A common question we keep getting: should AHU motion picture film be processed in ECN-2 or C-41?
We ran a side-by-side test on the Reflx Lab 640T (5219 AHU) to answer this. We shot identical frames at the same exposure, then developed one set in ECN-2 and the other in C-41 chemistry.
The results surprised us — they are remarkably close. The C-41 processed negatives show slightly higher density. This happens because C-41 chemistry is more aggressive, which gently pushes the film during development. Apart from this subtle difference, the two sets of negatives look almost identical. It takes careful inspection to tell them apart.
Our conclusion: the visual difference between ECN-2 and C-41 for AHU film is negligible.
For practical use, we recommend C-41 processing. C-41 labs are far easier to find globally, and the service is usually more affordable.