squirrel$$$bandit
Veteran
Today is hazardous waste dropoff day at the dump, so I am going to be bringing in all of my exhausted chemistry I've been saving up for the past year. This will clear out my cabinet, and I'll be mixing up some new stuff, and I'm thinking I will return to color film, which I haven't shot in a while.
The Tetanal C41 kit has become pretty easy for me, so I was going to get a brick of Ektar and shoot that for a couple of months. But while looking at the B&H site I came across this E-6 kit. There is a 1-liter as well, but it's much more expensive per roll ($50 for one liter vs. $92 for five).
Has anyone used this kit? Is it any harder than C41 at home? The temperature (100 degrees F) is the same, but it supposedly takes rather longer (35 minutes). My concerns are 1) the necessity of keeping the temperature absolutely precise for half an hour--is it extremely sensitive to small temp changes, or is there a bit of flexibility, as with C41?, and 2) if I get the 5-liter chemistry, what's the shelf life of the undiluted liquids? If they will last the way, say, Rodinal lasts, then I'll get the 5-liter, but if not, I will probably just pony up for the 1-liter. 3) How long does the diluted mixture last in airless containers? and finally, 4) how many rolls can you get out of one liter's worth of diluted mixture?
One advantage of this stuff seems to be the ability to mix up small batches at a time, since the concentrations are in liquid form, not powder. Mixing up the chem is, in my experience, the most irritating thing about the C41 kit, and that part would be easier here. But if this kit is going to require a big learning curve, I will buy more C41 dev now and save this experiment for my winter break, when I'll have more time to futz around.
The Tetanal C41 kit has become pretty easy for me, so I was going to get a brick of Ektar and shoot that for a couple of months. But while looking at the B&H site I came across this E-6 kit. There is a 1-liter as well, but it's much more expensive per roll ($50 for one liter vs. $92 for five).
Has anyone used this kit? Is it any harder than C41 at home? The temperature (100 degrees F) is the same, but it supposedly takes rather longer (35 minutes). My concerns are 1) the necessity of keeping the temperature absolutely precise for half an hour--is it extremely sensitive to small temp changes, or is there a bit of flexibility, as with C41?, and 2) if I get the 5-liter chemistry, what's the shelf life of the undiluted liquids? If they will last the way, say, Rodinal lasts, then I'll get the 5-liter, but if not, I will probably just pony up for the 1-liter. 3) How long does the diluted mixture last in airless containers? and finally, 4) how many rolls can you get out of one liter's worth of diluted mixture?
One advantage of this stuff seems to be the ability to mix up small batches at a time, since the concentrations are in liquid form, not powder. Mixing up the chem is, in my experience, the most irritating thing about the C41 kit, and that part would be easier here. But if this kit is going to require a big learning curve, I will buy more C41 dev now and save this experiment for my winter break, when I'll have more time to futz around.
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