Future of E6 Processing

My lab stopped doing it. He will send it out at a reasonable price, but I'm worried he may close. I check a place in San Diego, I think it was $6.00 US, which seems great, but they want $15.00 US for the UPS shipping. I found a place in Berkeley and I'm going over there to see if I can work out a drop off with mailing to my house. Here is a list of USA E-6 processors, I don't know how updated it is though. edit; I guess they have countries on this site, too.

http://www.acecam.com/lsbindex.html
 
I live in Gainesville, Florida. There is a photo store here that still does E6. I overheard the owner say that his store is one of only two in Florida that still does E6. I was told that they get enough mail-in business to continue processing E6.
But I don't know how much longer it will last.
 
oscroft said:
Forgive my ignorance, but what are "crossover" and "blix"?
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Dear Alan,

'Crossover' probably = crossed curves, i.e. uneven developent of different colour layers so that (for example) you have to choose between colour-balanced highlights and colour-balanced shadows. An example might be neutral shadows = magenta highlights or neutral highlights = green shadows. I have not had this problem with Tetenal.

'Blix' is combined BLeach/fIX.

A lot of people are against 3-bath (actually 4-bath with the stabilizer) but as far as I can see this is often the standard photographic masochism which says, 'If it's more difficult or more expensive, it must be better'.

Another possibility for the survival of 6-bath is that 6-bath is far more easily replenished, while 3-bath is normally used 1-shot or for a maximum of 2-3 runs.

Cheers,

R.
 
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AFAIK the Kodachromes are stable when kept in dark... But the Fujichromes last longer if you use them (that means expose to light, especially with a projector).

You can control home-E6 by adjusting the pH of the developer, but I haven't had any problems with the water I get at our darkroom.

People say 3-bath could leave some silver on the films, which could have a bad long-term effect.

6-bath doesn't really even have that many more steps if you do 3-bath with extra washes that we have done. With 6-bath those probably aren't so important or helpful anyway. Maybe we should try that when the next 5 liters are gone... But 3-bath has worked perfectly so far (soon 60 films).

A friend just tried replacing the FD (first developer, which is actually a B&W developer) with Rodinal. It worked fine, except that the time was too short. E-6 is not so standard after all, if you think creatively 😉.
 
'Crossover' probably = crossed curves, i.e. uneven developent of different colour layers so that (for example) you have to choose between colour-balanced highlights and colour-balanced shadows. An example might be neutral shadows = magenta highlights or neutral highlights = green shadows. I have not had this problem with Tetenal.

'Blix' is combined BLeach/fIX.
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Ah, I understand, thanks. Pleased to hear you've had no problems with Tetenal - I'm planning to have a go with it.

A lot of people are against 3-bath (actually 4-bath with the stabilizer) but as far as I can see this is often the standard photographic masochism which says, 'If it's more difficult or more expensive, it must be better'.
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Hehe 🙂 As I get older, whenever I want to try something new, the easier the better!

The Tetenal E6 doesn't sound too hard. It sounds like the only tricky thing is getting the temperature right, and a water bath should be effective for that.
 
papasnap said:
Terrific news! Sounds like just what I was looking for - I live in the Newtown area so it's not too far away, which is a relief! Will give them a shot this week. Thanks a bunch Michael!

PS I saw this stencil spraypainted on a refern wall - "Redfern: Gateway to Waterloo" 🙂
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Also, you can try Fotolab on Pitt Street in the city. They do E6 in 35mm and 120 and they do a good job too.

regards,
Thanasis
 
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