The chemistry for VNF-1 comes ONLY in individual 100 liter mixes! About 26.5 gallons USA. Thus, you would have to have lots of storage space and large containers to hold this volume.....believe me...I KNOW! I gave up using the VNF-1 chemistry due to storage problems and also that the Color Developer, even when mixed to such a massive qualitity....had poor shelf life. E-6 is much more durable to use and more practical for the home user, and myself doing film processing for others. I have no need to work with solution volumes over 5 gallons each, so after a couple years of the hassles of dealing with VNF-1 chemistry...I returned to the E-6 route.

From your posting, I'm assuming that the film appeared dark. This might be due to insufficient time in the First Developer, or insufficient time in the Bleach step; chemical contamination or time problems in other steps as well. Which chemistry did you use, conventional 6-Step or 3-Step? Which processing method did you use, Spiral Reel, Rack & Tray, Rewind Tank? IF you used the Rewind Tank method....therein lies the problem...as the steps have to be tripled or quadrupled in time to get anywhere near useable results. Use a Spiral Reel or Rack & Tray method....you'll get much better results.

Getting accurate or close to accurate color doing your own processing can be quite a bit of work. My advice is to evaluate what is available to you, and work with the method that is easiest and most convenient to you.

The E-6 chemistry will work for the processing of Ektachrome VNF 7240, with a few modifications. If you don't mind a mild magenta shift (chemistry shift due to color developer...NOT the magenta shift that comes from film that hasn't been properly stored prior to exposure or after exposure, or film that has been subjected to heat etc....the shift looks the same or worse with any of these factors added in. Darn filmstock is so sensitive to shifting to magenta...it might do it if you look at it wrong!). So,...a Super 8mm cartridge of VNF 7240 that has been properly stored and is ready to process, will exhibit an approximate 10CC to 20CC Magenta shift (based on time of day due to ambient color temperature) IF processed in E-6 chemistry normally. For many users, it will look okay. IF you film under flourescent lighting.....the color will look darn near perfect! That's if you don't use the builtin Daylight filter when filming under flourescent lighting.

Anyhow...to get the best results, you have to modify the Color Developer, and I really don't recommend this to anyone that doesn't have access to the buffer chemistry to tweak the color developer, and doesn't have access to a densitometer. It helps if you have VNF-1 Process Control Strips....however, you can make your own by using a fresh roll of Ektachrome VNF 7240 film (that is factory fresh, and/or has been kept frozen since purchase from Kodak....this is very important). I will go into control strip making later or in another posting. For the meantime here...I'll try to keep this as simple as possible.

Process your film in E-6 chemistry at the normally specified times, with the following additions to the steps:

1. Prewash, water only, 1 minute at 102°F(within +/- 5°F)
2. FIRST DEVELOPER, normal time of 6 minutes @ 100.4°F (time based on your own density and color tests)
3. 1st Stop Bath, 30 sec to 1 minute at 95°F-105
4. Water Rinse, 2 minutes at 95°F - 105°F (removes any acid traces)
5. REVERSAL BATH, 2 minutes at 95°F -105°F
6. COLOR DEVELOPER, normal time of 6 minutes @ 100.4°F (temp range can run from 100°F to 110°F, but must be kept consistant and based on your color tests. Increasing temp shifts color to Green range). Color Developer can be modified prior to processing by mixing it 20% stronger....thus mix it to 80% of its solution quantity. You can always add more water to dilute it as necessary to modify color.
7. 2nd Stop Bath (do NOT interchange these Stop Baths!!!) 30 sec to 1 minute
8. Water Rinse, 2 minutes, at 95°F - 105°F
9. PRE-BLEACH (previously was Conditioner Bath), 95°F - 105°F, 2 minutes
10. BLEACH, 6 minutes at 95°F - 105°F range
11. Water Rinse, 1 minute at 95°F - 105°F range [although a water rinse isn't critical at this point....it will help minimize carryover into the Fixer and prolong it's life]
12. FIXER, 4 minutes at 95°F - 105°F
13. Wash, 4 minutes at 95°F - 105°F
14. E-6 FINAL RINSE (was Stabilizer Bath) at 30 sec - 1 minute, ambient room temp....but best if at 90°F - 100°F range, not critical to do it this way though.
15. Dry by hanging on film drying rack in dust free space at room temperature. Gently squeege film using a soft clean film chamois that has been moistened and rung out in the Final Rinse solution. This will help avoid water drying spots; especially if you did not use distilled water to mix up the Final Rinse solution. Can also be blow dryed using a clean hair dryer (purchased ONLY for darkroom use, and best if a filter material is taped over the air input) at the LOW setting, keeping the blow dryer moving back and forth and rotating the film drying rack. When the hair dryer has cooled, store it in a ziplock bag to prevent dust from settling in it. This way it's always clean. Although, I recommend letting the film air dry if at all possible.

IF you are using 3-Step E-6 chemistry....process control is much more limited, but you can still follow similar protocol:

1. Prewash, water only, 1 minute at 102°F(within +/- 5°F)
2. FIRST DEVELOPER, normal time of 6 minutes @ 100.4�F (time based on your own density and color tests)
3. 1st Stop Bath, 30 sec to 1 minute at 95°F-105°F
4. Water Rinse, 2 minutes at 95°F - 105°�F (removes any acid traces)
5. COLOR DEVELOPER, normal time of 6 minutes @ 100.4°F (temp range can run from 100°F to 110°F, but must be kept consistant and based on your color tests. Increasing temp shifts color to Green range). Color Developer can be modified prior to processing by mixing it 20% stronger....thus mix it to 80% of its solution quantity. You can always add more water to dilute it as necessary to modify color.
6. 2nd Stop Bath (do NOT interchange these Stop Baths!!!) 30 sec to 1 minute
7. Water Rinse, 2 minutes, at 95°F - 105°F
8. BLEACH-FIX [BLIX], 10 minutes at 95°F - 105°F range (refer to manufacturer's recommended time/temps)
9. Wash, 4 minutes at 95°F - 105°F
10. Final Rinse (was Stabilizer Bath) at 30 sec - 1minute, ambient room temp....but best if at 90°F - 100°F range, not critical to do it this way though.
11. Dry by hanging on film drying rack in dust free space at room temperature. Gently squeege film using a soft clean film chamois that has been moistened and rung out in the Final Rinse solution. This will help avoid water drying spots; especially if you did not use distilled water to mix up the Final Rinse solution. Can also be blow dryed using a clean hair dryer (purchased ONLY for darkroom use, and best if a filter material is taped over the air input) at the LOW setting, keeping the blow dryer moving back and forth and rotating the film drying rack. When the hair dryer has cooled, store it in a ziplock bag to prevent dust from settling in it. This way it's always clean. Although, I recommend letting the film air dry if at all possible.

MODIFICATION of the E-6 PROCESS COLOR DEVELOPER for VNF-1

To begin your modification, you should really first have created your own process control strips or use Kodak's Process Control Strips for VNF-1 (they come only as small as 16mm width, however, you can slit these in the darkroom using a Double 8mm film slitter and then have 8mm width ones. Since the exposed strip frames are large enough even at 8mm width to read on the densitometer, this will be fine...as well as yield you twice as many control strips). Strips have to be kept frozen, remove from the freezer only what you plan to use for that day. I find that small opaque Kodak type 35mm still film containers perfect for keeping three to 5 strips safely.

Depending on your water quality, you might want to consider using distilled water to mix your color developer in (all solution if possible, color developer at the least, and both developers and final rinse solution if you can manage it). Mix the COLOR DEVELOPER only to 25% over-concentrated....thus per liter (1000ml) mix the solution to 750ml. The simple way to look at this is to mix the it to make 75% of the 'normal' total volume. That way, it will be 25% over-concentrated. Mix your two buffering solutions: Sodium Hydroxide to 5 normal, and Sulfuric Acid to 5 normal. NOT Together!!!! They have to be mixed to a 5 normal strength solution and stored separately in safe, preferably glass containers. IF you able to purchase these already in a 5 Normal strength, then do so. You will only need a small amount of each....as 500ml amount of each will last you a VERY long time. If you don't think you will process a lot of film, then purchase 100ml of each solution.

Warm up your chemistry and then process 1 Control Strip in identical equipment to how you will process your film (preferably spiral reel or rack & tray equipment. I DO NOT recommend using Rewind Processing equipment for any kind of reversal color processing....however it is possible, with fair results; but this entire article will cover only full immersion processing via spiral reel or rack & tray processing methods). When the strip is dry, read out the various stages on a color densitometer set for reversal color strip readout (Status A generally, but check your equipment, or if using a technician somewhere...they will know). Log your readouts as is appropriate for the strip method you are using, and into each appropriate column of RED, GREEN & BLUE. Plot these readouts on graph paper, as per standard Color Reversal plotting when using E-6 chemistry (having prepared your graph paper ahead of time). Notice the color deviation present and observe off-scale inconsistancies in all major plot steps. IF the Speed Step (filmspeed step) is off, you will need to process another strip to adjust for the film speed step to get the density correct PRIOR to making any Color adjustments.

Once you have a control strip properly processed for density (filmspeed), read out the steps again, and plot them down on your graph paper. Now, using conventional methods of color chemistry fine tuning...(refer to E-6 color plotting and process control adjustments), determine which direction your color is off, and by how much you will need to adjust it for. IF the color is too yellow, you will most likely have to dilute the Color Developer by 5%-10% water to shift it overall slightly back towards its intended dilution. Anyhow...this you or the technician doing this for you will determine. The final color quality is achieved by modification of the dilution (specific gravity) and the degree of Acidity (by adding Sulfuric Acid by 1ml per liter to achieve a 5cc shift of color) and/or alkalinity(by adding Sodium Hydroxide by 1ml per liter to achieve a 5cc shift of color), to affect a change of -0.05 on the spread on your Control Chart on the graph paper.

To recap a bit here...the E-6 Color Developer as mixed normally will result in an image that is a bit too magenta (many can accept this since it is very very mild...and the film can shift much stronger to magenta by itself due to heat, improper storage etc, all which are very easy to have). By mixing the Color Developer over-concentrated, you will shift the color away from Magenta to Green. However....water quality, actual condition state of the Color Developer concentrate, time and temperature will all add to the overall color quality results. By doing the plotting out the control strips, and then doing the math to arrive at the necessary acid or alkalai adjustment, and/or adding more water or more solution concentrate, and/or increasing or decreasingthe actual processing temperature and/or development time, you can move the color all around the color star until you achieve correct color. VNF-1 Color Developer is designed for processing in a machine at 3.25 minutes @ 110°F. So, in effect, we are trying to modify the E-6 Color Developer, which is very similar (some chemical variations...and it does NOT have the builtin fogging agent for reversal exposure as does the VNF-1 CD.....but the 3-Step E-6 CD does have this).

VISUAL METHOD of PROCESS CONTROL

This is less accurate, since without measuring devices you are working somewhat in the dark as to exactly which way to shift the color. However, With some care and testing, using a perfectly cared for roll of VNF 7240 film, and filming under perfect color temperature conditions (3200°K Tungsten or in Daylight using a #85B conversion Filter...or your builtin #85 conversion filter), and filming a subject holdling an 18% gray card (and wearing neutral colors with perhaps a color patch in there as well, or colorful items next to them...but NOT any color dominant clothing which would influence your viewing perspective), Film your test subject using an entire roll of film. Then cut up the exposed roll into many easy to handle 2ft to 5 ft strips, and roll them up and store them FROZEN at 0°F in opaque 35mm still film cans. Or, store the entire cartridge in an air-evacuated ziplock bag. Then you can pull out and cut off a piece of film as you need control strips for your visual process control method. Critically examine your processed control strip over a 5000°K color corrected light source or viewing table. Use a 10x to 20x loupe and examine the image and decide which way the color is off. Then using Kodak Color Viewing Filters for Color Correction or a similar product, place the filter of the amount of color needed to correct the off-color on your test film. Look the filter's value and then make your chemical, dilution, temperature and/or time correction based on that.

My advice to any type of color correction is to use HALF of the amount necessary, based on the math. Then process another control strip. If more correction is necessary....again, use only HALF of the new correction. Otherwise, you could easily spend all day doing this, going back and forth and up and down the scale! Since most chemical adjustments are listed in Kodak E-6 Process Control information, or comes with you chemistry, I don't want to get into complex math steps or instructions here beyond what I've already written. If you don't have information or knowledge on how to plot this all out...I highly recommend getting someone who works at a photo lab to do this for you. It will be worth the time and hassle, over frustrating yourself with all that is involved.

Here is some basic information on making your own control strips, kept as simple as possible.

Best wishes,
Martin W. Baumgarten
[email protected]

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