Am I correct in assuming that the Tetenal E6 kits will never be available again? They have been unavailable for at least 6 months and the company Tetenal 1847 has made no announcements at all.
Will Tetenal E6 kits ever be available again? If so, when?
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I ordered a 1-liter Tetenal E6 kit from freestylephoto in March 2023, and did not realize that it will end production. But indeed, there is none anywhere online now.
I always liked Tetenal Colortec E6 kit for their consistency and good quality. Arista, Bellini, and Cinestills are not direct replacement for Tetenal kit.
I always liked Tetenal Colortec E6 kit for their consistency and good quality. Arista, Bellini, and Cinestills are not direct replacement for Tetenal kit.
I understand that the upstream supplier that actually manufactured some of their products for them got into some difficulties. I will hope that they can find another supplier.
Are you sure? Bellini is a proper six bath E6 process. Should be the other way around. I never tried blix-based E6, but my Cinestill simplified C41 results were enough to keep me away from all simplified chemistry.
Given the unavailability of the Tetenal E6 kit, I tried the CineStill E6 kit recently, and the results were "OK" but I felt the dynamic range was not as great as that from the Tetenal kit (but I did not run any test strips, it's just my impression). Perhaps I need to work harder with the CS kit, I might reduce the 1st Dev time a small amount next time. Bellini is a 6/7 bath kit, and people seem to like it, but the processing is that bit more tedious.
I wish Tetenal 1847 (the new company) would actually communicate with its customers. Fair enough if they are going to permanently discontinue manufacture, but please let us know one way or another so we can transition to another kit.
I wish Tetenal 1847 (the new company) would actually communicate with its customers. Fair enough if they are going to permanently discontinue manufacture, but please let us know one way or another so we can transition to another kit.
The Bellini E6 kit is excellent based on the 5 litre packaging I've used. The only problem is the large bottle of bleach that rattles around the box containing the rest of the kit, that can lead to leakage.
The Arista kit from Freestyle is excellent.
I understand the Arista E6 kit is very similar (identical?) to the CineStill one. The Arista kit does not seem to be available in Europe, whereas the CineStill one is. I've just finished processing 8 Provia 100f 120-size films in the CineStill chemistry (two bottles of D6 first developer, + one pack each of CD and BLIX), and the results were OK, but not as good as the Tetenal kit in my opinion. I'm going to try the Bellini 7-bath kit this coming weekend. I had a few questions about it and the company are very responsive and helpful ... let's hope that using 7 baths works out, it will need more concentration than 4 baths.
But what I really would like to use is the Tetenal Colortec 4-bath kit. It was excellent. The Tetenal 1847 website has been saying "Available in 45 days, delivery time on request" for six months now! I wish they would communicate to the outside world ... or even to their customers! Does anyone know what's going on? Will it ever be available again?
They are not the same kit. The Cinestill stuff is very different and I do not recommend their chemistry. The Arista kit is in imperial quantities but is otherwise basically the same as the Tetenal. That being said, I can't comment on EU availability. I'd just order whatever Fotoimpex carries I suppose!
Only thing critical in E6, be it the standard or the Tetenal invented simplified process, is the first developer. Also, the rinse water after the first developer must be the right temperature. Everything else goes into completion, and margins for temperature and timing are not so strict. Personally I don´t like the idea of simplified process, as this is always a compromise. That said, Tetenal made good chemistry (all of the Kodak developers made in Europe were actually Tetenal made just a few years ago), but there are many color film kits on the market these days aimed to home users that are not up to any standards. Using a proper 6 bath process (stabilizer not counted in the 6) is not hard tp use - there are just a few steps more. The first developer is (or should be, this is not the case with Cinestill) identical to the developer used in standard process, and this is the most important step. Also, some kits don´t include any kind of stabilizer, which is essential for E6 process. In standard process, this is done by pre-bleach (also called conditioner), which will react with the bleach. In 3-bath process, it should contain a stabilizer with formalin or some substitute of it, which the Tetenal kit did contain - not just a C-41 type final rinse. Many of the cheap kits don't have this. This is essential for the preserving the dyes.
Also, I would limit the use of one liter of Bellini E-6 kit to about 8-10 films 135-36 or 120, even though the manufacturer suggests it can be used to develop 12 films. The base fog will be quite visible if you try to use the kit for so many times.
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That is good data point. I was considering Bellini as alternative to Tetenal, since it has good price/roll.
I'm planning to process 3 120-size films this weekend in 500ml of the Bellini kit, and then process 3-4 in the remaining 500ml. Bellini have told me that the stock solutions (I'm only using half of the stock this weekend) will keep 4-5 weeks if I squeeze the air out of the containers or (more practically for me), use Protectan to help preserve the stock solutions.
But I wish Tetenal Colortec E6 kits were available!
The mixed solutions will keep in reality for about 2-3 months in full bottles, from my experience. Of course. this is not C-41, and the solutions will go bad. 4-5 weeks is a very conservative estimate. I don't think there is much difference between opened bottles of concentrate and mixed solutions if stored properly. Of course, in tightly sealed glass bottles filled with inert gas, you can store the concentrates for much longer time. The amounts you are using suggest you are using Jobo, or other means of rotary processing. For manual processing in tanks, the manufacturer suggest this kit can be reused for several times - not just for one shot developing. That said, it is a compromise, and the films processed with chemistry used for many times do have more base fog.
I would rate this kit better than any of the 3 bath simplified kits, even Tetenal.
I have been mixing my Bellini kit one shot for 12 rolls per kit. meaning I use my chems over diluted ( I mix for 140ml in my small Jobo 35mm tank ). I purge the concentrate bottles with Argon after mixing. I don't have a good idea of storage time yet as I just recently started using Bellini. The Tetenal kits would last 6 months to a year this way. My processing times are longish this way but the results are good.
I'm about to try something different, mix 500ml at a time ( proper dilution ) and see what kind of longevity I get.
I'm about to try something different, mix 500ml at a time ( proper dilution ) and see what kind of longevity I get.
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I have a lot of Fuji E6 chemistry I need to use up. Individual chemicals in industrial quantities. I have a couple rolls of Fujichrome to process. I love playing around with E6.
Fuji is probably still making minilab E6 chemistry. I think they (Fuji Hunt in Belgium) fairly recently ceased producing the consumer-sized kits for E6 and I think also for C41.
I don't know about the future of Fuji's E6 pro lab-oriented chemistry (or film, for that matter). It's a very small niche.
I don't know. I only know that at least for C41, minilab quantities usually make sense even for home users (they tend to store well). I don't do E6 and I admit to not having done much rooting around for it. I only know that everyone I speak to in the industry agrees that E6 is a very small segment, so it's logical, I'm afraid, that major parties like Fuji Hunt are losing interest in it.
Fuji hunt E6 kit for 5 liters was canceled about a year ago, but at least for now, I have not seen any availability issues with C-41 kits. Should it be true, it would maan that I have change to Environeg. which also requires starters and final rinse to be bought separately. I refuse to use any 2-bath simplified kits with blix for C-41. (or 3-bath kits for E6 for that matter). There are also the Jobo 2.5 liter kits in European market for both processes, and it is a standard process.
Yes, but from own experience, I can tell you that the EnviroNeg option is technically very usable and also generally very cost-effective. Probably more so than the consumer kits.
Keep in mind that I'm not sure if the C41 press kit has been or will be discontinued. I suspect it might - that's all.
The only thing I know for sure is that Fuji Hunt in Belgium do not produce a consumer-oriented RA4 chemistry package.
You are right. For RA-4. I have switched a long time ago to minilab quantities (Fuji CPRA)
Fuji has a location near Chicago USA, these folks are still providing chemistry. I get the big boxes from Unique Photo in New Jersey
I spoke before checking, I just checked Unique Photo and I don't see any bulk Fuji chemistry for E6.
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