It must be the very first time I got all the way through scanning three entire 120 rolls of Velvia without swearing loudly and thrashing my arms like a mad man. Anyone that’s ever been in that position will know that what you get on screen is a hell of a lot different than what you get when you hold the developed film up to daylight. Although these shots might not be the best examples of what Velvia is good for, I liked them enough to post them.
Much of what I’ve got through tonight are rolls that have been sitting in their paper sleeves for about 12 months, in that ‘I’ll scan that someday’ pile. Today was that productive day. Or hour anyway. I think I was spurred on somewhat by ogling cheap 6×6 cameras earlier today on ebay. Then after scanning the first of these frames shot on my Bronica, I’m almost inspired to shoot a few more of the rolls that have been sitting in the fridge since 2009. Most of the pain with E6 is the not to be underestimated job of developing after the relatively easy part of correctly exposing is done. After my first outing and complete disaster into the world of E6 development, I treated myself to an expensive used Jobo CPE2 Plus from a chap in the US. It took a good portion of the leg work out of the process, tank agitation and the all important temperature control. Of course with the kit I bought there are seven separate chemicals so it was still a time consuming pain in the balls but when that final rinse was done and a half dozen rolls of perfect slides came out of the tank, the task seemed to be worth it.
But that was before I knew I could get slide film processed for about a fiver a roll. Like having your favorite meal served up to you and not having to do any of the washing up afterward. You’re still paying for the pleasure, you just don’t have to do the nasty part. Sounds alright to me.
So that leaves me thinking about passing the Jobo on to a new owner. This isn’t a me being a shill, I’d genuinely be sad to see the Jobo go. It just hasn’t been used in such a long time that it’s really pointless keeping it. That and the amount of E6 I shoot makes up probably about 5% of my total film use. We’ll see. If anyone does want to sell me an affordable 6×6 camera, do get in touch.
More about this place I guess. Going from what was on the roll before and after it, I’m guessing it’s somewhere in either West Cork or Kerry. Before it on the roll, Inchidoney. After it, more Inchidoney. Pretty sure that’s just because I screwed up scanning the roll in the right order. Glengarriff, Bantry, Timoleague and all those other nice places. If there ever was a happy roll of Velvia, this is it.
