ECN-2 Chemistry Mixing & Processing
Mixing Powder Chemicals
You will be mixing 6 chemicals to use for processing. We will be processing the Kodak way, or the way that motion picture film is actually processed- but modified for hand tanks. This article assumes you are mixing 1L chemistry solutions. Before you start mixing, label the cap and bottles. Wide mouth amber glass bottles are preferred. I use gaffer tape with a permanent marker, then keep a tally of how many rolls I process through them. Keep in mind, the mixing and developing times differ between solutions. The easiest way to mix is to keep the distilled water at 100°F for all chemicals. I highly suggest distilled water, it will give you the intended results and will ensure better keeping properties. It also has contaminants and minerals removed. High temperature distilled water enables chemicals to react and dissolve quicker. To mix the 1L kit, heat 3 glass amber bottles to 1L (33.814 ounces or 1000 mL) to about 102°F with my ANOVA Cooker, then pour the water into measuring cups and began mixing for each solution.
To mix developer I will start by pouring 800mL of 100F distilled water into a 1L measuring cup, pour the powder close to the water, mix for a couple minutes, then add take the chemical bag and add distilled water to it so that the stray chemicals in the bag are disolved in the water as well- pour that water until the measuring cup is at 1L. Continue the mixing for a couple minutes after 1L is reached. Be careful not to inhale the vapor that will rise into the air. If you mix with a light behind the chemicals, you will see the chemical reaction to make the vapor rise. Mix the bleach for 5 minutes, and let it sit for an hour before using. The rest of the chemicals do not need this time for chemical reaction.
ECN-2 Mixing:
Note: Wear a mask, and gloves -stir until completely dissolved, be sure to wash the mixing cups well after use and to wipe off the surrounding area with a damp paper towel. The mixing area should be ventilated, or at least open to carry off the chemical dust and fumes.
Kit Chemicals
Prebath
800 mL of Distilled Water at 100°F
Add: Prebath packet
Water to 1 L
pH at 77°F, 10.0 ± 0.20
Developer
850mL of Distilled Water at 100°F
Add: Developer Packet
Water to 1L
pH at 77°F 10.25 ± 0.05
Ferricyanide Bleach
900 ML of Distilled Water at 100°F-110°F
Add: Bleach Packet
Water to 1 L
pH at 77°F 6.5 ± 0.50
Note: Allow bleach to sit approximately for an hour before using, allowing complete reaction between chemicals.
Stop Bath, Fixer, Final Rinse
The fixer, stop bath and final rinse can be mixed at room temperature, since you aren’t starting from scratch, but for the development process they will need to be uniformly at 100°F.
Stop Bath - Kodak Indicator Stop Bath - pH 2.9
1:63 dilution (16mL+ 984mL of distilled water)
Fixer - Photographer’s Formulary TF-5 - pH 6.5
1:3 dilution (250 mL + 750 mL of distilled water)
Final Rinse - Kodak PhotoFlo
I use a 1:500 dilution (2 mL + 998mL of distilled water)
Now that the measuring cups are and stirrings rods have been used, wash before salts and tars have time to form, rinsing with numerous small-volume rinses are more efficient than a few large-volume rinses. Dry using a microfiber cloth.
Processing ECN-2
You should have 6 1L bottles labeled and heated to appropriate temperatures. I’m using the ANOVA Cooker and a big plastic tub of water to heat my chemicals. Use funnels to pour back solutions from the measuring cups into the bottles. Take the time to filter your chemicals for rem-jet after processing. I use these filters. The developer temperature is the most critical, when I pour my developer I pour it in at 108°F, after 3 minutes it should hopefully only go down to 104°F. This depends on your ambient room temperature and how often you are agitating. I reuse all my chemicals, even the stop bath and final rinse. Pour as quickly and uniformly as possible, it should be 5-10 seconds at most. If I am using a Paterson Multi-Reel 5 tank, it can take 15-20 seconds to fill, so I use the agitation stick while I’m pouring so that the chemicals don’t cause any streaking on the negatives. Be as close to temperature as possible, otherwise results may vary (enlarged grain, etc..)
Temperature Outline:
Prebath [@ 80°F] Bottle 1, Reuse
Tap Wash [@ 100°F]
Developer [@ 106°F ±0.2] Bottle 2, Reuse
Stop Bath [@ 100°F] Bottle 3, Reuse
Tap Wash [@ 100°F]
Bleach [@ 100°F ± 2.0] Bottle 4, Reuse
Tap Wash [@ 100°F]
Fixer [@ 100°F± 2.0] Bottle 5, Reuse
Tap Wash [@ 100°F]
Final Rinse [@ 100°F] Bottle 6, Reuse
Wash Water
For Prebath wash water I fill up the first rinse cup to 90F, then a second to 95F, then a third to 100F. Rinse in order of increasing temperatures.
For wash water, I fill a plastic tub of 105°F water from the tap and then use an extra measuring cup for water only so I can easily grab water from the plastic tub to my developing tank. By the time I get to it the water is usually somewhere between 90°F and 100°F which is adequate for all washes required for this process.
The washes are essential to ensure no cross-contamination. An inadequate stop wash will result in causing a blue tint due to low pH level, so get all that low pH stop bath out of there! Stop bath is 2.9 pH, and developer is 10.25 pH. If the pH of the bleach falls below a pH of 6, your film will experience Prussian Blue. Tap water is normally around 7-8 pH. Bleach should be at 6.5 pH. An inadequate final wash will not clear the thiosulfate chemical in the fixer and can cause serious dye fading. Realistically, you don’t need a pH meter, this is for the more advanced crowd, but for a point of reference - I’ve used the 1L Developer for 16 rolls in a month and did not experience much of a difference. You should be filtering after each session and keeping the chemistry away from UV light, in a cool, dark and dry place in amber glass bottles. When you filter Developer and Bleach, you might see rem-jet being caught. Fixer is usually light yellow, that’s the silver. And Prebath usually just has dust from the film.
There is a specific method that people seem to get good results with, it’s called the Ilford Wash Method:
Fill the developing tank with tap water at the same temperature 100°F, maintaining a constant bath temperature during processing is necessary to avoid reticulation of the emulsion;
Invert the tank 5 times and drain it completely.
Fill the tank again, invert it ten times, and drain it completely.
Fill the tank again, invert it twenty times, and drain it completely.
ECN-2 Processing:
Prebath [80°F ± 2.0] 0:10
Pour into developing tank, let it sit for 10 seconds, do not agitate. Pour back into bottle.
Remjet Removal & Rinse [80°F-100°F]
Add wash water. Hold on to the lid and shake vigorously for 10-15 seconds then dump. Repeat. It will go through a cycle of colors. Keep rinsing until the water is clear.
Developer [106°F ±0.2] 3:00
Use agitation stick and stir continuously for 30 seconds, or agitate for 15 seconds, then use inversions. Do 2 inversions every 15 seconds until 3:00. Pour back into bottle.
Stop Bath [80°F-100°F] 0:30
Quickly pour stop, agitate for a continuous 30 seconds. Pour back into bottle.
Stop Wash [80°F-100°F] [Ilford Wash]
This is the most important wash if you don’t want blue tint on your images.
Ferricyanide Bleach [100°F ± 2.0] 3:00
Use agitation stick and stir continuously for 30 seconds. Cap the tank, do 2 inversions every 15 seconds until 3:00. Pour back into bottle.
Bleach Wash [80°F-100°F] [Ilford Wash]
This wash must be adequate or solution will carry-over into the Fixer.
Fixer [100°F ± 2.0] 3:00
Continuous agitation for 30 seconds, followed by 30 seconds of agitation per minute. Reuse.
Final Wash [80°F-100°F] 6:00
Agitate for 30 seconds and dump. Rinse under continuous water for several minutes to remove residual fixer.
Final Rinse [80°F-100°F] 1:00
Open tank, simply pour Photoflo or Tetenal solution and let it soak for 15 seconds. Take out and hang.
Final Remjet Removal
Handle your film by the corners and sides, do not get any remaining remjet onto the emulsion side. This will damage the image and scan as white spots. Hang film or lay down on a blanket. Use a sponge or microfiber cloth, make several passes to ensure their is no residual.
Hang to Dry
Hang in a safe place away from dust. Use a dryer machine, or bathroom.
At this point in the process I will get my scanner ready and clean up the containers if you don’t have a dedicated darkroom. You’ll notice that washes are generally done the same, except for the TF-5 wash which is noted in the instructions for a continuous running wash to rid of hypo and unused silver. Color dye and stability can be affected if trace amounts of fixer is left on the negative. Developer and Bleach have the same agitation as it emulates a Jobo processor, a continuous stir of solution. The initial 30 seconds of the development process is the most critical in a nice even agitation, second to keeping the tank as close at 106°F as possible. I hope this article was helpful and provided information that can be used for other processes as well.