Tetenal magic box, single film E6 process kit.

[Agulliver]

@Alessandro Serrao - we get it....you don't personally have a use for this product. I don't either. But it certainly has a place in the market for those who want to give colour processing a try and for those who are familiar with the E6 process but only shoot a very small number of rolls. Stop p!ssing on their parade.

 

[Sal Santamaura]

Please don't tell me what I have to do.

In recent days this poster has injected great negativity into a number of threads. Life's too short to waste time on such nonsense. He's now on my ignore list. I suggest others who value their serenity add him to theirs as well.

 

[twelvetone12]

I was wondering what was going on in some threads today then I looked at my "ignore" list and understood...

 

[Luckless]

Guys don't overthink, this kit is a great move.

It's really a great starting point for people like me who shoot few rolls and want to get into e6 processing slowly. It solves a decade-long problem for me and probably many other people.

I've been on the fence about doing E6 due to the costs to get it rolling and a lot not a lot of faith in being able to do it cost effectively or even do all that well with it given the hassle of getting the chemistry here in Canada.

Two rolls of film and one of these kits does sound like a rather tempting way to trial things.

If your customers aren't getting a foot in the door of a product, then they're not going to be buying it. Even if only one in ten people who give kits like this a shot, and then promptly upgrade to more sensible volumes, then that's a lot of new customers buying product that probably wouldn't have otherwise.

 

[MattKing]

I would be more impressed with this product if the marketing associated these single use kits with kits that offer higher capacity.
Particularly if the single use kit included a coupon for a price reduction on the higher capacity kits.
A "try it, and if you like it, buy more" approach.

 

[railwayman3]

I'm familiar over the years with the larger E6 kits, but will probably give this single use kit a try for times when I'm not shooting any larger volume of film. The single-use kit would work out fairly expensive, compared with the use of larger kits, but would still be comparable with a professional lab (after postage both ways), and avoid any wastage of capacity with a larger kit for the occasional single film. (MattKing's suggestion of a coupon towards a larger kit seems a great idea, to allow someone new to E6 processing to gain some confidence before committing to the full cost of the usual size of kit. )

 

[dmtnkl]

The instructions can only be downloaded as a pdf after scanning a qr code and they are written only in german... *facepalm*

 

[Ariston]

I would have liked to have had something like this to try my first time developing E-6... to make sure I was comfortable with it before diving in head-first.

 

[Anon Ymous]

I would have liked to have had something like this to try my first time developing E-6... to make sure I was comfortable with it before diving in head-first.

Um, yeah, a gateway drug.

 

[warden]

I would have liked to have had something like this to try my first time developing E-6... to make sure I was comfortable with it before diving in head-first.

Exactly, me too. I think it's a great idea.

 

[cmacd123]

The instructions can only be downloaded as a pdf after scanning a qr code and they are written only in german... *facepalm*

Perhaps that is why it is only being marketed in German speaking areas of the world at the moment. downloaded PDF instructions can be revised easily, and if they make changes they don't have to re-translate.

 

[AgX]

That scanning the code means it is aimed at modern people living in a modern world, thus excluding me...

Concerning the manual only being in German, that restriction to dealers in German speaking countries as reason was my first thought too. However amongst these are retailers approaching by their internet shop a worldwide clientele.

 

[twelvetone12]

To Tetenal's credit, translating manuals is expensive, long and an overall messy process. I totally understand that they started with the easiest (for them) one.
I recently saw a picture of the tablet developers, I'm not sure if it is legit or not, but having E6 in long keeping tablets that can make small quantities seems very neat!

 

[Anon Ymous]

To Tetenal's credit, translating manuals is expensive, long and an overall messy process. I totally understand that they started with the easiest (for them) one.
I recently saw a picture of the tablet developers, I'm not sure if it is legit or not, but having E6 in long keeping tablets that can make small quantities seems very neat!

I don't see that coming any time soon. IIRC, there are some liquid compounds used in E6 and others that usually come in solutions. IMHO, this tablet developer thing is not particularly useful, sachets work just as well if tiny quantities are required. You can even make a dev/stop/fix kit using solids in sachets and it would probably be trivial for Tetenal.

 

[Luckless]

I don't see that coming any time soon. IIRC, there are some liquid compounds used in E6 and others that usually come in solutions. IMHO, this tablet developer thing is not particularly useful, sachets work just as well if tiny quantities are required. You can even make a dev/stop/fix kit using solids in sachets and it would probably be trivial for Tetenal.

Sachets of powders are being viewed more often now as a health and safety risk. Investing in tech that greatly reduces dust exposure risks across the product's lifetime seems like a sensible track...

 

[AgX]

Tetenal introduced tablets in the past to simplify handling, both by man and minilab-machine.

 

[awty]

Great news, hope it becomes available in Australia at an affordable price. If it can manage 3 rolls, that will be perfect for me. I only shoot a few rolls of colour a year and its much more convenient for me to process my own.

 

[albireo]

As someone who shoots and develops mostly B&W in 120 format, I'd like to try this kit to learn to develop the occasional C41 film.

I'm a bit confused however - how do I use this kit (which seems to be for 250ml of solution) in my AP tank, which requires 600ml of solution for one 120 film? Is the content of the package meant to be further diluted before usage?

 

[Anon Ymous]

Nope, you simply can't if you use inversion agitation. You need more of these kits to process 120 film, which is pointless. You're better off buying a larger kit.

 

[Wallendo]

With the proliferation of next generation security scanners at airports, a kit like this could be helpful for travelers who don’t want to run the risk of being forced to put their films through the new scanners.

The major downside of this is disposal of the used chemicals.

 

[Donald Qualls]

The major downside of this is disposal of the used chemicals.

That might actually be part of the reason for the gap between these "one roll" kits and the 2.5l size: this quantity of chemistry may be below even EU limits for disposal, where a kit that produces 500 ml is not. Can't say for sure, just seems like a possibility.

 

[AgX]

There are no such EU limits. But national laws.

(Here in Germany even effluent laws of the federal states. I am not allowed to pour any spent processing bath in the sewage system at all.)

 

[Agulliver]

Yeah I think laws vary with each country. The UK drain/sewer/water treatment system was perfectly able to deal with the volume of home developing by amateur photographers in the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s. Additionally chemicals designed for amateurs (all the readily available developers, fixers, stops, wetting agents etc) are designed to be OK to pour down the drain when finished with. The volume now will be much less than in previous decades....though I did check with my water company and they confirmed that "amateur" quantities of commercially available chemicals aimed at amateur photographers are OK to dispose of into the sewer system throughout England.

But I do hear that in some parts of the world either the sewage/treatment systems aren't able to deal with the chemicals, or rules have been introduced because the rule makers don't want to go into the decisions of what is safe and what isn't. I read of one case where a local law stated that "no chemicals may be poured down domestic drains"....so...no sugar in your coffee or you'll get arrested. Indeed no water down the drain either.

 

[pipitra]

I developed more than 4 rolls out of this kit in 3 batches(4 x 4x5,2 x 8x10,6 x 4x5).The last 6 x 4x5 are darker,maybe I didn't extend the FD time enough,but the color is ok.I bought it because Fotoimpex won't ship 2.5L outside of EU anymore.Hope to see E6 tablet available soon as this kit is not enough for my volume but it is the only option for me now.