Film Road Trip

Tag: sous vide

  • Processing E-6 Color Slide Film with your Sous Vide

    Processing E-6 Color Slide Film with your Sous Vide

    This post contains a post to the Anova Sous Vide on Amazon. I am an Amazon Affiliate and may receive compensation if you click a link in this post.

    In September of 2015, I posted my first attempt at color film processing using our sous vide. Since that time, film processing with a sous vide is no longer a new thing, but to date, I have only processed color negative film with C-41 chemicals. With the discontinuation by Fuji of Velvia 100 to comply with new EPA regulations, my lab would no longer process my rolls of that film. I returned from a trip to Grenada and realized I had one roll of Velvia 100, so it is time to process that film. I purchased the Unicolor Rapid E-6 Processing Kit from the fine folks at the Film Photography Project, and started mixing it up. The kit indicates that you can reliably process up to 8 rolls of 135 (36 exposures), with modifications after each use on the processing time, although the life can be extended if the processing occurs shortly after the chemicals are mixed. It is also recommended to use collapsible bottles to extend the life of the chemicals. Given the cost of materials lately, it’s not inexpensive. I would rather use my lab and gain their expertise in processing and scanning, but with this film, I had no choice.

    Film Photography Project Color Slide Rapid E6 Home Developing Kit

    Mix up all your chemicals per the instructions included in the kit. Note that there are different water temperatures for each part. Once the chemicals are mixed, I put each bottle in a plastic bag, just to avoid ruining my sous vide in the event of a leak, and place them inside the water bin with the sous vide. I set the temperature for 100 degrees, and let it run for an hour to make sure that it had time to bring all the chemicals to temperature.

    E-6 Chemicals mixed up

    The beauty of the sous vide is that you can maintain the temperature of your chemicals which is essential for color film processing. I do not rely exclusively on the temperature setting on the sous vide, but instead take a reading from each chemical from the bottle to be as precise as possible.

    Load your film into your processing tank and you’re ready to process.

    Changing bag, film, tools and developing tank

    With the chemicals at 100 degrees Fahrenheit, you pre-wash for 60 seconds, use the first developer for 6.5 minutes, wash, use the color developer for 4.5 minutes, wash again, Blix for 6.5 minutes, and then wash again for five minutes, agitating throughout.

    Film Processing Chemicals in sous vide

    I use the Anova Sous Vide that we purchased back in 2015. The new version has bluetooth and can be controlled by your phone. I am always thrilled to see images no matter how many times I do this, and it’s even more exciting with slide film.

    E-6 film processed
    E-6 film processed

    After the film has dried, I scan using my Nikon Coolscan V LS-50 film scanner with VueScan software to scan the images. I purchased this scanner many years ago when it was new, and it has provided many years of reliable service without fail, scanning both slides and negatives.

    As with anything involving chemicals, be careful, watch for spills, and heed all warning labels. Also, read through the Safety Data Sheet and other literature from Fujifilm as to their reasons for discontinuing Provia 100 and decide for yourself if you are comfortable with the risks and wish to proceed. I would not hesitate to develop color slide film again. I still prefer to have the lab do my scanning. I struggle to get everything just right, and it’s worth it to me to pay professionals, but in a pinch, I can do it myself.

  • Sous Vide Film Processing

    Sous Vide Film Processing

    Sous vide film processing

    Is this a cooking post or a film photography post?  Well, a little bit of both.  Today, I processed my first roll of color film ever, and processed it with a sous vide.

    Back when I shot film, I used to process black and white film myself.  It wasn’t too hard, once you got used to feeling your way around a roll of film in a changing bag.  I never got into processing color film, primarily because of the difficulty in controlling the temperature.  I understood that temperature control was far more critical in color film processing, and I had difficulty getting the temperature right.  Color film processing seemed beyond me.

    Then my husband ordered a sous vide, the Anova Culinary Precision Cooker.  If you’re not familiar with the device, it’s a tool for cooking food in a temperature-controlled water bath.  You place food into a vacuum-sealed bag, place it into a water bath into which you have inserted the sous vide device, set the temperature,  and the device circulates the water bringing the food up to temperature.   Once up to temperature, the food remains at that temperature and does not overcook.   My husband has made amazing steaks by bringing the meat up to temperature using the sous vide, and then finishing them in a cast iron skillet.  The steaks were perfectly cooked every time.

    Sous Vide-1

    Something that could control the temperature of food so perfectly should work with color film chemicals, right?  I decided to give it a whirl.  I purchased the Unicolor C-41 Powder Kit, and found an excellent tutorial on Lomography on how to mix up the chemicals and process film.  I immersed the sous vide, the Anova device, into a large plastic container of water.  Because I was paranoid about chemicals getting into the device, I placed the bottles of Developer and Blix into another plastic container filled with water and placed that inside the water bath.  I set the temperature to 102 degrees, and away we go.  Given the bottles and the interior plastic container, I did end up boosting the temperature up a few degrees, to 105 degrees, to bring the chemicals up to 102 degrees.

    Sous Vide-2

    I then followed all the steps in the Lomography tutorial, and success!  On my very first go!

    Give it a whirl! And when you’re done, you can cook up some perfect steaks!


    NOTE: Originally published on September 27, 2015 on our sister site, My Irie Time

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