mix all the solutions beforehand. You can get quite busy during development. You also need to do this to keep them up in the correct temperature. You just don't have the time to mix and adjust temperature during the processing. The only exception might be the stabilizer, which is quick to mix and can be at room temp.

Extra long blix by 40 seconds is definitely not a problem.

Peter de Groot · Aug 23, 2010

I decided to mix during because I don't have the tubes that fit into the spaces of the jobo. And I figured out that when mixing with the right temperature wate it would be no problem. But next time I will do it before starting. Thanks for the advice!

hrst · Aug 23, 2010

I use any plastic bottles. If I use too much water in Jobo, they may start floating. Thus I fine-tune the water bath amount so they just don't float. You could do some kind of stoppers to avoid that, also.

srs5694 · Aug 23, 2010

I seem to recall hearing about somebody who tested the limits of over-blixing by leaving film in a blix overnight, with no immediately obvious problems. I don't know if that might have long-term detrimental effects, but I certainly wouldn't worry about an extra 40 seconds.

srs5694 · Aug 23, 2010

hrst said:
I use any plastic bottles. If I use too much water in Jobo, they may start floating. Thus I fine-tune the water bath amount so they just don't float. You could do some kind of stoppers to avoid that, also.

To avoid floating bottles, you can use glass. It's heavy enough that it won't lift off the bottom until there's much more water in the water bath. I've also heard of people building wire "cages" to hold bottles in a water bath. A bit of clothes hangar wire poked through the top of a plastic dishpan used as a water bath should do the trick.

Mike Wilde · Aug 23, 2010

I just keep up to temp chems in a cooler filled with water and tempered by a fish tank heater wound higher than normal; this may be a fix for those who run out of spaces in thier Jobo tank slots also.

Peter de Groot · Aug 23, 2010

i have slots to spare. 4 of them the round ones. I still have the square bottles. Those are in the square holes. I have those filled with water but maybe I can leave two out and use those spaces for some smaller stuff. Ah wel I will figure something out. This run was to try out the process to know how it goes. Next time will be better.
By the way 24 year old slide film. Will that give a color cast as well? If yes wich color?

Peter de Groot · Aug 31, 2010

Today i did my second run. Stil the slides are really dark and yellow like. Can age of the film be a reason for this fenomena? I will post some scans tomorrow. I followed the times (although first developer 20 sec to long) temperature was good. And the chemicals were mixed as they should be. It is the same film as the first batch. From 1983........probably a dumb question but heee you live and learn.

Peter de Groot · Sep 1, 2010

It seems to me that I have xprossessed coler negatives with e-6. Strange because the film is fuji 100d film. Ok from 1986 but still. Here is a link to the photo from yesterday:

photo

hrst · Sep 1, 2010

Color film from 1986 is useless if you want "normal" results. Your process is probably working correctly. Try with a fresh film to see.

Peter de Groot · Sep 1, 2010

Hi,

That was indeed my next step. I will keep posting my results.

bob100684 · Sep 2, 2010

red scaled?

Peter de Groot · Sep 18, 2010

Today test number three. Still expired film but from 2008. The yellow cast is gone! Now it is dark purpley red......I know the temperature is right. I checked that over and over . I warmed up the chem as well so that should not be an issue. I use fresh chemicals. That is from the kitt I opened 4 weeks ago.
Hmmmm I'll keep trying untill I get it right. I will try fresh film the next time just to check if I am really dumb to keep using expired film. I will scan the photo's when the are dry.

Peter de Groot · Oct 18, 2010

So my last try looks promising ndeed. Used new film warmed the chemicals to the right temp. Also the waterbath at the right by tetenal recommended temp. The slides look a tad bleuish but nonetheless good. Clouds are white. Sky is blue like I expected. This time I will scan the photo's and put them on my new website. Hopefully the photo's will be shown here as well.

Mike Wilde · Oct 18, 2010

Good to see things coming closer to what you want.

Also very nice to see you document what things have been happening along the way.

For so many questions that seem to pop up here on the site, the concept of the scientific method seems to have been tossed out the window.

Get some starting advice, Test, Evaluate, Adjust, Repeat is how we all learn.

guyjr · Oct 19, 2010

Just one tip - make sure you give enough time for the film to warm up to temperature before you start the process. P.E. here has recommended 2x30 second washes with at-temperature water, then First Dev, rinse, Reversal, etc. I switched to doing that from a 5 minute air warmup (just rotating the drum in the water bath), and my results have become spot on accurate every single time. (they were pretty darn accurate before too, but now even better).

Peter de Groot · Oct 24, 2010

Thanks for the advise. I think I underexposed my slides but other than that they look pretty good to me. I thought water was not good before the first developer. But I will try it. It is cheaper doing it yourself then have it done by some lab. Here are some examples:
Dead Link Removed

Dead Link Removed

The top one is not sharp but you get the idea I think.
(yay the photo's are actually showing)

And an afterthought to a previous post...Yes I was really dumb to keep trying using old expired film.

Peter de Groot · Nov 5, 2010

Yesterday I loaded some sheet film and was doubting myself wether I loaded the films correct or not. I think that maybe with one of my first try with slide film I might have loaded them wrong. Another thing to try out.

RobertV · Nov 5, 2010

E6 needs very precise temperature control. So your Jobo CPA-2 has to be adjusted with a calibrated thermometer.
Measure the temperature just from the recycling pump and add +0,5C because this is the temperature deviation/drop on a Jobo from the first bottle.

Cyan cast will point out to a bit low temperature. Also pre-heat your tank for at least 5 minutes.

All acessoiries can be still ordered. Also prepare your chemical set in advance and let them come on the same temperature in the cylinders. Start the CPA-2 at least 1 1/2 hours in advance to reach the right temperature.

My first steps in e6 processing.

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