Hi friend, happy Tuesday! 👋 

I hope you had a good and possibly long, weekend. This past Friday was actually my birthday. 🎂 We celebrated at The Beekman Hotel, in NYC. If you've never been, it’s a great place to get cocktails. 🍸️ The hotel is absolutely stunning, with a huge 10-story atrium. Now, if only they would clear everyone out for a day and let me wander around with my large format camera. 😁 

Let’s get right into it, shall we? Here is what we’ve got for today.

1. 🛝 The slide film dev process

2. 🎉 Fun fact

🛝 The slide film dev process

Exciting news! I’m finally going to try out slide film, also known as color reversal film. It’s something I’ve wanted to try for a while, but never gotten the chemistry needed to do the E-6 development process.

Well, now I have what I need to develop—just waiting on some rolls of Kodak Ektachrome to arrive. So what is color reversal or slide film, and why am I excited?

Color reversal film produces a positive image, instead of a typical negative. This means once it’s developed the image is ready and doesn’t need to be inverted with software (or darkroom printed). Converting negatives isn’t hard (I covered this in a past newsletter). But what I’m excited for is being able to pull the film out of the dev tank, holding it up to the light and seeing the final image. 🤩 

Dev process

The E-6 process is a little more involved than black-and-white or C-41 (color negative) development. Like C-41, temperature control is important, but there are some extra steps involved.

Step 1 - First Developer

The first step is to use First Developer. Surprisingly, this is actually a black-and-white developer that converts the exposed silver halides into a black-and-white negative. 🤯 The process is a little crazy, but you have some control over the look and feel of the image with the First Developer.

CineStill Film offers three different options:

• DynamicChrome - Provides a warmer tone and cinematic look. It also has three different dilution options.

• DaylightChrome - This provides a neutral, daylight balanced look.

• TungstenChrome - As the name suggests, it’s tungsten balanced, so it’s good for inside lighting. But it also works for outside photos.

I have the DynamicChrome and the TungstenChrome. I’ll decide which one to use based on what I end up shooting.

Note: You use your stock solution to mix a one shot use solution to develop with.

During this first step, you will agitate regularly and then rinse.

Step 2 - Color & Reversal Developer

This is where the magic happens. 🪄 Fortunately, it’s an easy step. Just like the first developer, you add it to the tank and agitate for a period of time. But the chemical process that’s actually happening is pretty complicated, and quite fascinating.

A couple of things happen:

• Color formation - The exposed areas of the B&W negative, created in step 1, react with dyes (cyan, magenta, yellow). These dyes are permanent and light stable.

• Chemical reversal - Unexposed silver halide crystals are chemically fogged (it’s the same effect as exposing them to light)

• Final development - The fogged silver halide is developed into a positive image.

I have no idea how people came up with this process. 😕 

The color & reversal developer, which is an all-in-one liquid can be reused. It will develop ~16 rolls.

Step 3 - Bleach & Fix

This is similar to the regular C-41 color negative process. The bleach converts the silver from the black and white negative back into silver halide, leaving the color dyes. The fixer then removes the silver halide making the film no longer sensitive to light.

Just like the developers, this is poured into the tank and agitated for a set period of time; then poured out. The bleach & fixer (blix) can be reused for ~16 rolls.

Step 4 - Final wash

This is just a final wash in water to remove any remaining chemical residue. You now have a positive image. Hang the film up to dry for a couple of hours and then scan.

That’s it! The process sounds more complicated than it actually is. The only part that can be a little tricky is making sure the chemicals are at the right temperature. But that’s where a water bath and sous vide comes in handy.

I’m hoping to process my first roll this weekend, check back next week for the results. 🤞 

Any thoughts on what the subject of the first roll should be?

🎉 Fun fact

During the Apollo missions, 🚀 the astronauts 👨‍🚀 used Kodak Ektachrome slide film to take high-resolution photos while on the moon! The main benefit was that when the film was returned to Earth, 🌎️ it could be developed and viewed immediately. Scanning wasn’t really an option back then; if they used color negative film scientists and the public would have to wait until the film was darkroom printed.

They used specially made, medium format, Hasselblad cameras. What’s crazy is there are 12 of those cameras still on the moon! They left them behind to save on weight. So if you’re ever on the moon…you can snag yourself a free Hasselblad. 🤣 

Alright, that’s going to do it for this week. 🫡 I’ll see you next week with hopefully properly developed slide film!

Ben Henschel

📷️ Canon A-1 / 🎞️ Kodak Ektachrome