CHROME SIX & JESSOP, KIT PROCESSING.
By Bill Reid (Area 20)
It is quite some time since I processed, using a commercial kit. My time has been spent trying to master W&M, with the C.R.C. E6 Formula. However as I haven`t had the time for W&M and/or photography, in general, this last year, I haven`t been able to concentrate on getting the `colour balance` just right, thankfully having got rid of the `tobacco` effect with our Secretary`s `modified` brew. Therefore with a recent week`s holiday that took me into Eastern Germany (Dresden) and through Czechoslovakia to Hungary (Budapest) then onto Southern Austria (Villach), I decided not to take any chances with the films I exposed and, use the well proven, Chrome 6 kit.
I got through 12 cassettes of the Club`s Konica chrome film, which `should` have meant buying, two 600ml kits! The kit was purchased from Jessop (Oxford shop). Being a "Three Bath" kit it is simplicity itself to make up. The First Developer is in `one` 120cc concentrate bottle and only requires mixing and stirring up to it`s 600cc mark. The Colour Developer (Also contains the `Reversal` Bath), is in two seperate concentrates. Having poured Part `A` into appx 390cc of water, you simply stir well then add Part `B`, stir again, then top up to 600cc and stir until you are satisfied the mixing is completed.
The Blix is also in two parts and you follow the same mixing procedures as for the Colour developer. Within 45 minutes you have `THREE` bottles of solutions all ready for processing. Of course, as with most W&M and kits, it is best to make them up at least a day before use, to allow the solutions to mature a bit. The only precautions I took was in starting with `warm` water which had been `filtered` twice, through a Paterson funnel filter.
The working (processing) procedure appears very fast and the manoeuvres come around quite quickly. However there is no need for panic. I used `Two` inversions every 20 seconds. Washes were all by 30 seconds `water changes`. Washing times are `minimum and extensions by up to another minute or so wont hurt. However the `Rinse` stages should be little more than 30secs longer as some `carry-over` is necessary. The Final Wash may be extended until you are sufficiently satisfied. I added a Stabiliser bath (1 min).
All timings were adhered to, exept, of course, that each film(s) received 30seconds longer with each new processing. I never use a `wet` Pre-heat, but simply leave the, loaded tank, sitting in the water bath (weighted down) for appx. 20-30 minutes before processing. (This is carried out during my `break` period, between each processing session).
Well, what of the results! The first two films were as perfect as I could wish, with completely neutral blacks, clean saturated colours, excellent contrast, and crystal clear leader. The bulk of my holiday slides were exposed in very heavy snow conditions, either very bright, or quite bleak and I was worried about the exposures, but thankfully everything worked out well. I simply took an `auto` reading of the brightest snow areas, and opened the aperture by `one` full stop, and this seems to have worked well, in most cases.
I also took a number of `time` exposure shots, of night scenes, either on railway stations/yards or in the towns we stopped at. These too have come off very well with nice `neutral` blacks, sharp focusing. Most were taken (on a tripod) at 30 seconds @ F11. with an 82B `blue` filter.
As, after the `third` two films (Six in all), the chemicals looked perfectly `re-usable`, I decided to process two more, and by simply giving 7¬ minutes for the first development (all others stages, as normal) I got `8` perfectly processed 36exp. cassettes from this kit. The final films looked no different from the first.
This, of course left me with `4` films instead of `6` to process, and so I only required a 300ml kit to complete my holiday films. However, Jessop didn`t have any 300ml Chrome-Six kits and I settled for their own `brand`, Photochem VE6,Three-Bath kit. I have never used this before and wondered if my remaining films would have the same results! I need`nt have worried. The kit mixes exactly the same as for Chrome-Six, with the same processing times. All `4` films processed to perfection, with no `colour` difference from my first eight, Nice solid blacks and clean colours. Tail-ends were `all` crystal clear. These are extremely fine kits.
However, as my main aim is to perfect my W&M, it will be back to the C.R.C. Formula, again, for the rest of my Summer`s photography. When you get things right W&M is still more economical and rewarding. More news, next time.