Home E-6 Processing Woes with Velvia 100

[eric black]

continued from an earlier thread which unfortunately lost momentum:
Im still having problems with overexposed Velvia 100 (not F) transparencies while Velvia 50 and Provia seems to work fine for me. Again, I use a Kodak 6 step kit, JOBO CPP2 with 3010 drum and a NIST-calibrated thermometer for temperature accuracy. Development time is the JOBO recommended 7:30 (seven minutes 30 seconds) which is 16% in excess over normal development times (works great for Velvia 50 and Provia 100F)

My course of action to correct this (as I have a few hundred sheets left to use) is to either:

1. adjust my metering to underespose the film even more than I currently am. I use a Pentax spotmeter for which I meter Velvia 50 at 50, Provia 100F at 125 and am currently metering the Velvia 100 at 125 with thoughts of metering it at 160. The downfall of this would be even more loss of shadow detail than what this film is currently known to fail at.

or 2. Adjust my developing time down to either 7:00 or maybe even 6:30 and treat this film more like Kodak film.

Again, does anybody have any insights that might help me to hone in on which course of action seems best? I dont mind doing the testing and will if I cant mine any insights here, but would rather use the chemicals for real results if I can avoid it.

[RPNugent]

I know JOBO used to recommend extra time for the Tetnal kits. Do they recommend exceeding the 7 minute time for Kodak chemistry?

http://www.kodak.com/global/plugins/acrobat/en/service/Zmanuals/z119-10.pdf

The rotary tube instructions from Kodak say 7 minutes.

[Rob Landry]

Never shot the new Velvia 100 but have read a few reports that it can be a little overexposed at box speed; some are rating it at 125 or 160. I've also read that it's a bit more contrasy than Velvia 50. Based on the above, I've just stuck with the 50; don't need any more contrast.

Anyway, Jobo's instructions for extended 1st developer time may not apply to Velvia 100. Jobo was kinda winding down before Velvia 100 was out and I doubt they tested it. Based on what you're seeing, you may wanna try exposing it at 100 and reducing your developer time. Exposing at 125 or higher and increasing your developer time will add contrast that you really don't want.

[eric black]

Thanks Rob- that is what I will probably try and then post results here following. My primary concern is losing even more shadow detail than has already been lost by shooting at 160. Ideally, I would like to do the test exposures on a snowy scene, but the weather in Maryland might not cooperate- guess Ill go looking for a white building.

[SamReeves]

or 2. Adjust my developing time down to either 7:00 or maybe even 6:30 and treat this film more like Kodak film.

That's what has worked for me so far. I've used Kodak's specs of 6:00 and no problems.

[Joanna Carter]

Eric, I found the following link to someone using a Tetenal kit with a first dev of 6 minutes. http://www.yarki.net/E6 If I were you, I would try that and see what happens.

In fact, would it be worthwhile making 6 identical exposures and process each one in 30 steps from 5 or 6 minutes and see what is best; after all, you are using "the opposition's" chemistry :o

I realise this might seem like an expensive route but it could end up being beneficial in the long run.

[eric black]

My plan is to get out and do some shooting this weekend and do just that- I plan to use metering values of 100, 125 and 160 and then develop at 6:00, 6:30, 7:00 and maybe 7:30 if needed (I dont want to waste chems if I can avoid it). I will report the results when I have had a chance to look at them- now all I need to do is find a suitable scene for this experiment-thanks all for the input

[Joanna Carter]

Eric, please take this as advice from someone who shoots Velvia 100 all the time; don't vary the speed, there is nothing wrong with the 100 ISO rating, it is purely your development time, expose consistently at 100 ISO and vary the dev time only to match the correct exposure at that speed.

Also bear in mind that you should try to get no more than 4 stops range with your shadows 2 stops under and highlights 2 stops over. That should give you a good reference exposure.

[Erik Larsen]

Hi Eric,
My very unscientific approach is to meter the highlights and make sure they are put at zone 7 and not any higher at box speed. I use the 7:30 recommended by jobo and haven't had many problems with blown highlights.
Good luck,
regards
Erik

[akfreak]

Zone system on color film , How does that work out for ya?

[akfreak]

Zone system on color film , How does that work out for ya?

[vinny]

Zone system on color film , How does that work out for ya?

Three year old thread dude.

[akfreak]

thanks dude, I am wanting to process velvia at home, if it sparks interest then so be it.