Diy E-6?

[jslash6]

I'm thinking of starting to process my own E6 film. I've been told on numerous occasions 'don't bother' or 'too much hassle' by some and 'its fine' or 'easier than you think' by others.

I'm looking for any tips, advice, best practices, things to avoid, success stories, disaster stories.... You know, whatever dirt people have to offer.

I've started with a list of supplies I need to procure from various places. I have considered ebay'in a JOBO processor, but I think I could get any with regular, metal cans and reels in a tub with an aquarium heater or such.

 

[Svitantti]

So far I've only used Tetenal 3-Bath. I think it is fairly easy and I've had no problems so far... However I've heard that the 3-bath might not be so good for the longevity of the films. Dont know about it really, but anyway the 6-bath is not after all much longer process I think, as the 3-bath needs rinses in pretty much all the steps in between anyway. Some of those are counted as baths for the 6-bath IIRC. The next kit for us will probably be Kodak 6-bath.

Just go for it - you will see when you try it. It is easy and not as picky as some say... at least it has worked well with us at our schools club.

Here in Europe it was possible to get the 5 L kit of Tetenal so cheap, that the processing of a single roll is about 1 EUR or a bit more. Of course 5 L is a bit much for just one user.

Now that more and more labs will be ran down, it would be good for photographers to try and learn these things. You will get cheap development and push and pull processing for no extra cost. You can develop whenever you have time and want to do it.

 

[jslash6]

Now that more and more labs will be ran down, it would be good for photographers to try and learn these things. You will get cheap development and push and pull processing for no extra cost. You can develop whenever you have time and want to do it.

PRECISELY! This is the biggest reason I wanna try it myself. I'm sick of stockpiling exposed film for weeks or months before dropping them off at a lab that will inevitably shut down it's E6 operation before long. And, of course, it might be fun....

Not sure about the 3 bath or 6 bath, but I think I'll try the 6 first. I remember being fairly deft at BW processing so I don't think I'll have too much trouble.

 

[Svitantti]

Yeah I if you try the 6-bath and it is not too hard, you should just stick to it. At least the quality and longevity should be as good as possible. I wouldn't be suprised, if even better than at basic 1-hour labs and so on, who still do E6.

Its better to learn to do this yourself than just let the E6 "die" and go to color negatives only. The slides are anyway much different overall... And you can view them with a projector.

...and it really is not that hard

 

[Al Kaplan]

I started out deverloping slides back in Anscochrome days, did E-4 for awhile and then E-6. No it's not that difficult at all. Boring would be a better description. I've never tried the Tetenal chemistry.

 

[Svitantti]

Yeah it can be a bit boring... Until you get it done 😉.

 

[Al Kaplan]

Someplace kicking around here I still have two Kodak Carousel projectors, but all three of the two-hour E-6 labs that used to be within a dozen blocks of here are long gone. Even finding E-6 film at this end of Miami-Dade County means a twenty minute drive to the one place that still carries it, along with a meager stock of B&W film, paper, and chemicals.

 

[Dave Wilkinson]

Someplace kicking around here I still have two Kodak Carousel projectors, but all three of the two-hour E-6 labs that used to be within a dozen blocks of here are long gone. Even finding E-6 film at this end of Miami-Dade County means a twenty minute drive to the one place that still carries it, along with a meager stock of B&W film, paper, and chemicals.

No sweat! Al - there's a free E6 mini-lab going in another thread! - if you have a spare room! 😉