Any experience with Arista Rapid E6 Slide develping kit?

<p>I have never developed color film but with the rising costs of getting them developed, I'm thinking of taking a stab at home development.<br /><br />Well the Arista chemistry seems not too expensive, but has anyone had any experience with it?<a href="http://www.freestylephoto.biz/11861-Arista-Rapid-E6-Slide-Developing-Kit-1-Quart"><br /><br />http://www.freestylephoto.biz/11861-Arista-Rapid-E6-Slide-Developing-Kit-1-Quart<br /><br /></a>Tetenal seems like a popular alternative, but the 1L version costs twice as much as the Arista. The price difference between the Tetenal 1L vs 5L is silly too ($67 vs $100). I've never done this at all and so I would feel less comfortable dropping $67/$100 on chemistry when I can spend less.</p>

<p>Michael, I have used both, and have settled in on the Tetenal 5L kit for a variety of reasons: It lasts a lot longer, it develops more rolls per liter, up to 12 vs. 8, and it seems to provide more consistent color, all the way up to it's stated capacity, which on occasion has been a minor problem with the Arista. The key is to shoot a decent amount. If you only shoot occasionally, then the Arista is the way to go. I wait to mix until I have enough for a full liter's capacity. When I have a 5L kit (or gallon in Arista), I wait until I have 2 liters worth of film to develop. This leaves the rest, which I top off with butane. I get as much as a year of time in which to use up the remainder, with never a problem. The key is shooting, though. If you are not going to use a fair amount of film, like 50-60 rolls of film in a year, then you pretty much have to use the 1 quart/liter kits. With fresh kits, I see no difference in results between the two.<br /><br />Good luck, and have fun. The first time you pull those chromes out, you will be amazed.</p>

<p>Thanks, i don't shoot that much color but part of the reason is the costs (which is why I'm looking into home development). I tried C41 but i just love the E6 colors too much and so I'd rather just shoot less color...<br /><br />I shoot B&W fairly often and so I don't worry about the chemistry going bad because I use Rodinal or D76 which gets used up every 1-2 months. I do not know much about E6 chemistry but I heard that it goes bad fast and that this also depends on contamination and so using it all at once makes sense. I was thinking of just getting 1L kits (for 8-12 rolls) and just processing them all at once or within a short interval of time for maximum consistency. I shoot ~2-4 rolls a month and I don't really want to hoard up my color film for too long so maybe I'm better off going with the Arista 1L kits?</p>

<p>See here</p>

<p>http://www.photo.net/film-and-processing-forum/00bbL1</p>

<p>Hey Brian, the link you've provided is to a thread I began. So yeah, Michael, you can read through it and get some idea of what's involved.</p>

<p>Michael Howard makes some good points regarding how many rolls you expose. Me, it's hard to get out and shoot several rolls at a time these days. I'm lucky if I can finish two, seems like. So until the opportunity presents itself where I can shoot a lot of slides, I'll keep buying the small Arista kits.</p>

<p>I bought another Arista kit to replace the one where I spilled much of the first developer, but I haven't mixed the chemicals yet. I have two rolls of 120, one roll of 220 and one roll of 35mm/36exp to develop, so I have enough exposed E-6 at this point to make it worth my while. I have one unexposed roll of Rollei Crossbird 200 that I'm probably gonna expose before I develop my rolls. Stay tuned -- I'll post photos of my results. </p>

<p>Oh, a quick word about my setup. I'm using 1-pt. Milk bottles to store the mixed chems. I painted their exteriors black, although according to one member here, storing the chems in a dark bottle doesn't matter. I have a large styrofoam shipping container -- the kind used to ship steaks in dry ice through the mails. It holds a couple of gallons of liquid, maybe, but has 2-inch thick walls, so it's a great insulator. A regular cheapo styrofoam ice chest will work just as well. I also have a graduated cylinder which I use for the initial mixing of the chemicals, a ceramic funnel, a large glass measuring pitcher, and a laboratory thermometer. I'm using a Paterson System 4 tank, which will take 3 rolls at a time. I don't strictly have to use the measuring pitcher, but it makes things go quicker. Not only do I mix the chemicals in the pitcher, but when the developer or fixer's time is up, I can quickly dump the tank's contents into the pitcher and begin rinsing out the tank in preparation for the next bath, so then I can take my time pouring the used developer/fixer back into its container, using the funnel. Otherwise, I'd have to mix the chems directly in their storage bottle, and after developing or fixing, I'd have to pour the tank's contents directly back into its bottle, which slows things down some.</p>