Been there, done that. My friendly recommendation would be that you don't go there without a very good semi-automated development system.
E6 chemistry is incredibly picky about the temperature it is being used at; unless you've got proper temperature control (or, at worst, a large tub of water at the right temperature to act as a thermal buffer), you're in for a world of hurt.
Granted, I took a bit of a cavalier attitude towards the whole thing at the start ("I've processed B&W (literally, not a figure of speech) hundreds of times - how hard can this color thingy really be?")
I was promptly humbled. I still shoot slide film (in 6x9 and 4x5, where digital isn't an option for mere mortals) - but leave the processing for professionals.
The money saved by doing it myself simply wasn't worth the added strain from doing it all so painfully accurate as you possibly could, only to find the results sub-par
Where do you have your large format slide film processed? I purchased a Jobo tank recently so I could do 4x5 C-41 at home, since neither of the shops in Seattle that still develop film are willing to do sheets.
I am in Norway, and the last domestic lab doing E6 quit doing so late last year.
I have since had a few -34, methinks- sheets processed by an outfit in the UK which came highly recommended - The Darkroom (www.the-darkroom.co.uk)
34 sheets in three batches are not much to go on, but so far I am most satisfied - reasonable pricing (YMMV not being Norwegian and used to price gouging in the first place!), most accommodating with regards to special instructions, top-notch work, proper packaging, OK turnaround time.
My main concern is that some postal worker will X-ray the sheets to oblivion - even as the sheets are in film envelopes labeled as such and lined with lead; however, such are the worries of international postage.
My B&W stuff I mostly do on the kitchen bench - the dark stuff inside a film changing bag, the wet stuff in the ubiquitous Paterson tanks (With steel reels, thank you very much.)
Heh, I've never been able to get the hang of them. But, hey, I've done a couple hundred rolls of B&W on Paterson plastic reels without any problems. To each their own :)
6x9 is a Fujica GL690; 4x5 is a Linhof Super Technika IV.
The Texas Leica (The GL690; Google it and you'll understand how it earned its nickname) is handholdable unless you insist on using very slow film (or the 65mm f/8 wide angle).
The Technika? Not as much. I use a tripod for the Technika always, for the 690 probably 90% of the time.
(90, 150 and 300mm lenses for the Technika, 65, 100 and 180mm for the Fujica)
E6 chemistry is incredibly picky about the temperature it is being used at; unless you've got proper temperature control (or, at worst, a large tub of water at the right temperature to act as a thermal buffer), you're in for a world of hurt.
Granted, I took a bit of a cavalier attitude towards the whole thing at the start ("I've processed B&W (literally, not a figure of speech) hundreds of times - how hard can this color thingy really be?")
I was promptly humbled. I still shoot slide film (in 6x9 and 4x5, where digital isn't an option for mere mortals) - but leave the processing for professionals.
The money saved by doing it myself simply wasn't worth the added strain from doing it all so painfully accurate as you possibly could, only to find the results sub-par