Fuji Hunt Chrome 6X for home tank processing?

[tsiklonaut]

Guys,

I'm seriously considering buying a kit and trying it out.

What do you reckon, would the Fuji Hunt Chrome 6X kit be doable in normal "home" tank processing?

I hear it brings better results than Tetenal E6 kit plus the positives last longer, but I guess there's a lot more "art" needed doing the longer process which I guess is harder with a normal (non-motorized-rotary/non-lifted/non-temp-stabilized) tank.

I maybe got around +/-1C deg precision using a simple temperature stabilized tub, which is slightly over the recommended 0.6C deg precision recommended by Fuji for the colour developer, so not sure how much it'll affect the colour results. Also would it be worth aquiring some pH meter for better and more consistent results? The rest of the baths don't seem to be so sensitive for the temperature and pH.

Anyone tried the new Fuji's 6X kit in "home-brewed" E6 developing? Any tips or tricks?

Or should I stick to 3-bath kit (Tetenal) and be satisfyed with inferior results and shorter archival times?

TIA.

[polyglot]

Do it. You won't regret it.

It does go off in a few months though, I found that the concentrates will crystallise in their bottles. So you want to have about 40-50 rolls on-hand ready to go.

[tsiklonaut]

Crystallising in few months doesn't sound good

I mostly never have so much slides ready to use all the kit as "one-shot" - maybe only after I've done some bigger trip, but this is rare.

Would love to have a kit that'd be good for at least half a year or so if I store them in smaller airtight bottles and use anti-oxidant before closling. So you reckon the 6X concentrates can't make that long on a shelf?

I though the 6X kit is more stable since the chemicals aren't mixed and Fuji promotes this new kit as not-so-consumerist kit as the previous ones - i.e. it's designed for today's machines that have lower throughput and stay shut for long periods of time. But looks like I got this wrong?

[Neil Grant]

Guys,

I'm seriously considering buying a kit and trying it out.

What do you reckon, would the Fuji Hunt Chrome 6X kit be doable in normal "home" tank processing?

I hear it brings better results than Tetenal E6 kit plus the positives last longer, but I guess there's a lot more "art" needed doing the longer process which I guess is harder with a normal (non-motorized-rotary/non-lifted/non-temp-stabilized) tank.

I maybe got around +/-1C deg precision using a simple temperature stabilized tub, which is slightly over the recommended 0.6C deg precision recommended by Fuji for the colour developer, so not sure how much it'll affect the colour results. Also would it be worth aquiring some pH meter for better and more consistent results? The rest of the baths don't seem to be so sensitive for the temperature and pH.

Anyone tried the new Fuji's 6X kit in "home-brewed" E6 developing? Any tips or tricks?

Or should I stick to 3-bath kit (Tetenal) and be satisfyed with inferior results and shorter archival times?

TIA.

Probably not what you wan to hear: CONSISTENCY : mixing chemistry to correct specific gravity, control strips and densitometry - just to set the run up. Otherwise, accept the process is unique to you and of undetermined quality. It's a lot of effort to do E6 really well (ie in control) which is why I send out to a good lab.

[polyglot]

The crystallisation was about a year after it was originally opened. It seems to be good for about 6mo.

If you can't use it all up in that time though, it might be a good idea to split the kit with someone to get more value out of it.

[David Nardi]

I've got 3 5L boxes of Tetenal E6 ready to mix. I need to process about 90 rolls of 35mm and 120, 10 rolls of Super 8, plus another 25 sheets of 4x5 in a Jobo ATL 1000. Is it true that Fuji Hunt would provide better long term stability to the films over the Tetenal kit? If I could, I would still be using Kodak's 5L kit. A shame they discontinued it. It was a wonderful kit that gave me the results I needed for over 6 years.

But since Tetenal is the only kit I could get here in Canada at an affordable price, I decided to choose it over the Fuji kit. Though I would pick a 6-bath kit over a 3-bath any day. But the price was of concern. The Fuji kits were 2.5 times the price of the Tetenal and I had to source it overseas. Last time I remember I think no seller I contacted would even ship the Fuji kit here. Another reason to settle on Tetenal. Seems to be my only option. I've heard both good and bad regarding it's stability. What do you think?

[David Nardi]

Guys,

I'm seriously considering buying a kit and trying it out.

What do you reckon, would the Fuji Hunt Chrome 6X kit be doable in normal "home" tank processing?

I hear it brings better results than Tetenal E6 kit plus the positives last longer, but I guess there's a lot more "art" needed doing the longer process which I guess is harder with a normal (non-motorized-rotary/non-lifted/non-temp-stabilized) tank.

I maybe got around +/-1C deg precision using a simple temperature stabilized tub, which is slightly over the recommended 0.6C deg precision recommended by Fuji for the colour developer, so not sure how much it'll affect the colour results. Also would it be worth aquiring some pH meter for better and more consistent results? The rest of the baths don't seem to be so sensitive for the temperature and pH.

Anyone tried the new Fuji's 6X kit in "home-brewed" E6 developing? Any tips or tricks?

Or should I stick to 3-bath kit (Tetenal) and be satisfyed with inferior results and shorter archival times?

TIA.

By the way, just do it. Though I haven't used the Fuji Hunt chems I'm sure they would be on par with the 'ol Kodak kit. Once you settle on way to process your E6 films, you will love the results. Just make sure you follow the instructions carefully and keep your chems up to temp (this may be the hardest part with manual development). I've got a Jobo processor so it's a no-brainer. But I don't use any pH meters or anything. Just single shot chemistry mixed according to instructions. For the last 6 years it's been Kodak so this will be my first time with Tetenal. I also wait till I have about 40-50 rolls/sheets to develop so the chemicals are used fresh. E6 developing is just as easy as black and white and the results for me looked better than anything I got from a lab. You'll ask yourself why you haven't done your own developing sooner.

[darkroom_rookie]

Very doable, even if you don't have the processor. You just need to hunt for an extra lid and modify it by epoxying a cup on the underneath. Cup needs to be half-open at the to and the lid needs to be taped to the Expert drum with self-adhesive tape to prevent leakage. Temp is easily controlled with cheap Chinese titanium aquarium heaters - two will heat a large water tank to 38 deg. C easily. I did many runs of 4x5" transparencies and every one turned out perfect. One-shot, of course. Chems are in a dedicated fridge under Vineyard Fresh (97% argon, 3% nitrogen). Just do it!

[bascom49]

I am interested in using the fuji kit also.Where are you planning on purchasing the chemistry ?

[tsiklonaut]

Are you in EU or US?

I'm in EU and I was looking at MACO Direct since they've been very efficent for me in the past - they ship with just few days around EU:

http://www.macodirect.de/fuji-hunt-c...es-p-2509.html
It was 95 euros just week ago (and it was around 90€ around a month or so ago), now it's suddenly €99.99

Still not too bad - it used to be the same price but now slightly more expensive than Tetenal E6 (€90) and it also makes less films (they claim approx 40 rolls vs 60 rolls with Tetenal). But hearing how good colour quality results people have gotten with Fuji + claimed to have better archival longetivity than Tetenal maybe still worth a try?