How to Develop Slide Film with Tetenal Colortec E6 Kit
Today and for the first time on One Year With Film Only, we have a guest author : Sina Farhat!
He loves to play with expired slide films and has a lot to share with us about how to develop E6 film at home Using The Tetenal Colortec E6 Kit.
I leave to him now and enjoy this article 🙂
Vincent
Congratulations, if you are reading this article then you are (hopefully!) willing to take the next step in your film development adventure. In this article, I will explain the required steps in order to develop slide film using Tetenal’s Colortec E6 kit.
If you have the Arista E6 kit, I would recommend you use this guide by Kikie Wilkins.
Before I get the process lets start with how I got into slide film and later developing it myself.
Table of Contents
My Slide Film Adventure
My adventure with slide film started with me shooting a roll or two now and then, I was somewhat interested in slide film but the longer lab development time and the cost of the film scared me away, so I concentrated on black and white film instead.
In late 2016 this all changed thanks to a friend who contacted about some expired Kodak EKTACHROME slide film he had collected. He wanted to empty his freezer and (luckily for me), didn’t have any need for the film.
After covering costs I found myself in possession of an 8kg package containing over 200 rolls of EKTACHROME 120 and 220 film. There was so much film that it took up a whole section of my freezer!
Some time later two more friends asked me if I wanted even more film. Of course, I said yes and I added 35mm slide film to the mix!
It’s worth mentioning that all of the slide films are expired, however they have all been freezer stored, which means I can continue to shoot them all at their native ISOs and still get great results, to the point that they look fresh when developed.PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS
I found myself with a bit of a problem. How was I going to process all this film? Should I send it to a lab or do I take the step forward and develop it myself?
Considering the cost of sending the film to a lab, and that local turnaround times are 1-2 weeks, the answer was relatively easy; I should develop the film myself.
I looked up the cost of the chemicals and found a 2.5 litre Tetenal Colortec E6 kit that develops 30 rolls.
This was just around the time when another friend stepped in and asked me if I wanted to have a 5 liter Tetenal Colortec E6 kit that was just siting in his home and gathering dust…of course, I said yes and after covering the shipping costs (again), I once again had an 8kg package in my hands!
Let the slide film adventure begin!
Quick Tips
Before I get into the details of the development process I want to impart a few tips that I think will help you to get comfortable with the process. Here goes:
1. Be patient. It takes around 25 minutes to process a roll of slide film. Take your time and don’t stress!
2. If you need to take a break, do so when you are washing the film between development steps. Just make sure that the tank is filled with water so that the film doesn’t dry out.
3. When you get comfortable with the process bring a tablet/smartphone/laptop and put on a video that runs in the background, this helps you to get past the monotonous part of the development stages!
4. Mix your stabilizer with distilled water, this removes any watermarks that are usually left on the film from tap water.
Most importantly: Have fun and look forward to seeing your images, this makes the process much more enjoyable.
Like C-41 development, the E6 process requires a relatively high temperature to be attained and maintained. I also have some suggestions on maxing the developer chemicals, too. I have detailed them below before we jump into the process itself.
Getting The Temperature Right
Ah, the temperature fear! This step really scares people away from both C41 and E6 development at home, as it seems to be really hard. That said, it isn’t and you don’t event need special, expensive equipment to get the job done.
My process goes something like this:
I fill my sink with hot-ish water from the tap and put in my three 0.75L glass bottles, which contain:
- The first developer
- The color developer
- Blix chemicals
I use a digital thermometer to monitor temperature. The display part goes somewhere dry and the cord goes into my sink so that I can monitor the temperature. I let the three bottles sit in the sink until they reach 38 degrees Celcius. Now and then I use the thermometer to check on the temperature of the chemicals until they have reached the appropriate temperature.
Make sure to mix the water so that the temperature reaches the whole area of the water bath, and when the temperature goes below 38 degrees just add more hot-ish water and mix the water.
Voila, you have solved the temperature problem!
Mixing The Solution
I prefer to use 0.5 liter of the mixed solutions as it gives me enough chemicals to develop 6 rolls of film.
The reason for this is that I have ruined films in the past by letting mixed C-41 solution sit unused for too long and I ended up with a blank roll because of that.
By developing 6 rolls at a time, my solution is used up and I don’t risk letting it sit and go bad!E6
Development: Required Items And Materials
Things you will need before you start:
- Exposed slide film (fresh or expired)
- Mixed solution stored in bottles with clear labels in order to avoid confusion.
- Some kind of timer, I use an old stopwatch
- Digital thermometer
- Chemical resistant gloves
- Developing tank and reels
- Film changing bag or a darkroom to load your film into the developing tank
- Container, sink or bucket large enough to hold your chemistry
- Access to water tap.
- Somewhere to hang and dry your film
After developing a few rolls, I made some changes to the process outlined in the instructions provided in the Tetenal kit. These modifications haven’t yet let me down and at the time of writing I have developed around 40 rolls without issue.
Here Are My Refinements:
First, I prewash for 1 minute instead of 5 minutes. The prewash warms the film so that the first developer chemicals and the film are the right temperature. I had no problems when it comes to working within the temperature tolerances according to the instructions. Make sure to be close enough to the temperature for successfully developed film!
Second, when washing the film after applying the BLIX, the instructions say to use 36 degree C water. I don’t understand that at all, as the stabilizer is around 25 degrees and at that point the temperature-crucial development part is done and only the final wash remains in order to get the film free from any remaining BLIX. Therefore I simply open the tap at a warm(ish) temperature and let it wash under running water for 4 minutes, now and then, I pour out the water and let the tank fill up again.
These are alterations I have made to the published process and they work for me. Your results will vary and I strongly advise you to follow the instructions a few times before you start making any variations of your own.
The Development Steps
After loading your film into your tank and getting the water bath to the right temperature you are ready to start.
The process below may seem daunting but if you already develop C-41 or black and white film at home, it shouldn’t be too much of a leap.
Let’s get started.
Step 1: Prewash
Pour in the 38 degree C water into your tank and agitate it hard. After 30 seconds pour it out and repeat the process on more time for a total of 1 minute.
Step 2: First Developer
Your chemicals should be at 38 degrees C. Pour your first developer into your tank and use the agitation stick to constantly agitate the film for the first 15 seconds, then every 15 seconds spin the stick 2-3 times until you reach your stop time.
When I mix 0.5 liters of solution the instructions say that development times for rolls 1-2 is 6:15 min, rolls 2-4 for 6:30 minutes and rolls 5-6 for 6:45 minutes.
When you are done pour back the first developer into the bottle.
Step 3: Wash #1
Draw some water at 38C and pour it into your tank. Agitate hard and put the tank down, then repeat this step 3 more times until you reached the 2 minute time.
Step 4: Color Developer
Pour in your color developer (at 38C) and use the agitation stick to constantly agitate for 15 seconds then once every 15 seconds, spin the stick 2-3 times until you reach your stop time.
The instructions say that for rolls 1-2 you will need 6 minutes of development time, rolls 2-4 require 7 minutes and rolls 5-6 require 8 minutes.
When you are done pour back the color developer into the bottle.
Step 5: Wash #2
Once again, draw some water at 38C and pour it into your tank. Agitate hard and put the tank down, then repeat this step 3 more times until you reached the 2 minute time.
Step 6: Blix
Pour in your BLIX (at 38C), and use the agitation stick to constantly agitate for 16 seconds then every 15 seconds spin the stick 2-3 times until you reach your stop time.
The instructions say that for rolls 1-2 you will need 6 minutes of development time, rolls 2-4 require 7 minutes and rolls 5-6 require 8 minutes.
When you are done pour back the BLIX into the bottle.
Step 7: Final Wash
Run warm(ish) water from your tap into your film tank to remove a remainging BLIX from the film. I pour out the tank water a couple of time and refill it again. Four minutes later and you are done washing!
Step 8: Stabilizer
Pour your stabilizer into the tank and agitate constantly for 1 minute, when done pour back the stabilizer in the bottle.
Step 9: Hang Film
Congrats! You have developed slide film! Open the tank and remove the reel, then open the reel and hang the film to dry.
Tip: Before you open the reel I recommend that you hold the reel tight in your hand and shake it, this way you get more liquids out from the film and it dries faster.
Step 10: Enjoy
Enjoy your developed slide film!
MORE SAMPLES
https://www.flickr.com/photos/sf_webcoast/collections/72157677836651512/
Final Thoughts
As Kikie Wilkins points out, developing slide film at home is no more difficult than developing C-41 and if you are only used to developing black and white film yourself, trust me, the leap is not as big as some people make out.
There are several things you can do to ensure more control over the temperature of your chemicals, from using a small aquarium with a heating element, or a sous vide cooker – the choice is up to you. Hopefully what I’ve helped to do here is helped to show you that process is neither hard, or mysterious.
Looking forward to hearing about your own E6 adventures!
~ Sina Farhat
This article was originally published here.
Images Used With Permission
I am a freelance photographer that enjoys challenges and discovering my world in photos! I teach photograpy and in my spare time I enjoy analog photography.
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2 Replies to “How to Develop Slide Film with Tetenal Colortec E6 Kit”
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Hey, many thanks for your story. I will develop my first positiv film and taking me trought the whole process was the support I was looking for.
I have a question.
Do you have experience with 4×5 plan film? And how I should addapt the time table.
And a stupid one: “are the first developer and the color developer reusable as you mentioned about the stabilizer?
Kind regards,
Mario
Regarding 4×5 this article could help you:
https://www.alexbond.com.au/velvia-4×5-tetenal-e6-3-bath-process/
If you mix say 0.5 liter solution you can develop six rolls of 120 so you can reuse first developer and colour developer six times before you have to mix new chemicals.
As for the stabilizer I don’t remember if tetenal recommends using it more than the intended amount of rolls because if I remember correctly other makers of colour film developer kits gives you a stabilizer that can be used more times than the amount of rolls that is mentioned on the kits box!