>>3706263I get what you’re saying. And yeah it gives you flexibility with development and experimenting. For instance you could do “processes” like bleach bypass (self explanatory) for a different look. Same for rehalogenating bleach and double colour development.
Or for instance upping/downing contrast and saturation in E-6 through the amount of citrazinic acid.
The “problem” is many people are drawn to home mixing for economic reasons rather than control and flexibility. In most cases, a cheaper price won’t be attained, barring from big quantity mixing, mostly to the mismatch of quantities of chemicals.
For instance, you need a couple grams of citrazinic acid when mixing E-6 chemistry. What if your supplier (if you find one) sells it in 100g bags for $100?
And this goes for many other substances. You need many different chemicals, each in small or even trace amounts, and usually from different manufacturers so you have to factor in shipping for each.
After you build a stockpile of chemicals for 200-300$ and some paraphernalia like an mg scale and a pH meter (optional), subsequent mixes will be dirt cheap, since some chemicals you won’t have to rebuy for years since the quantity bought is huge and the amounts used very small.
But if you want economy and practicality, usually the cheapest way is to get a bit kit (5L or a mini lab kit), wait till you have a sizeable backlog, and mix+develop then.
Usually the 1L kits are a scam. For instance, in Europe I can get a 1L kit (with blix) for roughly 30€ (Tetenal, CineStill, etc.). A 5L kit by Fuji (separate bleach and fix) is 65€.
In Europe, the lowest prices for chemistry (Fuji) I’ve seen in Belgium, I think Fuji still makes their chemistry there which could be the reason. 65€ for C-41 5L, and 85€ for E-6 5L. Those are home kits, I haven’t kept up with prices for mini lab kits.
