E-6 considerations

["BIRKEY, DUANE" <dbirkey@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I develop some 500+ rolls of E-6 a year 5 rolls at a time using a JOBO 
CPP2 processor and E-6R chemistry and as of late E-6 kits.  (I'm having 
a horrible time getting 5 Gallon Bleach cube-a-tainers shipped since it 
is considered hazardous materials)

Time and temperature are really critical in only two of the steps, 
first developer and color developer.  First developer controls speed 
and doesn't effect color balance but needs to be kept in tolerance.  If 
the temperature is 8 F degrees high, it's like pushing it one stop, 12 
F degrees two stops.  If the temp is 6 F low you lose 1 stop and 13 F 
low means it will be underdeveloped by two stops.  Color developer is 
just about as finicky and but instead of over or under exposed slides 
you'll get funky colors.  The other reason most people end up with 
funky colors is the oxidation of the chemistry and not enough 
agitation.  For those who are accustomed to developing BW, you know you 
don't want much agitation, but with E-6 you need a lot of it.  I run my 
JOBO at more than 120 revolutions per minute, anything slower and I 
have problems.

E-6 chemistry needs to be used promptly and unused chemistry needs to 
be kept in full containers, glass is best.  I've found that color 
developer should be kept in dark glass or inside of an opaque box or 
something like that.  Kodak says that unused solutions stored as such 
will last 8 weeks and used 4 weeks. If you have the chemistry in a 
partially filled container, new or used it will only last a week.  If 
your color developer looks more like Coca Cola, (or Pepsi) instead of 
light Lipton lemon tea, you're going to get a bad color balance.  
You're speed will be off if the first developer is not nearly clear.  

I'll be honest, I use (two per chemical) 1/2 gallon thick plastic 
containers since I'm not crazy about having to clean up both pieces of 
glass plus the chemistry should such a bottle fall on the floor  (or if 
I would happen to run over it with my car, I'm still trying to figure 
out how Dr. George "I ran over my realist with my car" T. did that????) 
 But I'm using the chemistry fast enough that it has not been a 
problem. 

As far as capacity is concerned I'm using 700ml of chemistry for 10 
rolls of 36 exp (5 rolls at a time, the second run usually right after 
the first but a day or two later is fine) and discarding it afterwards. 
 This means I could develop 54 rolls of film but I figure 50 is more 
accurate.  If you look at Kodak's instructions, they do not recommend 
more than 33 rolls and that's after adding 30 sec to the first 
developer time after developing 22 rolls.  But using chemistry one shot 
in a rotary drum does extend capacity without loss of quality.

So my cost per unmounted roll is roughly $1.20 using E-6 kits and about 
$.80 using E6AR (would be lower but shipping to Ecuador isn't cheap).  
At that rate, it doesn't take too long to pay for the JOBO unit, and 
the JOBO provides strict temperature control, agitation speed and saves 
a lot on the arm muscles.  It's nice to have if you want to do color 
printing too! 

If you are not shooting enough film to use the chemistry promptly and 
are not really precise about time and temperature and your arms can't 
handle the agitation needed: (especially during the bleach) chances are 
your results may not meet even the most relaxed standards.  It does not 
take a whole lot of error to change color balance 10cc and labs here in 
Ecuador are usually off by a lot more than that.

It can be fun, but it's not a forgiving process

Duane


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End of PHOTO-3D Digest 1147
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