Rapid Film CN6 Development Process

Hello Everyone,

I have recently bought an old Smena SL, which still had a nearly entirely exposed film loaded inside. The film is labeled as CN6. Other than being a Rapid film (Agfa?), I have no knowledge of the make or other properties of this film. I don't even know if it is color or b/w, from the look of it I would guess at color though. It does appear to be an original Rapid film and not simply a a sheet of film stuffed into the cassette.

Has anyone heard of or does anyone know which process should be used to develop a CN6 film?

An educated guess would also be nice. Due to the films probable age, I am not expecting great results anyways, but I thought that it would be nice to see what gem might be hidden on there.

Thank you very much in advance!

High br12

These „rapid“ cassettes where (re)invented by Agfa to get a competitive product against Instamatic 126 / PAK cassettes. In the early 70’s that system was buried (but Films where available in Germany till the late 80’s) and was used further in the eastern hemisphere.

The eastern SL cassettes where a bit different to the Rapid cassettes, they did not have a film speed setting for the camera. The eastern hemisphere stuck quite long with the (more or less) original Agfacolor system, which used different color couplers/dyes and developing agents, than succeeding C-41 Films.

So If your Film is a bit older, and comes somewhere from the east, you will have to process it possibly like an old Agfacolor / Ansco /Orwocolor film using nowadays hard to find chemicals (mainly the color developing agent). But on the other side original Agfa Rapid films where available in Germany quite long, and in the late 80’s and early 90’s they used normal C-41chemistry. Also these cassettes could be refilled with any 35mm film, if the length did not exceeded 80-90 cm. So it’s is really a bit unsure what kind of film is in there…

You told it looks like color film, do it looks like contemporary color negative film, that means more orange-brownish (like C-41), or does it have more a grayish yellow-green tint ? The latter would be a hint to old Agfacor / Orwocolor system if I remember correctly … (but could be a slide film too).

Perhaps just try to develop it as a BW Film in HC-110, or another low fog developer. Google around for the terms “processing found film” or “processing old film” to get more informations.

Or maybe it would be worth a try in cooled down C-41 chemicals. If its an old Agfa / Orwo style film the emulsion may be quite soft, it will not survive 100°F processing temp. and peels off.
Therefore DO NOT GIVE IT IN A MINILAB, the owner will not pleasantly surprised if he have to clean up the whole machine …

Regards,
Stefan