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View Full Version : Are E6 and C41 Bleach/fixer the same? (or close enough to do the trick?)



Dhuiting
17-Jan-2018, 09:39
I have some c41 that needs developing. 4x5 and 8x10 sheets. but I don't have enough film to warrant mixing up another gallon batch. (I leave for a two-week trip on 21st so it would just go bad, or get very close to bad)

I have been doing E6 all week and have some leftover bleach and fixer that is plenty good. (It's from the Fuji E6 5L kit from Freestyle). And my normal c41 kit is the Arista kit that uses a Blix. What I DO have, is enough c41 developer from my LAST c41 batch to mix up 1L, enough for the film I need. (I pour the elementary chemicals A, B, and C into separate airtight bottles right away, label them, effectively splitting the gallon kits into 4 parts so I can mix up just a little if I want. But I haven't done that with the newest gallon Arista c41 kit, otherwise there would be no need for this post. I do however, have one "part" left of all the necessary chemicals to make the developer needed for this small c41 batch, but I already used the Blix part from that last c41 kit elsewhere, so I'm left with some c41 developer parts ready to mix (fresh and totally good, 1L), and the bleach and fixer that I had mixed for E6 (also still fresh, only about a week old).

So If I can just bleach and fix the c41 in the E6 bleach and fixer, that will save me a lot of money and some time as well.

(I remember when buying fuji chemicals before there were things called "universal c41/e6 fixer" that I would buy, so I feel like, with a name like that, it's possible?

Side note: I want to understand the ingredients of the c41 and e6 chemicals better, and educate myself more on what they all do (I know basically what they do: The dev converts light-energized particles into silver, the bleach into silver halide, and the fixer takes it away) in a more specific way. So if anyone has links to things I can read to get more educated, I would appreciate it!

chassis
17-Jan-2018, 17:29
Dan,

According to this post from 2005: https://www.photo.net/discuss/threads/using-a-common-bleach-for-e-6-c-41b-possibly-ra-4.147106/

Ron Mowrey says E-6 bleach and E-6 fixer can be used for C-41 film. He is a former Kodak engineer and shares a tremendous amount of his time and advice on Photrio.

Ole Skjøle
2-Feb-2021, 23:49
I have some c41 that needs developing. 4x5 and 8x10 sheets. but I don't have enough film to warrant mixing up another gallon batch. (I leave for a two-week trip on 21st so it would just go bad, or get very close to bad)

I have been doing E6 all week and have some leftover bleach and fixer that is plenty good. (It's from the Fuji E6 5L kit from Freestyle). And my normal c41 kit is the Arista kit that uses a Blix. What I DO have, is enough c41 developer from my LAST c41 batch to mix up 1L, enough for the film I need. (I pour the elementary chemicals A, B, and C into separate airtight bottles right away, label them, effectively splitting the gallon kits into 4 parts so I can mix up just a little if I want. But I haven't done that with the newest gallon Arista c41 kit, otherwise there would be no need for this post. I do however, have one "part" left of all the necessary chemicals to make the developer needed for this small c41 batch, but I already used the Blix part from that last c41 kit elsewhere, so I'm left with some c41 developer parts ready to mix (fresh and totally good, 1L), and the bleach and fixer that I had mixed for E6 (also still fresh, only about a week old).

So If I can just bleach and fix the c41 in the E6 bleach and fixer, that will save me a lot of money and some time as well.

(I remember when buying fuji chemicals before there were things called "universal c41/e6 fixer" that I would buy, so I feel like, with a name like that, it's possible?

Side note: I want to understand the ingredients of the c41 and e6 chemicals better, and educate myself more on what they all do (I know basically what they do: The dev converts light-energized particles into silver, the bleach into silver halide, and the fixer takes it away) in a more specific way. So if anyone has links to things I can read to get more educated, I would appreciate it!


February 2021: Just looking at the Tetenal homepage and noticed the Blix for their E-6 kit is labelled C-41/E-6 Blix.

In regards to the Original Post: Blix has a long shelf life, and it's activation is improved by oxidation. The new Cinestill CS6 kit I am testing lists a shelf life of their Blix as 2-4 months. Adding further support to this, I found a JOBO report entitled "Introduction to Processing" in which they recommend aerating Blix by shaking it up in a larger volume container to maintain sufficient aeration to keep activity level high. But I would still feel better having a quantitative measure of Blix activity, such as using Hypo Check for black and white fixer. Can one use Hypo Check to determine if Blix is still active?