ECN-2 vs. C-41 for stills

[james smyth]

Hey,

 

I have aquired some recans and short ends of various Kodak stocks for use in my 35mm SLR. The local film processing lab requires at least 400' rolls. My 1.5' rolls aren't going to be enough. So I'm going to have to develop it myself. The problem being mostly that I don't the resources to purchase the ~100 liters of various chemicals included in the minimum order for an ECN-2 kit. Do you think I could offer a sort of 'waste disposal' where I'll take the chemistry off the hands of a film lab trusting that I can get at least one more load of stills spools through each batch before discarding it the waste?

 

I've read in various places that a regular C-41 process would work just fine as long as I remove the remjet backing myself. My question is, how do you do that? I've read that it can be removed with cotton wool, but I would imagine there would need to be a step before that to make the remjet weak enough to removed by wool. Does it just need a good soaking? People also can't seem to agree if it's best to remove the remjet before processing or after. Also, it is easy to filter out? If I'm going to the C-41 route, I'll be using my school's supplies, and I don't want to contaminate our supplies with loads of black silt.

 

Thanks guys,

- Jim

[jake harris]

If you use C-41 you will contaminate it and might mess up someones else's neg so don't send it for c-41 process at a lab, you need to remove the anti-halation backing before you process. This is done by removing the film from the cartridge in total darkness into a bucket with at least 1/2 Gal. of water with 2 or 3 tablespoons of Sodium Carbonate. Then pull the film through a sponge or cloth into a bucket with fresh water. Then process as normal. After the develop and stop you can work in light for the bleaches and washes.

Good luck. Post the results!