Process C41 film in ECN2 developer

Radost · Tuesday at 11:52 AM

I want to simplify my process. I already use ecn2 bleach. Want to start processing c41 film in ECN2.
Looking for some real world experience.

koraks · Tuesday at 12:46 PM

Not recommended due to crossover issues, but you will get an image alright. My solution is to use C41 bleach and fix for both, but the proper developer for C41 and ECN2. The ECN2 developer I mix from bulk chemicals which for this developer are easy to obtain and cheap.

If you proceed with cross processing, you may have to adjust the development time and/or temperature to get the desired contrast on your C41 negatives. If you only scan your negatives, this will be of lesser importance. You'll also have to be prepared to deal with some funky color balance issues; these can mostly be dialed out manually, but automatic color correction software can potentially trip over it, yielding weird (ugly) results.

If you end up trying it, be sure to post back your experiences!

Radost · Tuesday at 12:54 PM

koraks said:
Not recommended due to crossover issues, but you will get an image alright. My solution is to use C41 bleach and fix for both, but the proper developer for C41 and ECN2. The ECN2 developer I mix from bulk chemicals which for this developer are easy to obtain and cheap.

If you proceed with cross processing, you may have to adjust the development time and/or temperature to get the desired contrast on your C41 negatives. If you only scan your negatives, this will be of lesser importance. You'll also have to be prepared to deal with some funky color balance issues; these can mostly be dialed out manually, but automatic color correction software can potentially trip over it, yielding weird (ugly) results.

If you end up trying it, be sure to post back your experiences!

Ar ethe crossovers correctable with scanning. I don't print color.
I don't shoot as much c41 anymore. No 35mm. I have a bunch of 120 Fuji 400H and some ektar in the freezer.

koraks · Tuesday at 12:58 PM

Radost said:
Ar ethe crossovers correctable with scanning.

Speaking for the reverse, so ECN2 film processed in C41 developer, I found the crossover to be largely correctable, but difficult to get rid of entirely. Correctly processed film on the other hand color balances without issue. I expect the same will be the case with C41 film developed in ECN2 developer.

Radost · Tuesday at 7:06 PM

koraks said:
Speaking for the reverse, so ECN2 film processed in C41 developer, I found the crossover to be largely correctable, but difficult to get rid of entirely. Correctly processed film on the other hand color balances without issue. I expect the same will be the case with C41 film developed in ECN2 developer.

Hopefully I will finish my 120 splitter roller soon and will shoot Vision3 exclusively..

thinkbrown · Tuesday at 8:01 PM

I run all of my c41 film in ecn2 developer and I've generally gotten excellent results for scanning. I generally overexpose my c41 film by a stop because developing in ecn2 seems to result in a slightly thinner negative overall for C41 and overall c41 is much more tolerant of overexposure than underexposure so having some extra latitude is preferable to me. (Edit I am still processing my film at 106°F as specified by Kodak module 7. I found that the color shift was noticably worse processing at 100° like c41 expects.

I can't speak well to ra-4 prints since I've only just gotten started with that and both my ecn2 and c41 negative prints are equally bad

Radost · Tuesday at 9:08 PM

Radost said:
Hopefully I will finish my 120 splitter roller soon and will shoot Vision3 exclusively..

I meant to say : “Hopefully I will finish my 65 to 120 slitter roller soon and will shoot Vision3 exclusively.”

Samu · 2025-05-23T15:44:01-0400

koraks said:
Speaking for the reverse, so ECN2 film processed in C41 developer, I found the crossover to be largely correctable, but difficult to get rid of entirely. Correctly processed film on the other hand color balances without issue. I expect the same will be the case with C41 film developed in ECN2 developer.

What I have found, is that printing RA-4 from cross processed ECN2 films (in standard C-41 process) is a real pain in the ass. You could get a green sky and a magenta pavement in the same frame due to crossover issues. Apart from masking parts of the print, and with multiple exposures with different color correction to different parts of the print, these issues are not possible to correct in a darkroom setting. Heavy handed digital editing is of course a different story.

koraks · 2025-05-23T16:02:49-0400

Samu said:
You could get a green sky and a magenta pavement in the same frame due to crossover issues.

Yes, exactly!

Process C41 film in ECN2 developer

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