Jobo Expert 3006 or 3010 ??

[Ron Bose]

Well I found a cheap used CPP-2 Jobo processor and now I'm ready to buy my Expert drums ...

When the 3005 becomes available I'll probably snap it up, but in the meantime I'm trying to figure out whether I should buy a 3006 or the 3010 Expert drum ?

The only point of concern with the 3010 is ease of loading. I understand that you load two sheets per cylinder in the 3010, but with the 3006 you load one sheet per cylinder. Is the 3010 tricky to load ???

Thanks in adavnce ....

[Bruce Watson]

I just ran 10 sheets in my 3010. Ease of loading is one of its strong points. It's easier to load than a film holder -- after all these years... You will want to get the foot pump which makes getting the top off much easier.

[Andre Noble]

I know in the 3006, the sheet will shift around inside their cylinders during development, which is not an issue because they don't share a cylinder. 3006 is ultra easy to load - feels like money in the bank once those sheets are out of your film holders and ready to load up. In other words, you can load these even when mentally fatigued. The 3006 also can take 5x7 sheets.

[Tom Westbrook]

I'm pretty new to the expert drums--just started last January. I find them a bit troublesome to load since it can be hard to tell which cylinders have film already inserted. I know, you're supposed to leave sheets poking up above the lip a bit, but if you're a clutz like me, you inevitably whack a few of the sticking-up sheets down into the holes (while searching for the next empty slot) so it's harder to tell which holes have film and which don't. I usually spend a few exra seconds making sure I'm not trying to insert two sheets into the same hole. I hope that sort of thing becomes less of an issue wih practice. On the up side, it's easy to tell by feel if a hole already has film in it.

[Steve Williams_812]

I have been using the 3010 Expert drum for 4x5 for a couple years now and it is simple to load and processes magnificently even negatives. Getting it open is another story....

For awhile I fought the lid off with my fingernails and that was just stupid. Finally I bought the footpump and now the lid comes off fine (thought I am waiting until one day it knocks my teeth out).

I would not process 4x5 any other way.

I am going to be putting my 3010 on eBay soon because I have moved up to 8x10. sold the Ebony RW45 last week, lenses going, and more.

I ordered a 3005 from FreeStyle photo but they said it would not ship until mid May...

steve

[Steve Baggett]

For awhile I fought the lid off with my fingernails and that was just stupid. Finally I bought the footpump and now the lid comes off fine (thought I am waiting until one day it knocks my teeth out).
Use a tiny amount of vaseline around the top of the base (just a teenie bit) and it will come off with less of an explosive "pop". For Jobo's big 3063 (20x24) drum, without the vaseline it can be nearly dangerous to blow the lid off with the foot pump.

[Ron Bose]

Steve Williams: Regarding the 3005 drum, I spoke with Jobo-usa today and they had no idea when items such as the 3005 and the foot pump will be coming in from Germany. Jobo AG moved factories and didn't stock up enough.

The sales guy said that the 3005 shows a July delivery date but he couldn't guarantee that July wouldn't change to September ....

Looks like the 3010 is the winner, my challenge will be lifting the lid without a foot pump !

Cheers all ....

[Michael E. Gordon]

As I replied in another recent Jobo thread, the lid is not that big of a deal to remove by hand. I can't imagine that the tolerances in manufacturing vary that much from drum to drum. If you have any amount of finger strength (not fingerNAIL strength), you won't have a problem removing the lid. There's no need to cram the lid on so tight that it makes removal difficult.

[Stan. Laurenson-Batten]

No contest: The Jobo CPP2 Expert 3010 drum is THE bisiness, the foot pump is a great help. Nevertheless, if I am only developing one or two sheets of 5X4 I call on the little six sheet, 2523 with the 2508 loader, not quite as easy as the 3010 to start with but worth the little extra effort for the ecconomy of chemicals.

[Gary Frost]

Regarding the use of a foot pump to remove the expert drum lid: I simply use the tap water pressure to remove it. I made a suitable rubber fitting to go over the drum top using a sink stopper. As water is not compresible, (assuming the drum is full) the lid eases off gently without popping. It works great for me.