>>4024275>I was wondering how much crossover there is between ECN2 and C41 chemistry.They're different in a sense that in chemistry sometimes it takes a lot of effort to get from 90% to 99% quality of final result, and the big manufacturers have been striving for that 99%, plus reliability for the intended use, packaging, self life etc. And every change you make, causes a domino of changes in subsequent chemistry to balance it out etc. So from a chemistry standpoint, you can have relatively big differences, for very similar end results. That said though, for home use, lots of these considerations are not important, and specifically don't harm image quality. The end result will be virtually indistinguishable if you use ECN-2 developer, wash after every step, and use C-41 for the rest.
As you said, aside from the developer, the other baths will not have an appreciable effect.
You can use bleaches and fixes from C-41 with no issue, or even blix. Just give it a bit more time to be safe, and wash between every step to "neutralise" the pH, just in case. I doubt the fix is any different between the processes, in theory you could even use B&W fix.
The only "issue" with fix is, theoretically, if it's too strong and acidic (like some B&W fixes), it can affect a bit the cyan leuco dyes in the film. I haven't seen it in practice with the usual fixers, even B&W. And I very much doubt the fixer from C-41 is that much stronger than the one in ECN-2, so I'd use it without even blinking.
About the bleach, the ECN-2 bleach is stronger than *some* C-41 kits. That said, if you're gonna use ferricyanide bleach, it's the strongest of all pretty much, so no worries using that instead of the typical ECN-2 bleach. If you use C-41 bleach, and *happens* to be from a kit that uses the weaker ammonium ferric-EDTA bleach instead of ferric-PDTA, again just leave it in for longer and you'll be fine.
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