Processed my first E6

[Patrick Dixon]

I bought a cheap Jobo CPE2 from eBay, cobbled together a drum, and dug out the 4x5 reel I got as part of job lot with something else.

After a few days of practise, I managed to perfect the art of loading 4 sheets in the reel in the dark, and when my E6 5L kit arrived this morning, I was ready to go ....





OK, so I'm not Tim Parkin yet, but the transparencies look OK!

These are 4x5 E100VS that I shot the other evening using a Symmar-S 210mm and 135mm respectively, and the old Arca-Swiss.

Thanks to Tim for his excellent video, and to everyone else who has posted helpful advice as a result.

[Joanna Carter]

Well done! And have you noticed that the usual clip marks you get from the labs are missing?

[dave_whatever]

Nice one Patrick.

[Patrick Dixon]

Well done! And have you noticed that the usual clip marks you get from the labs are missing?

Yeah, but I might have some other artefacts instead ...

If I use the chemicals one-shot for each tank of 4 sheets, I reckon it will cost around 50p/sheet excluding electricity - but it will be nice to get the results back quicker, and I still find it quite exciting to process your own!

I've also just worked out that I'll need to shoot at least 80 sheets in 3 months to use up the chemicals before they go off ... so I'd better get out and get on with it I guess! So much for the slow, contemplative, LF approach.

[dave_whatever]

From what I gather then chemicals should keep at lot longer than that if you get rid of the air space. Someone on here suggested a year wasn't out of the question when I asked about this.

[jennym]

Well done Patrick. It's a scary moment when you first open that drum and see what you have got....

[Baxter]

Why only 4 sheets per batch? Is it because of the mythical streaking which some 'informed' web advisers recommend?

I've processed hundreds of sheets to date, consistently getting top notch results with 6 sheets in the standard 2506N holder using 250ml chemicals one-shot. For 4 sheets I use the outer and central slot with 200ml chemical. I would struggle to see how the Expert tanks would improve upon the 2506N with wings fitted.

[Patrick Dixon]

Well I don't have wings for a start ... but I only did two sheets here in case it all went a bit pear-shaped.

One thing I'm not sure of, is that TP is doing washes using half the 250ml in two goes. The data-sheet recommends either continuous washing for each wash cycle, or water changes every 30 seconds. I actually did two washes per wash cycle using 250ml each time (because, hey, water is cheap), but I'm wondering if it would be better to do the washes manually and use more changes?

I have a C41 kit too, so I'll have to have a go at that some time (only have 120 C41 film though).

[dave_whatever]

Each 2:30 wash cycle i've been doing three washes, guestimated 200-300ml ish per go, doing two 30sec washes followed by a 1:30. The final long wash is something like four 1min washes. This was with 4 sheets in the tank.

In the spirit of the thread, here is one of the first run of film I did, which also happens to be the only sheet I've scanned as yet.

[Baxter]

Hi Patrick

I haven't seen Tim's videos so won't comment on his process, but have seen sufficient accolades that people have found them informative and given them the confidence to go ahead and try to process their own film, E6 in particular having a bit of a reputation as a hard nut to crack. I know Tim and that he is a meticulous and careful worker and think that he has done a tremendous amount to promote use of LF and subsequently DIY film processing. I would have loved to have his video/blog posts available when I was taking the plunge.

I was actually referring to a chap I think was on APUG about 6 years ago who was poo-pooing all the Jobo R&D product development and advocating using 4 sheets per holder just in case. In terms of time and hassle this seemed a nonsense to me even using an ATL machine which I had just purchased. Manually, with a CPE2 etc, the extra effort must be a huge disincentive to all but the most committed.

I have only used Jobo ATLs, initially a 1000 and subsequently a 2300 and have always used their recommended process times. For Fuji E6, I have not lengthened process times, but used RVO at ISO40 like a lot of others. I can't remember what the wash times as I programmed them in and have left alone, waiting for the machine to beep at me to say, 'Oi Bax, get your skates on an get this stuff in the Stabiliser bath'. A look at an ATL manual will say what they are.

As for the scanning, I am somewhat filled with dread at the prospect of digitising and de-dusting the best of the 50-odd sheets I processed last Friday and Saturday.....

[timparkin]

Hi folks - don't take what I did as gospel, it was only my second attempt

I subsequently have been quite happy running 6 sheets through with no problems.. Glad that my videos have helped people

[Patrick Dixon]

AFAIK, Jobo added the wings to improve flow across 6 sheets because customers had had problems. Some people have continued to use just just 4 sheets even with the wings, and some reckon the wings introduce streaking problems of their own and leave them off. I haven't got any, so I reckon I'll stick to 4 sheets.

A couple more Jobo related questions:-

The funnel on the 1520 drum I have, has a different fixing to the lid, compared with the funnel on the bottom bit of the print drum (one has plastic clip and the other is a rotate and lock) - is this normal or is one a later development of the other? It doesn't seem to be a problem, because I just put the 2500 drum together with the funnel 'loose' without any light leak issues.

I processed some C41 120 film yesterday with less successful results. I used the 1500 drum because I have a 120 reel for it, but as I don't have the plastic bits to extend the rollers, I jammed something under the end of the drum to keep it level when rotating. However, using 250ml (recommended is 240ml) I lost about 50% of the chemicals into the tempering bath during processing! What am I doing wrong? Maybe I'll just get a 120 spiral for the 2500 drum.

On the E6 run, I used the faster rotation speed - should I be using that, or the slower one?

[Joanna Carter]

AFAIK, Jobo added the wings to improve flow across 6 sheets because customers had had problems. Some people have continued to use just just 4 sheets even with the wings, and some reckon the wings introduce streaking problems of their own and leave them off. I haven't got any, so I reckon I'll stick to 4 sheets.

I always use the wings with 6 sheets (on an ATL1500) and get perfect results every time. But, even without the wings, the newer 2509n reels have end stops which should keep the film in place, so 6 sheets should not be a problem. I believe the 4 sheets "rule" came about from people using the older 2509 reel, which are truly awful, take a lot longer to load and are highly suspect when it comes to the film staying in place.

The funnel on the 1520 drum I have, has a different fixing to the lid, compared with the funnel on the bottom bit of the print drum (one has plastic clip and the other is a rotate and lock) - is this normal or is one a later development of the other? It doesn't seem to be a problem, because I just put the 2500 drum together with the funnel 'loose' without any light leak issues.

I processed some C41 120 film yesterday with less successful results. I used the 1500 drum because I have a 120 reel for it, but as I don't have the plastic bits to extend the rollers, I jammed something under the end of the drum to keep it level when rotating. However, using 250ml (recommended is 240ml) I lost about 50% of the chemicals into the tempering bath during processing! What am I doing wrong? Maybe I'll just get a 120 spiral for the 2500 drum.

Losing chemistry is a sign that there is a seal missing at the neck of the tank. You say you used the wrong funnel? Either that, or is the red seal missing?

Do you have the lift mechanism or are you using the magnet drive?

[Patrick Dixon]

Losing chemistry is a sign that there is a seal missing at the neck of the tank. You say you used the wrong funnel? Either that, or is the red seal missing?

Red seal? The chemistry seemed to be leaking back down the centre column and out into the funnel. I didn't use the red cap because I assumed that was just for inversion processing. I didn't have a problem with the 2500 drum and 4x5 reel - just with the 1500/120 reel.

Do you have the lift mechanism or are you using the magnet drive?

Magnet.

EDIT: just done a test with water, and it does seem to be leaking past the funnel into the lid. It didn't with the 2500 tank - perhaps just because the chemicals don't fill the larger tank as much.

So I'm missing some kind of seal between funnel and lid? What about the two different funnel locking mechanisms? Do I need a different funnel for the 2500 lid to the 1500 lid? I only have the funnel that came with the 1500 tank - and that's the combination that caused problems.

[Joanna Carter]

Red seal? The chemistry seemed to be leaking back down the centre column and out into the funnel. I didn't use the red cap because I assumed that was just for inversion processing. I didn't have a problem with the 2500 drum and 4x5 reel - just with the 1500/120 reel.

The 2500 tanks have a red seal around the neck of the lid, I was assuming the 1500 tanks had the same.

You mentioned about using the funnel from the 2500 on the 1500? To the best of my knowledge, the centre core on the 1500 is a different diameter to the 2500, therefore, the funnel would not seal correctly on the core.

Maybe, if you posted a couple of digisnaps of the bits you are using, we could see where the problem is.