R.I.P. Kodak E6 Kits

[IanMazursky]

I think a few years past expiration wouldn’t be to much of a stretch if they aren’t stored improperly.
They are all super saturated solutions and if unopened should last a while.
The ones that will probably go first are the color and first dev then reversal and pre bleach. The last 2 form bio scum overtime.
The Bleach and Fixer can last a long time. I have some Bleach that was over 6 years old from an E6AR cubitaner that still worked.
My big worry is either a loss of speed in the first dev or a major color shift from the color dev.
Its finicky as is and age doesn’t help at all. All of my kits are dated mid or late 2011, but i will go through them long before.

I even have a 3 or 4 year old kit somewhere thats mostly unused, i wonder how well its holding up.

[SamReeves]

I got a Kodak E-6 kit stashed away. I'm still working on my old Tetenal kit.

Chems will last a pretty long time as long as they're stoppered nearly full.

[tgtaylor]

I just bought one that was ordered from Kodak a couple of weeks ago and the kit is still prominently displayed on the Kodak website. The date of Mfg is January, 2010 with a July 2011 expiration date.

I believe that the developers are the first to go bad. I have been working out of a kit with a Mfg date of April, 2w008 (Expire October, 2009) and the developers are medium yellow in color. They turn brown when they are bad. And, SUPRISE! SUPRISE!, hidden in the back of the cabinet is a partial kit with a Mfg date of Sept, 2006 and expiration date of March, 2008 AND THE COLORS ARE STILL GOOD!!! I now remember that I stopped using it because it was past the expiration date but evidentially didn't throw it out!

So the stuff seems to last.

[Rob Landry]

Over the weekend, I processed some E-6 slides and used the last of my 5 liter E-6 kit chemicals. As I normally do, I went to the Calumet website and reordered. Today, I received a UPS tracking number. Seems business as usual to me.
Tom Keenan

Just checked Calumet's website and it's now listed as "Discontinued".

[Jan Pedersen]

B&H still have in stock but they don't ship it. Get it while you can if you are in that part of the country.

[ZoneIII]

As anyone who has searched for this topic knows, there are a lot of us that have been hurt by Kodak's decision to discontinue the 5L E6 kit. I suggest that anyone reading this contact Kodak and urge them to reintroduce the product. Other products have been brought back by consumer demand. Fuji Velvia 50 is just one example. Since Kodak still makes E6 chemistry, it really seems to be an issue of packaging. Contact them and urge them to bring it back. Serious color photographers are still using E6 films but often don't have a reliable pro lab to do their processing these days so they need the home kits more than ever. And many of them shoot Kodak E6 films so they will stop buying those products too if they can't process them. Let Kodak know that you want this product back. It's obvious that there are a lot of us that need this product.

[vinny]

if you are interested in aquiring fuji's 5L e-6 kit, see below.
http://www.largeformatphotography.in...light=fuji+e-6