Develop Slide Film With C-41 Chemicals AKA E-6(-)

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Develop Slide Film With C-41 Chemicals AKA E-6(-)

Nano_Burger (/member/Nano_Burger/)
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About This Instructable

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Posted:
Oct 10, 2015

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In this instructable, we will develop slide film that normally uses the E-6
chemical process with a standard black and white film developer and color
negative film process (C-41) chemicals. The results will be a positive image that
will approach the quality of E-6 developed film. I like to call this "E-6(-)" since
there are definite minuses to the process. The example I use is for 35mm film,
but the process will work for any size. I certainly didn't invent this technique.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Develop-Slide-Film-With-C-41-Chemicals-AKA-E-6-/

(/id/Develop-Slide-

Film-With-C-41-Chemicals-AKA-E-6-/)

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The basics have been kicking around the internet for some time, but as E-6
processing seems to be disappearing, an alternate technique may be of some
use.
Although this technique has been kicking around the web a while, a Flickr
thread that I can't find right now reignited my curiosity. I hope you find it an
interesting alternative developing process.

(/id/Make-your-

Special-Moments-Camera-even-More-

What is slide film?

Slide film is also called positive, chrome or transparency film. The end result is
that the film becomes the final positive image and is usually mounted in
cardboard slide mounts. These "slides" are then used to bore teenagers in
home slide shows of weddings and vacations from years gone by. That use has
long been supplanted by online photo slide shows, but the film has been kept
around due to its remarkable sharpness and clarity.
How is slide film normally developed?
Slide film is normally sent out to labs where the film is processed by a chemical
process that is known as E-6. The process is one of the more complex
chemical development regimes now that the K-14 (Kodachrome) process is a
thing of the past. Home developers can buy kits that can have as many steps
as six; however some of the steps can be combined to make it at least as
simple as standard C-41 development.

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Tags:

E-6 (/howto/E-6/)

slide (/howto/slide/)

C-41 (/howto/C-41/)

film (/howto/film/)

E-6(-) (/howto/E-6%28-%29/)
color (/howto/color/)

home (/howto/home/)

developing (/howto/developing/)

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Why would I want to develop my slide film this E-6(-) way?

A few reasons;
1. C-41 chemicals are usually less expensive than E6 chemicals. For
example from Freestyle Photo, the Tetenal Colortec E-6 Kit - 1 Liter is $70
and will develop 12, 36 exposure rolls of film. The Tetenal C-41 Color
Negative Processing Kit - 1 Liter costs $50 and will process the same
number of rolls.
2. For home developers, the E-6 chemicals have a shorter shelf life than C41 onced mixed to working dilutions. Although the E-6 chemicals are getting
better, they still do not have the staying power of C-41 chemicals when
stored.
3. E-6 processing is becoming increasingly dicult to source. C-41 is far
more available and can be found in nearly all places around the world.
4. My personal reason for pursuing this technique is that I have a bunch of
very out of date slide film that will not perform that well even with proper E-6
processing. I wanted to find a cheap way to produce the funky results I
value. This technique meets my very stringent standard of "good enough."
What will be the results of this "special" E-6(-) process?
Well, it won't be perfect. Since this process simulates the E-6 process with less
expensive chemicals, the sharpness and saturation of the film will be there, but
the image will have a definite cast (a uniform color shift). Although the cast
would definitely be noticeable if you were projecting the slides, the image can
easily be corrected when scanning the slides. I've found that the "auto color
correction" feature fixes 90% of the images. The rest can be tweaked in the
image manipulation software of your choice.

Related
Developing Black and White
Film at Home
(/id/Developing-Black-andWhite-Film-at-Home/)
(/id/Developingby greyhathacker45
Cross Processing Film (an
Analog [ film ] Photography
Guide) (/id/CrossProcessing-Film-an-Analog(/id/Crossfilm-Photography-G/)
Developing Black & White
Photo's at Home
(/id/Developing-Black-White-Photos-at-Home/)
(/id/Developingby }{itch
Use Instax Mini Film in an old
Sheet Film Camera (/id/UseInstax-Mini-Film-in-an-oldSheet-Film-Camera/)
(/id/Useby edwardgr1982
How to digitize slides and
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(/id/How-to-digitize-slidesand-film-negatives-with-a(/id/How-to- D/)

Isn't this just "Cross-Processing?"

Yes with an "and" or no with a "but." Full cross processing of slide film is just
processing slide film as C-41. This is a popular thing to do in fashion, artistic
and hipster communities. It results in garish, oversaturated, high contrast and

http://www.instructables.com/id/Develop-Slide-Film-With-C-41-Chemicals-AKA-E-6-/

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other worldly negative images. Processing slide film as black and white will
yield a black and white negative. This special E-6(-) process will yield a positive
image just like E-6 processing.
Slide film + E-6 = Color Slides
Slide film + C-41 = Color negatives + extreme color shifts + extreme contrast
Slide film + Black and White Processing = black and white negatives + poor
contrast
Slide film + B&W +C-41 = Color slides + slight color shifts

Step 1: Stu You Will Need

(/file/FLW3D47IEX4R5N2/)

(/file/FU65KNPIEX4R5S8/)

(/file/F99RBHKIEX4R5Q6/)

If you are use to home processing film, you probably already have all the
hardware you require for E-6(-). The "software" is any C-41 developing kit and
any black and white developer.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

Slide film (usually marked E-6 processing).

Changing bag or dark room.
Developing reels (plastic or steel).
Developing tank (plastic or steel).
Thermometer, immersible.
Scissors.
Can or bottle top opener.
C-41 developing kit with solutions mixed as per the instructions.
B&W film developer mixed as per instructions (Xtol used in this case, but
any should work).
10. Distilled (deionized) water.
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11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.

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Rinse aid (e.g. photoflo).

Latex or nitrile gloves.
Adhesive tape.
Spring clothespins.
Access to an area with hot and cold running water.
About an hour of time.
Film scanner.
Negative sleeves.

Note on film: Dierent film types react dierently to this process. The example
here is Kodak Elite Chrome which ends up with a blue cast as the final product.
Other chrome films can come out nearly normal colors with little to no color
correction necessary so your results may vary...in fact they probably will vary!
That is half the fun.

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GeorgeZ14 (/member/GeorgeZ14)

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3 months ago

Reply

I think the reversal process requires a positive black and white developer
ideally. A hypo agent like Sodium Thiosulphate (1 teaspoon for < ISO 100, 2
teaspoon > ISO 100) can be added to the first developer to temper the film
development. You'll also need a second development stage after the fogging
(reversal) to properly prepare the film for the colour development stage. 1st
developer 1:5 concentration ( 12 mins < ISO 100), 2nd Developer 1:9
concentration ( 4 mins < ISO 100, 6 mins ISO 200, 8 mins ISO400).
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geir.eplekake (/member/geir.eplekake)

6 months ago

Reply

It is also possible to use flash/studio flash for fogging (3-4 times on each side
should be enough). Dont know if it helps on the color cast, though.
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tomatoskins (/member/tomatoskins)

10 months ago

Reply

This is so cool! Film itself is such a lost art. I needed to develop some B&W film
about a year ago and it was more cost eective to have someone else develop
it for me. But finding someone that could develop B&W film was an adventure

http://www.instructables.com/id/Develop-Slide-Film-With-C-41-Chemicals-AKA-E-6-/

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in and of itself. Thanks for sharing!

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kogaku (/member/kogaku) % tomatoskins (/member/tomatoskins)

Reply

10 months ago

Caveat: I have not tried this process, however, in a previous

life, I was a professional photographer, educated at the Germain School
of Photography. I did my share of experimenting, i.e., homebrew reversal
processing of "print paper" (as color reversal paper was hard to
get/expensive).

One thing I found to be a universal nuisance (other than when working

with Cibachrome) was bleach contamination of developer. The result was
a cyan stain that looks exactly like what you have encountered.
If you have not yet tried it, I would suggest either a rinse, or stop bath
(ideally followed by a rinse) between the color developer and the
bleach/blix. This will remove/neutralize the color developer, and thus,
obviate the possibility of the bleach stain of the developer.
Going directly from color developer into bleach/blix might be fine when
using an automated process, where the machine can ensure that
bleaching occurs before residual developer can react with the bleach. I
believe that machine agitation is suciently violent as to ensure this,
whereas tank development is much gentler,
The reason I suggest a rinse if using a stop bath, is because I am
uncertain of the result of residual acetic acid on the bleach/blix. Most
likely there won't be a problem, and in any case, some experimenting
would determine whether or not there is a problem (which would likely
manifest itself in the form of reduced bleach activity. (The fixing would
most likely be enhanced by the increased acidity.) It's easy enough to
eyeball the film to see if the opalescent silver halide is not removed
(insucient fixing), or, if the black and white negative (and B&W positive,
in addition to the color positive) is still present (at worst, a solid-black
emulsion'; at best, clean/clear highlights; between, a possibly "solarizedlooking" partial B&W negative present.
(Any of these defects, if present, should be easy enough to remedy after
the fact: simply provide sucient bleaching and fixing. The goal being to
completely remove all silver image artifacts -- negative and positive -- a
complete bleach and complete fix will do the trick.)
With the price of silver being well into the nosebleed section, it would be
prudent to keep your fixer (and blix) for silver recovery. There are several
dierent methods, some of which are not too dicult to do at home. With
silver vacillating between $15 - $20 per troy ounce, and chromogenic
color processes releasing 100% of the medium's silver, the rewards can
be quite significant. (When I ran a small silver recovery business, mainly
buying spent fixer from dentists and chiropractors, we found that a gallon
of spent fixer could contain up to one troy ounce of silver. Far better to
sell it to a refiner, than to pour it down the drain!)\
In any case, congratulations on helping to keep E6 film usable! Now, if
only there was a nontrivial way to do the same with Kodachrome. My
freezer weeps in anguish over the "useless" treasure it protects. (I know
that Kodachrome can be processed into perhaps the world's finest B&W
slide film -- the yellow filter layer being composed of very finely divided
metallic silver (removed by the bleach and fix stage), processing as a
negative is problematic. But reversal processing works nicely, from what
I've read. I'm still holding out for an "angel" investor to bring K14 back. It
would be an ideal target for a government "grant for the arts" project,
IMO. The fact that the lab owner in Australia has perfected his
"homebrew" K14 process proves that it's not impossible (as an old
http://www.instructables.com/id/Develop-Slide-Film-With-C-41-Chemicals-AKA-E-6-/

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disabled guy, I can't aord his fee, which I doubt is making him rich,
given the complexity of the process), and there's plenty of unexposed
Kodachrome sitting in freezers, not to mention that if the money was
there, any decent coating operation should be able to produce a
Kodachrome analog -- if the demand was there. Classic chicken-and-egg
paradox.
Sorry for rambling!
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geir.eplekake (/member/geir.eplekake) % kogaku (/member/kogaku)

Reply

6 months ago

Interesting comment! I have cyan-grey highlight problem on

regular
c41, using professional chemistry in small tanks.... It might be related
to the problem you describe.

I presume "stop-clear" - stop mixed with aspoon of sulfite - would be the

best way to stop and rinse away the developer.
Flag

geir.eplekake (/member/geir.eplekake)

6 months ago

Reply

Thanks for the instructable!

I tried the same, using ilford pq-universal as first developer. Also got magentapurple color cast - strong one. It is correctable in scanning, but I eventually
gave it up, waiting to get some proper e6 chemistry. If someone has tips on
how to reduce the color cast, it would be nice.
Flag

Kelly-ShaneF (/member/Kelly-ShaneF)

7 months ago

Reply

Hey, I'm the guy who originally posted this process on Flickr. Nice to see
someone else giving this a shot, looks like you're getting some decent results.
I've found I get less of a blue cast if I re-expose with a full spectrum bulb
instead of a Tungsten one.
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Nano_Burger (/member/Nano_Burger) (author) % Kelly-ShaneF (/member/KellyShaneF)

7 months ago

Reply

Thanks for the tip. I'll put it in the instructable and also link the Flickr
thread. I don't want anyone to think that this way "my idea." Just a data
point for further experiments.
Flag

kcraske (/member/kcraske)

10 months ago

Reply

Good to see what I call traditional processing and an understanding of the

chemistry of photography. Have you considered mixing your own baths from
basic chemicals and published formula?
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audreyobscura (/member/audreyobscura)

10 months ago

Reply

Really spectacular. Thank you so much for sharing this and your processed
shots. <3

http://www.instructables.com/id/Develop-Slide-Film-With-C-41-Chemicals-AKA-E-6-/

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DIY Hacks and How Tos (/member/DIY Hacks and How Tos) 10 months ago

Reply

This is a great tutorial. Processing your own film is rapidly becoming a lost art.
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