Tetenal E6

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oscroft

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Hi Folks,

I'm thinking of having a go at E6 processing using the Tetenal 3-bath kit, and I've been reading a few discussions about it on various forums.

Form what people are saying, it sounds like the kit provides solutions in units of 500ml to process two films at a time (and for a 500ml kit you reuse them 3 times for a total of 6 films). Presumably, 500ml is the amount you'd use in a Jobo processor? (At least, that's what people seem to be talking about using).

However, 500ml isn't enough for 2 films in a Paterson tank (which is what I'd been planning to use). So is it plausible to do E6 using a Paterson tank? If so, what do you do about the kits apparently being designed around 500ml batches of chemicals?

Any info appreciated.
 
Hallo Alan,

I've been wanting to try this too. However, I thought the kits came as 3x1 litre solutions? (silverprint, retrophotographic,tetenal www)
 
In Switzerland it is delivered as 1 liter kit. I use it with a Jobo tank which can take 4 120 films. The solution can be used three times, which allows the development of 12 films per kit. With a 500ml tank you can do 2 films each time (small or meduim format).
These tanks are so cheap, I don't see any reason not to switch to them and put the Paterson aside.
 
Hi Kully,

Yes, I think you can get kits to make 3x500ml, 3x1L, or even 3x5L.

But my problem is that everyone talks about using 500ml of working solutions to process 3 lots of 2 films (increasing the dev times for the 2nd and 3rd lots). So with a 1L kit you could either do all that twice, or use 1L at a time to do 4 films - it's all in multiples of 500ml.

But a Paterson tank would need 600ml for two films, or 1200ml for 4.
 
I use 1-litre kits -- really 4-bath if you include the stabilizer.

500ml processes 4 films 1-shot in my CPE-2 so I get 8 films per 1-litre kit, and develop only one-shot in the interests of consistency.

You may need to fine-tune the processing. I do Kodak for 7 minutes first dev, Fuji for 8, bath set to 39 degrees, chemicals at 39 degrees (1/2 hour to stabilize). Blix time is not critical: you can double it without worrying.

I also adjust pH of 1st dev with 2 ml NaOh solution as recommended for correcting colour casts. You may need more or less NaOH, or none, or some amount of H2SO4.

It's a lot easier than it sounds.

Cheers,

R.
 
I also adjust pH of 1st dev with 2 ml NaOh solution as recommended for correcting colour casts. You may need more or less NaOH, or none, or some amount of H2SO4
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Sodium hydroxide? Sulphuric Acid? 😱

It's a lot easier than it sounds
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Thanks - I'm sure it is.

But I'm still not sure whether it is practical to use Paterson tanks, especially given the business with 500ml quantities.
 
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I usually save up film to process and buy the 5L kit when I decide to do my own E-6.

I recommend using the solutions no more than twice for Fuji or for push processing, but three times for Kodak films seems to work well. In general I wouldn't push more than one stop with the 3-bath kit. One-stop pull is okay too. If I need more than that, I send it out to a lab.

Stainless tanks conduct heat in the tempering bath better than plastic, so you might consider going stainless for E-6. Second-hand tanks are cheap, so you can get them in different sizes, and I recommend getting new Hewes reels, which load fairly easily.
 
oscroft said:
Sodium hydroxide? Sulphuric Acid? 😱


Thanks - I'm sure it is.

But I'm still not sure whether it is practical to use Paterson tanks, especially given the business with 500ml quantities.
Click to expand...

Yup. Very weak solutions.

I wouldn't do it with Paterson tanks. Hand lines (working in the dark), or a CPE2, make life VASTLY easier.

Of course you can make a hand line out of a row of tanks in a water bath. I have re-used chemicals in a hand line without problems, and you can process more film that way. The only catch is that my hand lines call for 1200ml, so I get 4-out from a 5-litre kit.

Cheers,

R.
 
Yup. Very weak solutions.
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Ah, OK, so weaker solutions and longer times, which I guess means some experiment (and it's expensive stuff to waste) - Are there dev times for 'Paterson dilution' out there anywhere, do you know?

I wouldn't do it with Paterson tanks. Hand lines (working in the dark), or a CPE2, make life VASTLY easier.
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Well, it's Paterson tanks or nothing really, because that's what I have - I have no darkroom, and with the low number of E6 films I shoot these days it's not worth the expense of buying new kit like a CPE2.

Oh well, it sounds like it would be too much hard work and/or expense just for the small number of E6 films I shoot.
 
I would consider developing E-6 myself for 4x5 or bigger. For 120 and 35mm, Wal-mart is just too convenient to pass out.
 
oscroft said:
Ah, OK, so weaker solutions and longer times, which I guess means some experiment (and it's expensive stuff to waste)
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No, small amounts of weak solutions of caustic soda or sulphuric acid, added to standard strength baths, for fine tuning of colour balance. Stuff developed with the standard solutions for standard times will be at least as good as most amateur E6 labs. 'Tweak' it with customized times and H2SO4 or NaOH and they'll be better.

Yes, it does sound forbidding. And no, it isn't. Or at least I've found it so. But if you want to do it in Paterson tanks with a bucket of warm water as a water bath -- well, it'll work (probably better than you expect) but it's still more trouble than I'd want, so maybe you'd better leave it until you're more desperate... (That wasn't an attack so much as speaking from experience).

Cheers,

R.
 
The main reason that I don't usually do my own 35mm E6 is that I'd rather not have to mount all those slides. If I send them out, I remount the really good ones in glass mounts.
 
No, small amounts of weak solutions of caustic soda or sulphuric acid, added to standard strength baths, for fine tuning of colour balance
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Oh, sorry, I misunderstood - when I was asking about using Paterson tanks what I was really asking is how people handle the recommended chemical volumes. If I use a 1L kit and use 600ml of chemicals for two films (or up to three lots of two films), I'm left with 400ml, which isn't enough for a second batch - so I was wondering if it is possible to dilute the 500ml recommended volume to the 600ml needed for a Paterson tank, or whether I'd need to use 600ml stock and carry 400ml over to the next 1L kit I buy.

Yes, it does sound forbidding. And no, it isn't. Or at least I've found it so. But if you want to do it in Paterson tanks with a bucket of warm water as a water bath -- well, it'll work (probably better than you expect) but it's still more trouble than I'd want, so maybe you'd better leave it until you're more desperate.
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Well, I might have just become more desperate!
On the Dlab7 site - "PLEASE NOTE: WE WILL BE DISCONTINUING E6 PROCESSING AFTER MONDAY DECEMBER 1st"
http://www.dlab7.com/dlab7_site/web/
And with my local branch of Spielmann's having recently closed (they did decent E6 processing for around £4 a roll), I'm running out of convenient and cheap places.

So I'm swaying back again - when I get back to the UK I think I'll probably try one run with Paterson tanks and a bucket of water to see what kind of results I get, and then maybe look out for a CPE2 on the Famous Auction Site.
 
The main reason that I don't usually do my own 35mm E6 is that I'd rather not have to mount all those slides. If I send them out, I remount the really good ones in glass mounts.
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Yes, I've thought the same too for a long while, because I do like to project slides. At least, I tell myself I do, but its at least 5 years since I last got the projector out, and then it was only to show some other people some of my old slides. In recent years, I've only been scanning.

So, if I'm honest, I really won't be losing anything if I store my transparencies in unmounted strips - if there are any I really want to project I can always mount them individually. (And the other advantage is that storing them in unmounted strips takes up a lot less shelf space than mounted slides).
 
oscroft said:
Oh, sorry, I misunderstood - when I was asking about using Paterson tanks what I was really asking is how people handle the recommended chemical volumes. If I use a 1L kit and use 600ml of chemicals for two films (or up to three lots of two films), I'm left with 400ml, which isn't enough for a second batch - so I was wondering if it is possible to dilute the 500ml recommended volume to the 600ml needed for a Paterson tank, or whether I'd need to use 600ml stock and carry 400ml over to the next 1L kit I buy.


Well, I might have just become more desperate!
On the Dlab7 site - "PLEASE NOTE: WE WILL BE DISCONTINUING E6 PROCESSING AFTER MONDAY DECEMBER 1st"
http://www.dlab7.com/dlab7_site/web/
And with my local branch of Spielmann's having recently closed (they did decent E6 processing for around £4 a roll), I'm running out of convenient and cheap places.

So I'm swaying back again - when I get back to the UK I think I'll probably try one run with Paterson tanks and a bucket of water to see what kind of results I get, and then maybe look out for a CPE2 on the Famous Auction Site.
Click to expand...

Dear Alan,

Aaargh!

Yes, you can 'roll over' from one kit to the next but my understanding (I may be wrong, not having done it this way) is that you pour out 600ml; process; mix it back with the remainder; pour 600ml from this...

Of course the life of part-used solutions is much shorter than that of unused.

Incidentally I don't find mounting to be a problem. I cut the pics I want, individually, and stire them in hanging files in their procesing sleeves. The spares go into an envelope marked with the date, subject and 'spares'. Then I mount the others as needed (GePe) for scanning (or, very rarely, projection).

Cheers,

R.
 
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Yes, you can 'roll over' from one kit to the next but my understanding (I may be wrong, not having done it this way) is that you pour out 600ml; process; mix it back with the remainder; pour 600ml from this.
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Ah, yes, thanks - that sounds like it makes sense.

Another question that has sprung to mind (and many thanks for all the help so far), is what is the shelf life of the Tetenal chemicals? The 5L kits are much better value, but it would take me a while to shoot 60 rolls - though the break-even point is probably around 30 films (and if I'm on a colour-shooting trip to Thailand I could quite easily come back with that many). Also, I guess the lower cost of the 5L kit would make it more attractive to do one-shot processing.
 
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