Are there any traditional optical E6 to print C or R types print outputs left in the UK?

[~RJ]

I rarely ever shoot colour anymore unless asked. Since I surrendered my Jobo processor years ago, I don't do any E6 development. I did a set of engagement portraits on remaining 5x4" Fuji Provia after discovering that Fuji Provia in 120 was not in stock anywhere in London (apparently back ordered; apparently discontinued).

It was a shock to see so many photo labs decline 5x4" E6. Now that I've found a few and developed them, the next shock is discovering there isn't anywhere with an analogue printing technique for E6 (is there?). The client would like the prints, however neither of us know how to print E6 now. He's asked and the labs want some kind of mega scan to file and then digiprint.

Any one used a traditional printer of E6 since Ilfochromes died out?

 

[Nas]

I think your options are either scanning or having a colour interneg made. Cibachrome/Ilfochrome is long gone, sadly.

 

[Ian Grant]

If you do a Google search you will find people are reversal processing RA-4 paper. How successfully I don't know.

Ian

 

[Dave_P]

Get it scanned then C-type prints from the file, that is the only remaining sane option (and it is incidentally a very good option).

 

[~RJ]

It makes sense now, why E6 film availability (and sale) has declined: without its optical print superiority, there's many more intermediate and expensive steps like scanning, just to achieve a compressed digital print.

Looks like the copy stand is going to have to come out.

Thanks

RJ

 

[Dave_P]

I don't really think it's anything to do with that at all. It's because the niche that E6 used to have has largely been filled by digital cameras. People had already transitioned to scanning and printing when I got into shooting E6 film around 2006, when E6 film was available everywhere, relatively cheap and widely used (and only just at the start of the era of non-professionals owning usable digital cameras). At the time there were probably already only two places left in the UK doing Cibachrome printing. For any pros shooting E6 for reproduction in magazines, publshing, stock, news, advertising, and other commercial purposes the lack of optical printing options is largely beside the point since scanning had been the norm for those industries since the 90s.

 

[David M]

E6 was popular commercially because it was easy for a client to view on a light box. A 10x8 transparency is very impressive. Very rapid judgements could be made and the scene adjusted quickly. A second exposure, made at the same time, could be pushed or pulled if needed.
A nearby E6 lab was able to process film very quickly, to view the changes. Digital imaging has changed all that.
Nowadays a client can view images on screen and doesn’t even have to be present.

 

[Nas]

Personally I don't think the popularity of E6 for commercial use was anything to do with easy viewing for the client. I feel it's because the colour saturation and contrast couldn't be matched by colour neg. Don't forget, Kodachrome was the gold standard of colour transparency film for decades before E6 came about. E6 couldn't replicate Kodachrome and colour neg hasn't come close to either. Commercial photography before the digital age was more about quality than convenience. There's a good reason why so much 10x8 and 5x4 photography was done commercially back in the day. A well exposed and processed 10x8 transparency on a light box is a thing of beauty. I worked in a lab hand processing E6 back in the day and the majority of our customers were pro photographers. I really enjoyed seeing their work on a lightbox when I removed the film from our drying cabinet. I have some originals from back in the day and they're mesmerising to look at.

 

[Ian Grant]

Here in the UK very few professionals used Kodachrome, processing was slow nand all films had to go to Harrow for processing. It was the Gold standard for National Geographic magazine, but in the US Kodak had lost the monopoly in processing and turnaround was much faster.

When Fuji released Fujichrome 50D National Geographic accepted E6, as a match to Kodachrome. But that was and still is a niche publication,

Professional/Commercial photographers used bot negative and reversal films, choice was based on final use. Social photography, weddings, potraits, etc, was alwyas shot on C41 because the final out put was colour prints.

Advertising and similar commercial photograohy was almost always shot on reversal film because that was preferred for high quality lithography, there was a drop in quality working from clour prints.

Kpodak did try to increase Kodakchrome sales with additional films, and 120 alongside 120, also bringing a small number of the Compact K-labs to labs in the UK etc, allowing fast turnaround but a bit little, & too late.

Ian

 

[Nas]

I should have specified I was referring to advertising/commercial photography as heavy users of E6. The advertising studio I worked at used tons of Kodachrome especially on location. It took ages to package up the rolls in the individual postage paid envelopes. I still remember all the yellow boxes arriving back. Large format was always E6 or b&w. We used Polaroid for the art director to approve shots before exposing the film. 10x8 Polaroid is quite something.