Best way to develop 4x5 in PMK, new to Pyro

I've asked this question before, but this one is mainly towards PMK users. I'm going to give PMK a try with FP4 and Tri-x 320. I'm currently using tanks and hangers. In Hutchings book he states that tanks and hangers don't work well with Pyro developers. The Jobo tanks look nice, but do you have to constantly roll them? And also, how do you insert and take out film that is needed for a different development times? It's easy to add film during the process with tray processing and when using tanks. Anyone use the JOBO tanks as inverted tanks? Don't you get better edge effects? Thanks for any suggestions to a newbie at Pyro!

Brian

Why not just use trays. I have done so with PMK for 25+ years.I devlop 6 at a time and I can do each one for a different time. My procedure is in the FreeArticles section of the View Camera web page

www.viewcamera.com


steve simmons

Because I don't normally have but a few sheets, or maybe just a couple to develop, I just remove the reels from my Paterson style roll film tank and do one sheet at a time in it. Folks say you can do about four at a time by folding them like a taco and putting a loose rubber band around them. A Nikkor tank may be a solution but they're too expensive for me.

I started out using PMK about 6 years ago. At that time I used tray development with mixed success. It seemed that even with the most meticulous technique, I would end up with a few badly scrathes negs. Eventually I gave up and bought a Jobo 3010 expert drum. It was one of my best investments. I use it on a Beseler motor base I got off eBay. Every neg I process now comes out absolutely perfect. Even development, no scratches. I'm a very happy camper. I'm in the middle of processing about 200 sheets of FP4 right now and as always, they are coming out perfect. Yes, trays are much more convenient for doing plus and minus dev't. I do a specific batch of only normal or plus/minus development. Its a bit of a pain but I usually have more than just a couple of sheets to do. By all means try tray development and see if it works for you, but I found the Jobo drum to be the answer for perfect PMK dev't.

As Steve said, use trays. Why spend a couple of hundred dollars for something you may not use if you don't like PMK? The benefit of using Jobo drums is in temperature control via the Jobo processors. The side benefit is the automated processing.

And, Steve, I don't think you have been using PMK for over 25 years. Please try to be reasonably accurate.

PMK works best in trays. It's the simplest way and you can control of how often you agitate for edge effects. For stand or semi-stand development it is best to develop the film in a vertical position...tubes work well for this. You can make them yourself.

Caroline,

there are many benefits to using a Jobo drum: easy loading, minimum solution volume, daylight processing, temperature control, even development, consistency, and scratch-free negs, none of which requires a processor. I would only recommend tray development to those who cannot afford anything better, who like sitting in the dark, and are willing to tolerate the occasional scratched negative (there will be the occasional scratched negative). Jobo drums work with other developers as well as PMK, in fact, there are better developers for drum processing than PMK, so if Brian decides he doesn't like PMK, at least he'll have a good drum to use with whatever developer he decides to use.

Jay

From Caroline,
"And, Steve, I don't think you have been using PMK for over 25 years. Please try to be reasonably accurate."

Gordon Hutchings and I have been friends since about 1978 He created the PMK formula in about 1980 and asked several of us to begin testing it for him. This would have been about 1980 or 81. Beginning in 78 I started using the Wimberley W2D2 formula and learned tray developement about 79. I was taught tray development by Jim Galvin and Morley Baer

True, his book did not come out till the mid 90s but that is only when he went public with the formula after years of testing.

steve

You might look to BTZS tubes as a less expensive alternative to Jobo. However, I'd recommend using trays for a bit until you see if you like the developer.
juan

IMHO the key to my tray development process is the pre-soak and the placing of the films emulsion side down in the tray of developer. Also, by putting the film into the developer at different times I do not have to count and keep track of where each sheet is in the pile. It is also not necessary to do the same number of sheets each time. I simply do keep track of how often I rotate the stack from top to bottom. I go through the stack six times a minute no matter how many sheets I have. This keeps the agitation constant.

steve simmons