[ChrisPlatt]

About 3 months ago, I started processing my own C41 color. Once you get it all set up, it's quite simple and I've had great results. There are several places you can purchase a C41 kit for under $30, which fills my brown quart bottles. (It requires 3 of them)

How many rolls does that kit process? How precisely must temperature be controlled with modern kits?
Just curious. I haven't attempted color since college, when I was forced to use an E-6 kit to meet a deadline.

Chris

[timw4mail]

How many rolls does that kit process? How precisely must temperature be controlled with modern kits?
Just curious. I haven't attempted color since college, when I was forced to use an E-6 kit to meet a deadline.

Chris

Just a quick search, and it seems that you can do room temperature C-41 development: How to develop color negatives in C-41, the easy way – Addicted2light

[twilhelm]

How many rolls does that kit process? How precisely must temperature be controlled with modern kits?
Just curious. I haven't attempted color since college, when I was forced to use an E-6 kit to meet a deadline.

Chris

They say the kit does 8 to 12 rolls, 36 exposure at expected results, with diminishing quality after that. There were some that said they developed 20 plus rolls from a kit. I’m at the 8 roll point in my kit and am still getting great results. Temperature wise, I’ve done it both ways, brought it to temperature and did my developing without worrying about it, and then I did a roll by placing it in the hot bath after each time I agitated the film. I didn’t see a noticeable difference in the negatives.

[Dr.T]

Thanks, this thread is exactly what I was looking for. Since I moved to the Nashville area the one big camera store has stopped carrying much in the way of darkroom supplies and the lab across the street has stopped developing E6, I got one of the last rolls through from my 67 though.

[Mikesul]

It is fading fast. But there will probably always be some specialty shops offering services.

[desertscape]

The best E-6 lab in the US is AgX in Michigan. It is for pro shooters mostly.

[timw4mail]

The best E-6 lab in the US is AgX in Michigan. It is for pro shooters mostly.

Seems weird that a big E-6 lab would be in the Upper Peninsula (Sault Ste. Marie).

[aaacb]

+1 for first checking local stores. I used to mail my film, but since have switched to Hunts (regional, I'm in Boston currently), which is half the price at $5 for 35mm c-41 compared to what I used to pay. They still send them somewhere (their own lab, or partners?), so return time is no less, but quality is great and so is the price. For E-6 it's a little different, I'm probably going to stick with ospl.

[klappers]

I develope my own at home. Both C-41 and B&W. C-41 is way easier. Run the tap, which happens to be at 40 degrees Celsius to heat the chemicals, then do it again to mantain the temp and you're away. Way easier and cheaper than sending away or finding a local store. I've done 10+ rolls on my 1L kit so far and still going strong. Just have to be vigilant and keep them separate and clean

[desertscape]

Seems weird that a big E-6 lab would be in the Upper Peninsula (Sault Ste. Marie).

It may be in the UP but you can't argue with the results. It's not a big lab from what I know. If it's got to be done right, send it to Mike.

[zionfarm]

Film lab map here: The EMULSIVE Global Film Lab Map (v8) | EMULSIVE

I really appreciate this post as I have been needing to develop some film I have. Good thing I came back to this tread and found the map. Dwayne's Photo is 3 hours from my location here in Kansas.

[Russell W. Barnes]

'Just a quick search, and it seems that you can do room temperature C-41 development...'

You can, and it works - been there; done that. There's a thread on it further down, here: C41 stand development - Page 2 - PentaxForums.com

However...

Whilst I was impressed with the colour rendition, I was less impressed with the grain, which I put down to stand-development. I've done colour processing 120 film and 35mm film at both 38°C and 30°C and the pics came out fine (Tetenal Colortech kit). That said, I mixed the chemicals up about the beginning of September last year and had processed five jobs (eight films, of which five were 400 ISO) so maybe there was some chemical exhaustion at play here too.

I don't really do enough colour film to justify the cost of another Tetenal, or equivalent, set of colour developing chemicals.
--

Kind Regds,

R.

[tuco]

I don't really do enough colour film to justify the cost of another Tetenal, or equivalent, set of colour developing chemicals.
--

R.

Yeah, I don't use the full capacity of my color kits. I chicken out and mix a new batch due to self age. I don't shoot color all the time. I wish they made one-shot color kits like that post on Ilford's one-shot BW kits.

[abruzzi]

On the other hand, if you do a LOT of color, you can buy minilab chemicals, and get the price down to low enough to use color chems one shot, rather than reuse, but I suspect you’d have to do a couple hundred rolls a year to make it pay off.

[Russell W. Barnes]

I got myself a Tetenal colour kit to see if I could 'do' it, really. I followed the instructions to the letter, keeping the temp stable wasn't as bad as I thought, and I was pleased with the results both at 38C and 30C, especially on 120 film. But then I lapsed a bit, as I shoot mostly black and white, and in the meantime the colour chems were getting older, and older... I suspect if I did a colour film now it would come out of a fashion, but there'd be degradation because of age.

I would like to try E-6 processing at some point, as I've always had a soft spot for slides. I think if I were to do colour full time, it'd be E-6. Retirement looms!