Swift ECN-2 Color Reversal in RA-4
Rail cars shot at EI/ ISO 25 and f/22 to demonstrate motion. Reversal experiment. Cars moving right to left and I swept left to right...
17 year old, expired, vintage, Eastman Kodak 5245 EXR 50D motion picture film shot at EI/ ISO 25. Usually an ECN-2 process film, I haven’t been completely happy with the results of the negatives. So, I decided to try my hand at color reversal with ECN-2 film. There is a lot of mythology about reversing ECN-2 film and not a lot written by those who do it/have done it. I am naïve enough to believe that any film can be reversed. I still think that.
My first attempt at reversing EXR 5245 resulted in great negatives coming out of the first developer and blank negatives coming out of the final wash!?! I have heard of this happening. My immediate theory was something is interfering with the second developer leaving only the first developer (B&W) results which were washed away in the bleach. Or the color developer is dead. Some internet sleuthing deduced that another possibility was that the film was not exposed enough. The film should be overexposed a stop or two (this is controversial), and it should be overdeveloped in the first developer – use a paper developer at fuller strength and overdeveloped in the color developer. I was already using a pretty strong developer from The British Journal of Photography from the 1960s. But not as high a dose, at longer times.
Essentially: BJP Universal Paper Developer
3.2 grams Metol
12.5 grams Hydroquinone
56 grams sodium sulfite
63 grams sodium carbonate anhyd
2 grams potassium bromide
water to 1 liter.
Normal use with film is 1:4 dilution 2 to 4 minutes at 68 degrees F
The first failed development I used this at 1:5 for 5 minutes at 70 degrees F.
The color developer is RA-4 color print developer. In this case it is Fuji EC RA 108 P1-R developer replenisher. I use it concentrated and I usually can dilute it anywhere from 1:14 to 1:29 for negative films. RA-4 developer and E-6 developer are the closest to the native ECN-2 process with their Kodak CD-3 color developing agent. I did not think of it at the time, but process E-6 times might have been better.
The initial process looked like this:
Remjet Prebath (1 minute)
Rinse (4 x )
1st developer (300ml) 80 degrees F for 7 minutes
Stop bath 30 seconds
Wash 3 minute
Remjet removal however
Reexpose 2 minutes
Color Developer (300ml) 6 minutes at 105 degrees F
Wash 3 minutes
Color Bleach 5 minutes
Wash 3 minutes
Color Fix 5 minutes
Wash 5 minutes + fotoflow
Hang to dry
These results are from the second attempt. I extended time, temperature, and dilution for the first developer – 75ml developer to 225 ml of water (1 part dev to 3 parts water), at 80 degrees for 7 minutes. This produced heavy B&W negatives. I forgot to put some potassium thiocyanate in. I also forgot to ensure the pH of the color developer was around 10.59.
Color developer was about 1 part developer concentrate to 11 parts water (25 ml of developer concentrate) at 105 degrees F for 6 minutes (doubling the original ECN-2 development times). Stop is sodium bisulfite bath. Bleach and fix times were extended from ECN-2 times to 5 minutes each.
Results are here. The “slides” were a little dark but they scanned nicely. I eventually scanned them at 48 bit RGB at 4800 DPI. Is that overkill? I dunno, they look like slides, however the dust becomes like coal chunks. More to care for….
Remember if you use this process that I have only tested it once, so far, on well expired, overexposed 50D a couple of generations old. I have no other experience yet, hopefully tonight….
Swift ECN-2 Color Reversal in RA-4
Rail cars shot at EI/ ISO 25 and f/22 to demonstrate motion. Reversal experiment. Cars moving right to left and I swept left to right...
17 year old, expired, vintage, Eastman Kodak 5245 EXR 50D motion picture film shot at EI/ ISO 25. Usually an ECN-2 process film, I haven’t been completely happy with the results of the negatives. So, I decided to try my hand at color reversal with ECN-2 film. There is a lot of mythology about reversing ECN-2 film and not a lot written by those who do it/have done it. I am naïve enough to believe that any film can be reversed. I still think that.
My first attempt at reversing EXR 5245 resulted in great negatives coming out of the first developer and blank negatives coming out of the final wash!?! I have heard of this happening. My immediate theory was something is interfering with the second developer leaving only the first developer (B&W) results which were washed away in the bleach. Or the color developer is dead. Some internet sleuthing deduced that another possibility was that the film was not exposed enough. The film should be overexposed a stop or two (this is controversial), and it should be overdeveloped in the first developer – use a paper developer at fuller strength and overdeveloped in the color developer. I was already using a pretty strong developer from The British Journal of Photography from the 1960s. But not as high a dose, at longer times.
Essentially: BJP Universal Paper Developer
3.2 grams Metol
12.5 grams Hydroquinone
56 grams sodium sulfite
63 grams sodium carbonate anhyd
2 grams potassium bromide
water to 1 liter.
Normal use with film is 1:4 dilution 2 to 4 minutes at 68 degrees F
The first failed development I used this at 1:5 for 5 minutes at 70 degrees F.
The color developer is RA-4 color print developer. In this case it is Fuji EC RA 108 P1-R developer replenisher. I use it concentrated and I usually can dilute it anywhere from 1:14 to 1:29 for negative films. RA-4 developer and E-6 developer are the closest to the native ECN-2 process with their Kodak CD-3 color developing agent. I did not think of it at the time, but process E-6 times might have been better.
The initial process looked like this:
Remjet Prebath (1 minute)
Rinse (4 x )
1st developer (300ml) 80 degrees F for 7 minutes
Stop bath 30 seconds
Wash 3 minute
Remjet removal however
Reexpose 2 minutes
Color Developer (300ml) 6 minutes at 105 degrees F
Wash 3 minutes
Color Bleach 5 minutes
Wash 3 minutes
Color Fix 5 minutes
Wash 5 minutes + fotoflow
Hang to dry
These results are from the second attempt. I extended time, temperature, and dilution for the first developer – 75ml developer to 225 ml of water (1 part dev to 3 parts water), at 80 degrees for 7 minutes. This produced heavy B&W negatives. I forgot to put some potassium thiocyanate in. I also forgot to ensure the pH of the color developer was around 10.59.
Color developer was about 1 part developer concentrate to 11 parts water (25 ml of developer concentrate) at 105 degrees F for 6 minutes (doubling the original ECN-2 development times). Stop is sodium bisulfite bath. Bleach and fix times were extended from ECN-2 times to 5 minutes each.
Results are here. The “slides” were a little dark but they scanned nicely. I eventually scanned them at 48 bit RGB at 4800 DPI. Is that overkill? I dunno, they look like slides, however the dust becomes like coal chunks. More to care for….
Remember if you use this process that I have only tested it once, so far, on well expired, overexposed 50D a couple of generations old. I have no other experience yet, hopefully tonight….