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Hand processing 16mm color negative in Morse g3 rewind tank


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Greetings everyone,

I was wondering if anyone had any experience hand processing 16mm color negative stock in a Morse g3 rewind tank? How was the remjet removal process and did it leave any residue inside the tank that was hard to remove?

 

If anyone has any tips or examples, please let me know.

 

Thanks in advance!

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We have been selling ECN-2 kits for color neg for sometime. www.qwdlab.com

In the hundreds we have sold, the results have always been just ok when processing motion for color neg. I would say 8mm is better than 16mm but scanning is always the issue and color inversion to remove the orange mask seems to be an issue for alot of people. Our kits are killer for stills and using MP film to scout though a still camera and stuff which is what most people have been using it for. 100' loads seem to be better left to a lab. Thats a lot of remjet to remove that is suspended in one place when you rinse it. 24 frames/5ft in a still cam is a different story. 

Processing is always the cheapest aspect of film. Scanning and the stock itself are usually the most expensive. Kodak NYC and ATL I believe have 50' min and pretty reasonable rates for process. My advice would be just to send it out for process. You are investing a good amount of money as it is usually. Process is one thing I would leave to a lab. 

If you are hellbent on doing it, a 5gal bucket with photoflo and pec pads is a good way of removing residual remjet from the base before you dry it. Use it almost like a squeegee. Even doing that you are opening yourself up to scratches on the base and emulsion.  Drying is a whole different issue in itself. There are a bunch of tutorials for B+W and bucket dev for the arthouse vibez and tonez. 

Edited by Jeremy Saltry
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It works, but the Rewind Tank method is too tedious for many.  It's advantages are small space, work most anywhere, ease of loading and use.   Disadvantages are that if you don't rinse thoroughly between steps, you risk getting a ghost type image transfer and other similar artifacts.   Maintain temp by prewashing and allowing water wash to sit to fully warm up film and tank parts, when processing, set tank in a tupperware type container with water of the right temp to maintain temperature, monitor with digital thermometer.  If large enough, I have found that the small cup heaters work fine for keeping the temp up in such an uncovered process water bath.  

Regarding Remjet removal, save that for after processing, using either the proper Pre-Bath solution to remove it, or some Borax mixed with water at the processing temperature.   Using photo grade sponges with lots of rinsing, you can effectively process such films and get good results. Best results would be using a Spiral Reel process or Rack and Tray, anything where the film is fully immersed and processed in each stage all at once. However, the G-3 Rewind Tank system will work;  you'll have to modify all the process times. 

Ideally to avoid film waste, shoot some test frames of a Color Chart, 18% Gray Card with bracketed exposures (half stop increments if possible, otherwise full stop ones, and slate each shot with a small piece of paper so you know if the exposure is over or under and in what increment), and possibly a 10 step, 12 step or 21 step B&W Exposure Scale.   Splice your Test Film length (no need to be longer than 5 feet really) into some scrap film leader, allowing about 2 feet Leader before your test film, and about 100ft of Trailer.  This way, you will spend the exact amount of time processing your test film as you would a full roll of film.  Once processed, and you've removed the film, store the G-3 tank in some water same as the processing temp range to keep it wet, while you work with the Remjet removal.  Be careful, don't go too fast, wipe a couple feet at a time, check and rinse your sponge, always maintain copious amounts of warm water doing this.  I find it's easier to remove the film from the processing spool and wind it up onto a 100ft film reel/spool. 

If you can, build your own little setup so you can keep that film reel in the Remjet Removal solution which is ideal or use a set of film rewinds mounted onto a 4ft or 5ft length of 2 x 4 inch wood which you can affix using a large C-Clamp to a table where you're working.   Some have removed the Remjet right in the G-3 tank...but I find this awkward since there's so little room to work.  Although, it's doable......you'll need to cut the sponge so it'll fit with your fingers between the two film spools.  It's slower this way, and so tight in the tank.   Using a large photo tray such as 11 x 14 or 16 x 20 or even 20 x 24 inch (available in plastic from various suppliers) you will have lots of room to work in.  Once you have removed the Remjet, rinse all materials, dump old solution, and go over the film one more time gently to make sure you got all particles off of it.

Once all done, it's time to run the film through the Final Rinse/Stabilizer/Drying Agent solution,  just wind the film from one reel to another in the solution and the film will pick this up.   Then to dry the film, use either a Wooden Film Drying Rack (that you can build yourself), or loop the film in a dust free room (a bathroom that has been prepped for film processing before hand via wiping down all surfaces and vacuuming dust out works well) emulsion side out/up in long loops around some thick vinyl rope strung up for this purpose.  Make sure not to disturb the film until it's dry!

Now get back to the G-3 Tank and Reels and using a regular sponge(s) clean and rinse it all out including the drain and wipe it out with a soft clean cloth.  This has to be done while it's still wet, as dried on Remjet material tends to stick semi-permanently or forever if not removed.   While all this sounds a bit difficult, it's not as hard you think.  I have been processing film since I was 13, and the G-3 Tanks were emergency backups as well as field processors while in the military as Photographic Laboratory Technician/Photographer/Cinematographer.

NOTE:  Your process times will be anywhere from double to triple that of normal full immersion process times.  There's all kinds of information out on the web.   Once you have processed and dried your Test Film, you can take it to a lab and have them do some density readouts and do plots for you, or plot it yourself to see how well you processed the film.  I recommend getting your own Densitometer IF you plan to continue to manually process your own film, so you can maintain control yourself and don't lose anytime waiting for some one else to do it for you.  Alternatively, you could scan the various frames and see how they look in software for this and determine how close you are to the mark for exposure and processing.   Eyeballing it isn't the best method, but perhaps close enough for some DIY purposes.   The Test Film will save you wasting precious hours of film.  If you make up several, you can do it again until you are within the processing parameters range that you need to be.  Since the Film Tests are short 2 foot to 5 foot lengths, or less, you won't wear down the chemistry and lose money in the testing stages.  The ECN-2 Chemistry Kit mentioned above will only process One 100ft roll of film, so certainly much more expensive than having a lab do it for you.   If you get more serious, you could buy a larger volume of chemistry and also replenish the solutions after each process (such formulas are available from the suppliers such as KODAK etc).  It's also possible to use the same amount of chemistry to process another 100ft of film while increasing the Color Developer time to compensate.   This will work, but based on exposure density of subject matter (since more silver exposed will wear the Developer down faster than normal scene brightness range), and can result in weaker color with lower contrast.   The Color Developer is the most vulnerable, and has a relatively short shelf life after it's mixed anyway.  While Rewind Processing will work, it's not as exact as a machine or full immersion methods, but can still deliver good results if you work carefully.  Best of luck if you do this.  At the very least, you could process your own B&W films, much cheaper, especially if doing only B&W Negative vs Reversal.

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