E6 chems in Australia

[Michael_qrt]

Hi all, I'd like to start doing home development of E6 film and I'm looking for a reasonably economical way to get hold of the chemicals in Australia. I don't mind buying larger quantities (maybe equivalent to 50 or so 120 rolls worth) if there is a way to keep it for a year or more but I don't expect to do a huge volume of processing.

For C41 processing I've been using the Tetenal powder kits ordered from B&H, however since the E6 chems only seem to come in liquid form it seems like it's harder to get it shipped here from overseas. The only supplier I know of in Australia is Vanbar, which has the Tetenal E6 kits, though they seem a little pricey. If anyone has experience with other ways of getting E6 chems in Australia I'd definitely be interested to hear it.

Thanks

[polyglot]

Best option I've found is to buy the 5L Fuji kits. Macodirect (DE) seems to be the cheapest and Ag-Photo (UK) also sells them; note that if you select "non-EU" on the macodirect webpage, it will not charge you the huge VAT. Capacity is 40-50 rolls and cost is about $4 per roll including shipping.

It keeps for a few months at most, unless you have the chemistry skills and equipment (pH measurement, test strips, etc) to adjust the process and avoid colour casts.

Edit: if you're in Adelaide, I've got a kit that I'm about to open. I have spare capacity for about 5 or 10 rolls, and I can do 4x5 in a 3010.

[Michael_qrt]

Thanks for the info and the offer (alas I'm in Sydney). I had a look on macodirect and the only shipping option for the 5L Fuji kit was 91 Euros, I figured it would be expensive to ship but that might be a little much to make it worthwhile. I'll ask Ag-photo for a shipping quote and see if they drop VAT for overseas customers.

As for keeping the chemicals are you talking about the lasting properties of the mixed up working solution or the concentrate in opened bottles? I was hoping to be able to split the concentrate into smaller bottles with the air squeezed out for longer storage. For that matter how long do these kits last without them having been opened and do they list an expiry date?

[David Woods]

Maybe go and see or call the lab at Redfern their number is 93193300, they might be able to sell some to you cheap

[polyglot]

No, the kit weighs 6kg so you can get another 3.5kg of stuff into your order and ship it all for EUR59. I got the E6, 3L of Rollei C41 concentrates and huge pile of film shipped for the 10kg price. The exchange rate isn't as good any more, but the kit is still really cheap compared to paying labs, especially for LF. Our local lab wants $10/sheet for 4x5 development and this kit does 200 sheets! Obviously best if you can split it with a friend(s).

A couple of months is OK for mixed solutions in the fridge under butane. Both refrigeration and butane (well, total O2 exclusion) are necessary. Concentrates I'm not sure about, I've had them go bad (10CC blue shift, correctable via pH in CD) after 9mo but it's hard to tell the cause because my rebottling wasn't as competent as I thought it was when I was doing it :(

The concentrates will also crystallise in the bottles, which makes it impossible to withdraw a specific fraction of the remaining conc unless you can get all the crystals back into solution.

[Michael_qrt]

So it's been a year and a half and I'm in need of some more chemicals. Any aussies out there processing E6 at home? How are you getting chemicals? I checked with Vanbar here in Aus and they said they are out of stock of the Tetenal E6 kits and they might be getting more in May...

Maco Direct will no longer ship the 5L kits out of Europe, so the only option with them is to get the 1L Tetenal kits at not a very economical price. Is there a way to source kits from the USA? It seems the chems are all classified ORM-D and have shipping restrictions.

[SMBooth]

Vanbar had 1 litre kits on the shelf yesterday!

[Michael_qrt]

In the Melbourne store I guess? I emailed them through the website to ask and they replied they were out, sounds like it would be worth calling them.

[polyglot]

Maco Direct will no longer ship the 5L kits out of Europe

Oh. Shit. I was depending on them for affordable colour chemistry, and they've stopped shipping the Digibase too.

I'm right for a few more months, but will want to buy a bunch of developer soon. Might be time to organise an APUG/LFPF Australian Bulk Buy and split up a big Kodak purchase.

[Michael_qrt]

I gave the Vanbar Sydney store a call and they had the 1L Tetenal E6 kits in stock so I was able to pick one up to at least process the undeveloped shots I have now but certainly in the future it might be a good idea to start an Australian group buy for these chemicals. It's only going to get harder and harder I fear.