To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Tuesday, November 30, 2004 3:46 PM
Subject: Do-it-yourself slide developing
Hi folks,
I was so discouraged by the prices named on the previous thread (High saturation Slide film) that I'm looking into doing my own color slide (E-6) developing. Unfortunately I know almost nothing about it so I have a few questions:
Is there chemicals that are bio-degradable/flush-down-the-toiletable, and if so do they do as good a job?
I have used several E6 kits from Kodak very successfully at home, and cheerfully washed the dregs down the drain. I believe the kits are made so that there are no dreadfully harmful residues.
How expensive would the chemicals be per roll of film?
Cheaper than taking the film to a professional lab, in my case here in Australia.
Would it be possible to do it in my bathroom with out too much fancy setup?
Yes,you only need ordinary tank or drum processing equipment and some form of temperature control. I used a deep sink of water at 40C to maintain the chemicals in the tank at approximately the recommended temperature, and did not find my results significantly affected by any deviation from the standard. THere will be those who will say that you absolutely must maintain the baths at +/- .5 degrees of recommendation - too pure for me, and too hard to do at home without expensive equipment.
What is the best kind of chemicals/developer setup?
Try a Kodak Ektachrome processing kit - you can get them in various sizes, and from memory the smallest will do about three rolls.
Francis
*PENTAX SAMURAI*
HTH
John Coyle
Brisbane, Australia
