Ektachrome Returns(?)

Even though I still buy fresh stock(I want fresh Velvia/Provia when I'm doing something important) I do have E6 piled "high and deep." As long as I can get E-6 chemistry(when you're a chemist, that's not really an issue-under the terms of my employment it's permissible for me to buy from Sigma, VWR, Fisher, etc out of pocket as long as I'm not doing something illegal with it) I'll be set for a while.

 

Of course, color at home is still a pain in the rear...

Just out of curiosity, are you actually doing a full six-step process?

Just out of curiosity, are you actually doing a full six-step process?

I do three step with the Arista kit-developer, color developer, blix. I don't know if anyone sells the 5 bath kit anymore in home quantities.

Since I have good E-6 locally, I mostly save home processing for sheet film and add in roll film to exhaust the chemistry. I've let the mixed chemistry sit for a week before, but I mostly try to do it within a few days of mixing. A typical course would be for me to mix on Friday night and develop one or two batches, then spend all day Saturday on it and clean up the rest on Sunday.

E-6 does present some interesting challenges. You need to maintain 40.5ºC for the first developer, and ideally keep it close for the color developer(Blix is a lot more forgiving-it's done to completion so if the temperature drops you just extend the time). I usually fill the bathtub up, and let everything equilibrate-including a few jugs of wash water. Water comes out of the tap in the tub at 42-43ºC, and I'll usually do a few water changes to get everything up to temperature. I run the first developer when it hits 40.5º, and then go from there. All said and done, it takes me about about an hour to do a run, and then another half hour or so to "reset." Also, I've found freshly developed E-6 to be EXTREMELY soft-much more so than what you're probably use to with B&W film.

One last thing-I add a small amount of formalin(formaldehyde) to my Photoflo final rinse. From reading some good old discussions here, apparently this was part of the original E-6 spec but is no longer done commercially for environmental reasons. Still, I was told that it ideally "should" be done as it acts as a stabilizer, and for it for that reason. I save my used final rinse and I'll get around to properly disposing of it one of these days.

As a side note, PhotoFlo working solutions are bad about growing bacterial. As an experiment, I made up a batch with .1% phenol to act as a deterrent for my B&W developing. Despite the fact that it had a pretty potent phenol smell (I think .1% is about the concentration in Chloraseptic throat spray, and of course that both has a potent pehnol smell and taste) it still didn't work. Fortunately, the formaldehyde seems to be holding off the bacteria in my color final rinse.

I do three step with the Arista kit-developer, color developer, blix. I don't know if anyone sells the 5 bath kit anymore in home quantities.

 

Since I have good E-6 locally, I mostly save home processing for sheet film and add in roll film to exhaust the chemistry. I've let the mixed chemistry sit for a week before, but I mostly try to do it within a few days of mixing. A typical course would be for me to mix on Friday night and develop one or two batches, then spend all day Saturday on it and clean up the rest on Sunday.

 

E-6 does present some interesting challenges. You need to maintain 40.5ºC for the first developer, and ideally keep it close for the color developer(Blix is a lot more forgiving-it's done to completion so if the temperature drops you just extend the time). I usually fill the bathtub up, and let everything equilibrate-including a few jugs of wash water. Water comes out of the tap in the tub at 42-43ºC, and I'll usually do a few water changes to get everything up to temperature. I run the first developer when it hits 40.5º, and then go from there. All said and done, it takes me about about an hour to do a run, and then another half hour or so to "reset." Also, I've found freshly developed E-6 to be EXTREMELY soft-much more so than what you're probably use to with B&W film.

 

One last thing-I add a small amount of formalin(formaldehyde) to my Photoflo final rinse. From reading some good old discussions here, apparently this was part of the original E-6 spec but is no longer done commercially for environmental reasons. Still, I was told that it ideally "should" be done as it acts as a stabilizer, and for it for that reason. I save my used final rinse and I'll get around to properly disposing of it one of these days.

 

As a side note, PhotoFlo working solutions are bad about growing bacterial. As an experiment, I made up a batch with .1% phenol to act as a deterrent for my B&W developing. Despite the fact that it had a pretty potent phenol smell (I think .1% is about the concentration in Chloraseptic throat spray, and of course that both has a potent pehnol smell and taste) it still didn't work. Fortunately, the formaldehyde seems to be holding off the bacteria in my color final rinse.

Now that's something I'll never be able to do - can't obtain dev kits. But I found out there's one lab that develops slides here for 8$, so I'll give a try to couple of Velvia or Provia. And Ektachrome too, if it enters the market.

I would not shoot outdated film.

I guess you'd not be happy with the ~50 sheets of 4x5 Fuji Velvia(not Velvia 50-just Velvia) in my freezer.

This is one of those situations where I bought it because it's a lot easier to get than fresh Velvia 50. I do have some in-date Velvia 100, but still like 50 better.

I'm getting ready to order of 4 boxes of Velvia 100 in 220 from Japan, and will probably tack a box of 4x5 Velvia 50 onto the order. The only way we can get those two items in the US is if you have a liason in Japan who will re-ship it to you-fortunately there's a guy on the LFP forum who does just that. You don't do it for cost reasons, as all said and done(between higher Japanese prices, the cost of shipping, and the fact that this guy understandably adds some markup) it's $1 more a sheet than Fuji transparencies in the US.