More adventures in DIY E-6...

[gdi]

I am in the process of learning to load 120 double on a Paterson reel. This allows me to process 4 rolls in 15 Oz of Kodak chemistry - this is working out to about $1.50/roll based on my $60 cost for a Kodak 5L kit. Loading is a PITA but it does work well!

My local lab charges about $6.50 a roll so I think I could pay for my processor pretty quickly - as long as I don't let the chemicals go bad.


How many people are doing E6 (or C41) at home?

 

[SCOTFORTHLAD]

I did all my own 35mm E6 at home for several years,mainly by hand over the sink,2x 36 rolls on each run.I did use a second- hand rotary processor for one run and it was great,but the heating element failed next time,so I reverted to the hand agitated tank.
I always saved up 8 films ,bought a 600mm kit,and processed them all over a few days.I never had any problems at all,apart from some dust on the drying slides on one occasion.

If I can help in any way,let me know.

Brian.

 

[Screwy]

Seriously considering trying C41 at home , The local lab charges £5.60 ($11.00) to develop and print one 36 exposure roll , The Tetenal C41 colortec 2 bath is only £12.35 ($24.40) for the 1 litre kit , good for 12 to 16 films . Got to be worth a try 🙂



Paul

 

[SCOTFORTHLAD]

Seriously considering trying C41 at home , The local lab charges £5.60 ($11.00) to develop and print one 36 exposure roll , The Tetenal C41 colortec 2 bath is only £12.35 ($24.40) for the 1 litre kit , good for 12 to 16 films . Got to be worth a try 🙂



Paul

Hi PauL,
Any idea of the keeping qualities of the C41 chemicals.The E6 stuff has very short life once opened,hence the need to accumulate 6/8 films to make it worth while.

Brian

 

[Screwy]

Not to sure Brian , It's a liquid concentrate kit but I can't find much info on the net regards shelf life .


Paul

 

[gdi]

I did all my own 35mm E6 at home for several years,mainly by hand over the sink,2x 36 rolls on each run.I did use a second- hand rotary processor for one run and it was great,but the heating element failed next time,so I reverted to the hand agitated tank.
I always saved up 8 films ,bought a 600mm kit,and processed them all over a few days.I never had any problems at all,apart from some dust on the drying slides on one occasion.

If I can help in any way,let me know.

Brian.

I have to hand it to you if you were using the 7 Step kit by hand!

I think the biggest issue I have now is storing the unmixed chemicals. I am using a Vacuvin cork kit to remove the air from the bottles, but now I need glass bottles.

 

[gdi]

Seriously considering trying C41 at home , The local lab charges £5.60 ($11.00) to develop and print one 36 exposure roll , The Tetenal C41 colortec 2 bath is only £12.35 ($24.40) for the 1 litre kit , good for 12 to 16 films . Got to be worth a try 🙂



Paul

I had heard it would not be worth while to do color at home, but these prices do make it appealing. Of course this will just contribute further to the demise of film labs, but I think they are doomed as is.

I am going to try to find a C-41 kit to try out, I think small ones are pretty scarce...

 

[SCOTFORTHLAD]

I have to hand it to you if you were using the 7 Step kit by hand!

I think the biggest issue I have now is storing the unmixed chemicals. I am using a Vacuvin cork kit to remove the air from the bottles, but now I need glass bottles.

Fortunately the non-kodak versions ,in the UK at least,are 4 bath--
First Dev,
Colour Dev,
Bleach Fix,
Stabiliser.
Total time,incl 5 mins preheating was 34 minutes.

I would have been daunted by 7 baths,obviously some of the baths are combined in these kits,but to my eyes at least not detrimentally.The only Bath with keeping qualities over about 3 weeks is the bleach fix.

Brian.

 

[nikon_sam]

I developed E-6 back in High School...1978...I still have some of the shots from back then...
I haven't used E-6 since the 80's...
I know they have a better kit than the one I had back then...I haven't seen any at the local big store plus I haven't used E-6 film in a while...
Back then I was just to dumb to know it was work...

 

[artur5]

I used to mix my C41/E6 stuff until some years ago.
Is better to develop several films at a time if you have access to a Jobo processor or something like that. ( 5 films on a Jobo 1540 tank )
As for the final UNUSED solutions self life -on well stopped bottles without air inside- is 2 or 3 months for the developers and much more for the bleach - fix stuff. In fact, the bleach needs some air to keep his properties. Once the solutions are used to develop some films, the useful life shortens ( for the first and color developers) to 2 or 3 weeks only.