Unavailability of Fuji E6 chemical kits?

nbagno · Oct 5, 2021

I noticed today that Freestyle no longer lists Fuji E6 chemicals. (And take a look at the lead time for Fuji's C41 kit)

This is the message from Freestyle via chat

"So unfortunately, the manufacturer is not making these kits anymore. We have been trying to find a new source, but haven't had any luck yet.'

And this https://www.freestylephoto.biz/660162-Fuji-Hunt-Chrome-6X-E-6-Processing-Kit-5-Liters

halfaman · Oct 5, 2021

Perhaps the problem is related to shipment restrictions and not to manufacturing, in Europe it can be supplied by ground transport only.

mshchem · Oct 5, 2021

Unique Photo sells the individual Fujifilm E6 chemistry. Unfortunately AFAIK you need to buy it in case quantities. They ship ground UPS very reasonable. I bought everything, to have in stock. I have a lot of frozen E6.
If the 3 bath kits are available they work very well. I have used Tetenal kits, just don't push capacity.

I got my 5L kits of Fuji from Freestyle, too bad.

unityofsaints · Oct 5, 2021

The likes of Macodirect still list it, I guess it's related to shipping restrictions.

mshchem · Oct 5, 2021

Shipping woes off California coast.

https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/ship-anchor-in-question-as-possible-cause-of-oil-spill

destroya · Oct 5, 2021

mshchem said:
Unique Photo sells the individual Fujifilm E6 chemistry. .....

I also use the larger capacity individual fuji chems from unique. Just bought some, a month ago, more first dev and color dev. cost has gone up a lot over the last 2 years but it is understandable. I am really hoping that they, fuji hunt, continue to offer the chems. would hate e-6 to go away for lack of chems to develop them

Ernst-Jan · Oct 6, 2021

Well if you can't get the Fuji stuff in the US anymore, Bellini will start selling in the USA I heard. They also offer a six-bath E6 kit.

Tom Kershaw · Oct 6, 2021

Ernst-Jan said:
They also offer a six-bath E6 kit.

Do Bellini produce an E6 kit larger than 1 litre? - The Fuji Hunt E6 kit seems to have been removed from Firstcall Photographic's website, a major UK retailer.

AgX · Oct 6, 2021

Well, Bellini only offer 6-bath E-6 kits...

And at the moment they only offer a 1Liter kit. (Otherwise you also can get 10L and 200L kits)

Ernst-Jan · Oct 6, 2021

Tom Kershaw said:
Do Bellini produce an E6 kit larger than 1 litre?

Yes, 10L and 200L.

pentaxuser · Oct 6, 2021

nbagno said:
I noticed today that Freestyle no longer lists Fuji E6 chemicals. (And take a look at the lead time for Fuji's C41 kit)

This is the message from Freestyle via chat

"So unfortunately, the manufacturer is not making these kits anymore. We have been trying to find a new source, but haven't had any luck yet.'

Well this statement seems quite unequivocal and would seem to suggest strongly that Fuji has stopped making E6 chems. If it is simply a logistics problem then why state this, unless accuracy and honesty is the retailer's worst enemy?

pentaxuser

mshchem · Oct 6, 2021

pentaxuser said:
Well this statement seems quite unequivocal and would seem to suggest strongly that Fuji has stopped making E6 chems. If it is simply a logistics problem then why state this, unless accuracy and honesty is the retailer's worst enemy?

pentaxuser

I suspect that they simply no longer offer 5 L kits. Fuji Hunt is still a big operation in the USA manufacturing chemistry in bulk, as does the Fujifilm plant in the EU, that makes chemistry.

AgX · Oct 6, 2021

Yes, once designed for huge production volume. So there may be a management stand to refuse anything going the boutique production way. Of course there will be people stating that E-6 films are a big thing nonetheless and sales even growing. But you got my point. I often wondered when big manufacturers gave up on something that from my point of view still could be provitable for them, in a smaller setup, more so when they did not got a alternative product or did not need that capacity.

MattKing · Oct 6, 2021

Or because of shipping restrictions, the relatively small 5 litre kits will be so expensive that the sales volumes will make production un-economical.
Or perhaps there is a 4 litre kit coming soon, with a different sku, and the notice of discontinuance refers only to that particular packaging.
I sincerely doubt that the 5 litre packaging is actually oriented toward non-commercial users. It is probably oriented to commercial labs that do much more C-41 than E-6, but still have a small E-6 customer base.
Any information on these sorts of issues would be more likely to be available to commercial users, although if I understand correctly about Fuji USA, that doesn't necessarily mean much.

mohmad khatab · Oct 6, 2021

According to my information, you have many alternatives in America.
Italian chemistry is available in America on American Internet stores and at retail stores.
You will find a Bellini brand that uses the traditional method of chemistry (E6) and not the short triple method

DREW WILEY · Oct 14, 2021

Freestyle will no doubt provide a substitute version of E6. It takes patience these days. The pandemic has disrupted all kinds of manufacturing and distribution factors. But getting routine commercial E6 development clear up to 8x10 film size is still easy if you know where to look. Those sources obviously buy in larger volumes.

mshchem · Oct 14, 2021

I'm not sure, but it looks like the 5L kit is still available in Europe. At least it is still on the Fujifilm EU website. In the current shipping mess doesn't make much sense trying to ship this stuff. And as has been noted there's plenty of other options.

nbagno · Oct 15, 2021

mshchem said:
I'm not sure, but it looks like the 5L kit is still available in Europe. At least it is still on the Fujifilm EU website. In the current shipping mess doesn't make much sense trying to ship this stuff. And as has been noted there's plenty of other options.

There is no other option in the U.S that I know of for the 6 bath E6 kit unless you buy the chemicals in mass quantities. I hear that Bellini chemicals may come to the US later...

mshchem · Oct 15, 2021

nbagno said:
There is no other option in the U.S that I know of for the 6 bath E6 kit unless you buy the chemicals in mass quantities. I hear that Bellini chemicals may come to the US later...

True, I've got the Fuji Hunt chemistry, it does indeed come in mass quantities. I enjoy so much playing around in the darkroom. The Fuji Hunt chemistry can be broken down without opening bottles.
I don't know if Unique Photo will break down cases like they do with C-41. Might be worth a call. No free shipping but like Freestyle, ground UPS very reasonable.

I think for 300 bucks you can get enough chemistry to last a long time. Concentrates keep well.

AgX · Oct 15, 2021

mshchem said:
I'm not sure, but it looks like the 5L kit is still available in Europe. At least it is still on the Fujifilm EU website.

On their website is a list containing it, dated 2014.

At a quick search all dealers around who listed it, indicate it as unavailable. In contrast to the 5L C-41 kit.

Ernst-Jan · Oct 16, 2021

AgX said:
On their website is a list containing it, dated 2014.

At a quick search all dealers around who listed it, indicate it as unavailable. In contrast to the 5L C-41 kit.

Retrobelgium says "temporarly not available to order" (they can not order it)
https://www.retrocamera.be/nl/donke...hunt-chrome-6x-e6-film-processing-kit-5l.html

There also used to be Rollei/Compard Digibase kits which was Fuji Hunt chemicals in 1L/2,5L kits, but I can only find that for C41

Scott J. · Nov 3, 2021

I switched from using hobby C-41 kits to the larger capacity Kodak Flexicolor chemistry a couple years ago and have been quite happy. I’ve been similarly content with the 5-liter E6 package sold by Fuji-Hunt, but have always wondered about the larger capacity E6 chemicals made by Fuji (e.g., the ones available from Unique Photo). If the 5-liter Fuji-Hunt kits are truly gone, this might push me in the direction of the larger capacity chemicals, provided the shelf life and storage of the individually decanted liquids isn’t too problematic from a “shelf space” point of view.

It looks like the smallest version the lab-scale Fuji E6 chemistry comes in is a 20-liter working strength size (though, some appear to be designed to prepare 100 liters of working solution). For those of you who’ve successfully been managing this, can you give us an idea of what kind of packaging the chemical concentrates come in (i.e., bottle volume, how many bottles per package, etc.), how you’ve broken them up and stored them, and how shelf-stable they’ve been for you? Many thanks.

md_photo · Nov 3, 2021

I have been using Arista E-6 and the kit works well.

destroya · Nov 4, 2021

Scott J. said:
I switched from using hobby C-41 kits to the larger capacity Kodak Flexicolor chemistry a couple years ago and have been quite happy. I’ve been similarly content with the 5-liter E6 package sold by Fuji-Hunt, but have always wondered about the larger capacity E6 chemicals made by Fuji (e.g., the ones available from Unique Photo). If the 5-liter Fuji-Hunt kits are truly gone, this might push me in the direction of the larger capacity chemicals, provided the shelf life and storage of the individually decanted liquids isn’t too problematic from a “shelf space” point of view.

It looks like the smallest version the lab-scale Fuji E6 chemistry comes in is a 20-liter working strength size (though, some appear to be designed to prepare 100 liters of working solution). For those of you who’ve successfully been managing this, can you give us an idea of what kind of packaging the chemical concentrates come in (i.e., bottle volume, how many bottles per package, etc.), how you’ve broken them up and stored them, and how shelf-stable they’ve been for you? Many thanks.

in the large sizes, the ones you will go thru the fastest are the 1st dev and color dev. the 20L package comes in 2 bottle concentrates, so each makes 10L if mixed all at once. I use what I need then top off the open concentrate bottles with propane. because of covid, my slide shooting dropped a lot. My first developer finally started to show signs of its age, the slides come out darker tha normal. this was at almost 2 years of being open. the bottle was opened in 4/19 and finished in 7/21. tha last batch i made up was then tossed after the last developing session and i ordered a new 20l box.

please not that I store my open mixed chems, both working chems and replenished chems in air tight wine bladders which keep almost all the air out and make using very easy.

the rest of the chems come in smaller size bottles. reversal bath and pre bleach come in 3 and 4 bottle boxes. fixer in 2 bottle and bleach in 1 big gallon size jug. I use the fixer for slide, c-41 and B&W so it gets more usage but its nice having 1 bottle for all films. final rinse comes in a 6 pack. I just finished my first bottle and that took almost 6 years to finish so it lasts forever. PE told me that I could use it as B&W photoflo and for C41 which I do. but as you know you will use very little.

check out fuji's site for PDF's on all the different batches. it gives you replenishment schedules and bottle sizes. when shopping for the chems on Unique's site (which is not very helpful when it comes to searches), I found it best to search by the fuji product number. if you search for e-6 their site will not show all the available options.

https://www.fujifilm.com/us/en/business/photofinishing/photographic-chemicals/e-6#

I was told by a fuji rep a few years ago that its the same chems in the 5L kits and the larger size ones. but the small 5L kits do not come with starters. I of course bought the 1st dev and color dev starters. they come in gallon size, lifetime size really, jugs as you only need 5oz per 1 liter batch. not sure why the kits dont come with the stater. I never noticed a different between my slides from when I use the 5l kits with no starter and the larger boxes with starter though

let me know if you have any more questions

john

destroya · Nov 4, 2021

just checked the fuji's site and it looks like they changed the case size of some of the chems. the 1st dev now comes in 4 10L bottles instead of 2 10L. this must have just happened as I ordered a 2 10L case a few months ago.

Unavailability of Fuji E6 chemical kits?

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