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Peter De Smidt
23-Aug-2011, 20:02
What E-6 kits are still available in the USA? I see that Freestyle has one. Anyone else?

I used to use the Kodak 6-bath kit in my Jobo, but alas it's no longer made. It looks like the fujifilm/hunt one is also gone.

RawheaD
23-Aug-2011, 20:26
What E-6 kits are still available in the USA? I see that Freestyle has one. Anyone else?

I used to use the Kodak 6-bath kit in my Jobo, but alas it's no longer made. It looks like the fujifilm/hunt one is also gone.

I think the Arista kit is the only one you can get as small quantities. The other option is the Kodak chemicals in bulk; perhaps doing a group buy is the way to go.

I was fortunate to inherit a great amount of the bulk Kodak chemicals that will last me a little while, but after that's gone, I may have to go the group buy route myself.

Greg Blank
24-Aug-2011, 08:27
In theory I could do this, Omega Brandess is a Kodak distributor. But everyone then pays hazmat fees for the E6 six bath. Freestyle is a 3 step kit I believe and therefore does not have hazmat fees....seems like the way to go.


I think the Arista kit is the only one you can get as small quantities. The other option is the Kodak chemicals in bulk; perhaps doing a group buy is the way to go.

I was fortunate to inherit a great amount of the bulk Kodak chemicals that will last me a little while, but after that's gone, I may have to go the group buy route myself.

Daniel Stone
24-Aug-2011, 08:33
there have been some people(including my self) who have looked into asking Freestyle if they can order Fuji's E-6 (6) bath kit that they sell in the UK. Even if it has to be drop-shipped from the distributor, it would be great to be able to get a full 6-bath kit in a 5L size, rather than having to buy huge cubitainers from Kodak. I used a 5L Kodak kit, and after mixing up each part of the chems, I decanted the individual 1L sections(so 5 runs total) into brown bottles, and topped off with nitrogen before securing the caps on. I got nearly a year out of that group of chemicals, but my usage would be at least 3x now, personally.

We should see if anyone intersested, and we can form a "co-op" and gang-up on Freestyle to bend their ear to possibly doing this.

anyone interested besides myself in this proposition?

-Dan

LF4Fun
24-Aug-2011, 08:37
there have been some people(including my self) who have looked into asking Freestyle if they can order Fuji's E-6

Dan,

can you update us on this? I'd love to get my hand on some

:)

Daniel Stone
24-Aug-2011, 09:01
there was a thread started earlier this year about such topic, I'll search(and you can too), and we can get started possibly. The only issue I could see is that there would be a minimum order, probably like 40-50 kits. IDK though...

-Dan

vinny
24-Aug-2011, 09:54
I had started that thread earlier this year after asking Badger Graphics about a group order. Then the big quake hit. I don't think there's enough interest and i didn't get a number from badger as far as a minimum order. Fuji takes forever to get supplies here and makes decisions without much notice when it comes to film. While putting the containers on a pallet that is already coming from japan sounds easy, it's not. Just look how long it took them to get fuji b+w 4x5 film here and how quick it went away.

Daniel Stone
24-Aug-2011, 11:02
Vinny,

IIRC, Fuji's E-6 chemicals are made by HUNT, an American company. So, distributorship here in the USA should be easier to do, if it is indeed made here.

I'll try giving Fuji USA a call, to see what can happen, if anything.

-Dan

vinny
24-Aug-2011, 11:57
Not made here from the research I did online. c41, yes.

Jan Normandale
29-Aug-2011, 10:57
I'll follow this thread.

Songyun
31-Oct-2011, 12:08
Any updates?

Peter De Smidt
1-Nov-2011, 16:34
Getting the Fuji kits wasn't practical, unfortunately.

Songyun
3-Nov-2011, 19:32
How about the Kodak 10L chemicals? I am confused with starter and replenshier. If I use it one time, what should I get?

polyglot
3-Nov-2011, 20:00
Working solution is fresh replenisher plus a tiny bit of starter. Replenisher without starter is too active, which means different development times, which is bad. So you add starter to slow it down to the nominal rate. The contents of the starter are chemically similar to the byproducts of the development process, so that a new batch of developer (with starter) behaves like an old batch of developer.

After running each film through, you replace a small quantity of the working solution with replenisher and it comes back to the normal activity level. In principle, you can keep doing this forever: process films, replace some solution; in practise it needs filtering and gets contaminated, etc, so you eventually make up a new batch with starter.

Short version: you need both starter and replenisher, and you need to read the process documentation (http://www.kodak.com/global/en/business/retailPhoto/techInfo/zManuals/index.jhtml) (Z-119 for E-6). In theory you could one-shot develop but that's horrifically expensive and you would need to (experimentally) find a shorter development time that gave you good results, which means buying test strips and using up a bunch of extra chems to figure it out - not worth it IMHO. Or if you get a small kit not designed for replenishment, it will have the starter already mixed into the developers.

Laurent L
7-Nov-2011, 14:55
Hi !

I've just started my own E6 lab at home with my Jobo, my first results are truely encouraging. I use a kit named "TETENAL" you can order it on ebay in England, they ship worldwide.

IanG
7-Nov-2011, 16:04
The Tetenal kits are good they've been around a very long time as a company. I use their RA4 chemistry and it's superb and I know people who use their E6 kits.

They make chemistry for Ilford and possibly others as well.

Ian

Ari
7-Nov-2011, 16:52
Tetenal kits are very good; I buy the C-41 kits from B&H for $20, and I got 60 sheets out of one package last time.

Laurent L
12-Nov-2011, 12:53
20 canadian dollars for a kit ? here in France we buy it 40 USD (postage not included).

But let's ditch this financial aspect, this kit is really a good one, I made a try for fun with a used kit which had already developed ten sheets and 5 120 rolls. I decided to develop some expired film exposed three years ago.

I thought it would be a mess so I didn't even really care a lot about the temperature (like I usualy do) but in the end my results were really OK.

My only mistake about C41 and E6 at home was to wait for too long before daring to try it.

Don't make the same one ! Give it a try ! ^o^^

Laurent

Songyun
6-Dec-2011, 19:28
Thinking about E-6 kit on Freestyle (http://www.freestylephoto.biz/11864-Arista-Rapid-E6-Slide-Developing-Kit-1-Gallon?cat_id=1002). Looks like the process (http://www.freestylephoto.biz/pdf/AristaE6.pdf) is slightly different from the Kodak process. Anyone has any experiences?

SpeedGraphicMan
7-Dec-2011, 11:50
What E-6 kits are still available in the USA? I see that Freestyle has one. Anyone else?

I used to use the Kodak 6-bath kit in my Jobo, but alas it's no longer made. It looks like the fujifilm/hunt one is also gone.

The Arista kit is terrible.

I have used Kodak for years with manual tanks and got perfect results.
Then I tried the Freestyle kit.

Bad... Bad... Bad...

Kodak Pro kit is the best way to go!

SpeedGraphicMan
7-Dec-2011, 11:54
Tetenal kits are very good; I buy the C-41 kits from B&H for $20, and I got 60 sheets out of one package last time.


Tetenal kits are also very good!

Songyun
7-Dec-2011, 13:38
Tetenal kits are also very good!

Where can I found these kits in U.S.?

Gary Samson
7-Dec-2011, 14:28
Where can I found these kits in U.S.?

I believe that the E_6 processing kits are sold under the Arista label at Freestyle Photo in California.

Jan Normandale
10-Dec-2011, 17:44
The Arista kit is terrible.

I have used Kodak for years with manual tanks and got perfect results.
Then I tried the Freestyle kit.

Bad... Bad... Bad...

Kodak Pro kit is the best way to go!

AFAIK Kodak stopped making E6 kits over a year back... since you're strong on the Kodak kit where are sourcing them? I'd also wonder about the expiry date on these kits. What does your kit state. I'd really like to get a couple of these if I could and they're not expired.

Daniel Stone
10-Dec-2011, 21:59
I think TREBLA sells E-6 chemicals that are designed for smaller quantity mixings...

http://www.cpacimaging.com/msdstrechrome6.asp

-Dan

Black Lightning
11-Dec-2011, 08:08
I just perused the chemical section of B&H and It looks to me like I could get the chemicals to process E-6 although in much larger quantities than I used to. I really will miss that seven part 5L kit which Kodak used to sell.

Roger Cole
11-Dec-2011, 12:36
Why is Arista "terrible?" Isn't it the same as the old Unicolor three bath? I did a bunch of that in the 90s with perfect results.

Songyun
11-Dec-2011, 15:32
I think TREBLA sells E-6 chemicals that are designed for smaller quantity mixings...

http://www.cpacimaging.com/msdstrechrome6.asp

-Dan

Hi Dan,
Are the chemicals in liters for the small quantity mixing? (without the hassle of mixing starter and replenisher)

SpeedGraphicMan
13-Dec-2011, 14:01
AFAIK Kodak stopped making E6 kits over a year back... since you're strong on the Kodak kit where are sourcing them? I'd also wonder about the expiry date on these kits. What does your kit state. I'd really like to get a couple of these if I could and they're not expired.


I bought mine (5 liter pro 6 step) a couple of years ago.
The EXP date is 2009 but I still get good results :D

This may not always be the case. :confused:

I had not heard anything about Kodak discontinuing kit?????
I special ordered mine through Adorama in 2009.

B&H carries Tetenal c-41 kits for about $20 US

SpeedGraphicMan
13-Dec-2011, 14:09
Why is Arista "terrible?" Isn't it the same as the old Unicolor three bath? I did a bunch of that in the 90s with perfect results.

I can't say if its unicolor or not? Freestyle does not disclose.

It is a three step kit.

All I know is I had very bad luck with this kit.

Come to think of it alot of the "Arista" chemicals have sometimes been bad news for me.

I usually order my B&W/Color chemicals from www.ultrafineonline.com or B&H

Jan Normandale
13-Dec-2011, 22:21
I usually order my B&W/Color chemicals from www.ultrafineonline.com or B&H


Hi, I just went to the link in your post and there are no visible E6 chemicals listed. Can you steer me to where they are on the site? Thanks it's appreciated.

Roger Cole
13-Dec-2011, 22:27
I can't say if its unicolor or not? Freestyle does not disclose.

It is a three step kit.

All I know is I had very bad luck with this kit.

Come to think of it alot of the "Arista" chemicals have sometimes been bad news for me.

I usually order my B&W/Color chemicals from www.ultrafineonline.com or B&H

Hum, well I haven't done any since the 90s, but I do remember a friend owned a commercial lab when the three step stuff came out and he tested and actually preferred the results from the three step. I used a lot of three step Unicolor back then and never had a problem. Maybe you got a bad batch? Or maybe it is different or maybe our standards are different.

SpeedGraphicMan
20-Dec-2011, 14:03
Hi, I just went to the link in your post and there are no visible E6 chemicals listed. Can you steer me to where they are on the site? Thanks it's appreciated.

Ultrafine doesn't sell e-6 kits anymore but c41 and ra4 as well as BW.

Good prices on Velvia from time to time also! :D

SpeedGraphicMan
20-Dec-2011, 14:06
Hum, well I haven't done any since the 90s, but I do remember a friend owned a commercial lab when the three step stuff came out and he tested and actually preferred the results from the three step. I used a lot of three step Unicolor back then and never had a problem. Maybe you got a bad batch? Or maybe it is different or maybe our standards are different.

It could very well be that I got a bad batch... I never bought a second one to find out ;)