My first E-6 processing using jobo cpa-2

[George Kara]

I had written off the roll of 120 I shot for test purposes today. I have never even been in a dark room before (for photography). My daughter helped me load the film on the reel which is certainly the hardest part to me.

Anyhow the transparencies are perfect! I guess if you can follow a recipe for making food, you can process E-6. I purchased the kodak 1 shot package which was easy enough to use.

Im just not sure of which processes I need to throw away and which I can re-use.

I have purchased the 3010 drum for 4x5 which is the primary reason to buy this rig. Hopefully this will arrive tomorros.

Happy days and it is so much fun to learn new skills!!

If I hadnt gained confidence with digital I would never have even thought of giving home processing a try.

[Brian Ellis]

"My daughter helped me load the film on the reel which is certainly the hardest part to me. "

You must be using a steel reel and tank or something similar. If you get a Paterson plastic tank and reel loading the film will be a piece of cake.

Congratulations on your success. I still remember how thrilled I was when at age 14 or so I successfully processed my first roll of film (by holding it at each end and pulling it up and down repeatedly through a tray filled with developer). Those were the days.

[Brian C. Miller]

The Tetenal 1-liter kit has a capacity of 12 rolls of 135 or 120, and I paid $45 at a local shop. So that's $3.75/roll, or 93 cents per 4x5 sheet.

[Rory_5244]

Congrats George!

[Greg Lockrey]

I'll never forget the first roll of transparencies I developed.:) The process was E-4. Done on the kitchen table using the dish pan for a water bath.

[Alan Davenport]

One-shot E6? Forgive my ignorance; I've been too lazy to process my own color for the past 2 decades...

Really? One shot? Amazin......

[Stan. L-B]

Hello George.
Congratulations on your first E6 development. You will find the 3010 drum a doddle to use, it is so ecconomical you will not have to worry about keeping the various baths for re-use.
I use the system with Cpp2 with drums up to 10X8" and gain excellent results. I use the various kits as one shot, but having said that, it is quite possible to extend the use of the baths for subsequent films by extending the processing times for each bath, as directed in the leaflet. Not all the baths deterioate at the same rate and some keep longer than others when kept in non oxidisation containers - full dark bottles; even if it means using glass marbles, or a concertina to get the bottles full to the brim!
Your guide to keeping used chemicals well stoppered will be guided by the frequency of your processing; if you develop regularly use the extended method of developing, if you use it once a month or so - use the one shot method. Good luck.

[PViapiano]

Never having tried E6 home processing before, I have a few questions after doing some research this morning.

The Kodak Single Use Kit which makes 5 litres of each of the solutions, states a capacity of 10-12 sq ft of film. Using a conservative figure (10.5 sq ft), that equals approx 1,600 sq inches of film. If a roll of 120 is equal to 80 sq inches, I come up with 20 rolls, or using 4x5 sheet film, an 80 sheet capacity.

Also, if I use a 500ml small tank to process 120 roll film, I have 10 sessions in which I use the 5 litre (5,000 ml) volume of the kit.

Does that mean that I can theoretically reuse the working solutions one more time before capacity is reached, assuming I can use them before the shelf life of the solution gives out?

[George Kara]

I understand that you should generally not attempt to re-use any of the developers. While learning, I will follow the instructions on the E-6 kit. For me there are to many variables in the beginning of the learning curve to try and mess with any potential developer replenishment issues.

I would like to hear what the experts here have to say.

[Greg Lockrey]

George, if your'e going to be low volume user like most amatuers and very many pros, the E-6 one gal. kit used one shot is the best way to go. Yes some of the chemistry could probably be used over a couple times, but then you are going to be dealing with some cross over contamination. As far as costs go, it is a very economical way to process your transparencies. Get some accurate pipets to measure the small volumes. Mix what you need each time. Once the chemistry is mixed, most will last a couple of weeks. The used bottles not mixed will last about 6 months on average. A neat trick is to fill the bottles with marbles to use up the air space, prolonging self life considerably. Hope this helps.

[Brian C. Miller]

The Tetenal/Jobo kit contains development times for reusing the chemicals. The times are based for a batch of 4 135 (or 120) rolls at a time. Each subsequent batch has a different time. The film is washed in between the chemicals, so cross-contamination doesn't occur.