Mod 54 opinions?

[koraks]

Koraks, I hear ya on the lazy part. Lately, I've gotten so that I only develop the blacks. Too tired to do the whites.

Will try taking a stick to it.

Totally missed this comment - LOL! I should introduce that practice into carbon printing.

[koraks]

I tried using one for C41 and E6. In both cases, the inside sheets were ruined -- C41 developed green and E6 developed red. I havn't had the courage to try B/W yet.

I do C41 regularly in the MOD54 and I have noticed no differences in color rendition between the sheets, regardless of position. But I keep the chemicals as well as the developing tank in a temperature controlled bath throughout the development process and I do the in-between washes with water of the right temperature as well. to make temperature control easier, I do C41 at 25C, which the Rollei kit permits (it just takes longer than at 38C). Do you wash in between process steps? How do you control the temperature?

[Zndrson]

I've been shooting mostly E6 recently and developing using the taco method. Tacos work well, but will bend Ektachrome quite badly. Velvia seems to bounce back rather easily. I've never had any issues with Ilford FP4 or HP5 bending.

This is the first I've heard of the Mod 54 and I'm sold. Just put my Yankee 4x5 daylight and Patterson 2 reel and 5 reel tanks on craigslist to get a 3 reel and Mod54. Once I get everything together I'll post results.

Thanks for the thread!

[gbogatko]

I followed the Tetenal/Jobo instructions as to time and temp. Same with the Arista E6 kit.
In a CombiPlan tank, everything works out as expected.
I asked the inventor for advice and he suggested a longer initial presoak -- like 5 minutes (or more?).
What's the possibility of the plastic being a bad batch and outgassing something bad for color film?
I suppose I'll have to sacrifice some sheets to figure out if it's me or the MOD54, ugh.

[Zndrson]

Just wanted to post here my first Mod 54 results. Film is still drying, but everything worked beautifully. Negs are thin b/c of underexposure, but are even. I did have one sheet pop out or was loaded incorrectly. First time, though. Will get better with use.

Very excited to have this as an alternative to the taco method which scratched my negatives to hell and back and left them permanently (at least so far) curled. Would a Jobo be better? Of course, but for the price its hard to beat. Photos later

[Kirk Gittings]

BTZS Tubes are also an option:http://www.viewcamerastore.com/btzs-...film-tube-kit/

[koh303]

BTZS Tubes are also an option:http://www.viewcamerastore.com/btzs-...film-tube-kit/

how do you use these with the MOD54?
They are also almost X2 as expensive.

[Light Guru]

how do you use these with the MOD54?
They are also almost X2 as expensive.

You don't use them with the mod54 they were posted as a alternative option.

[Michael W]

Just wanted to post here my first Mod 54 results. Film is still drying, but everything worked beautifully. Negs are thin b/c of underexposure, but are even. I did have one sheet pop out or was loaded incorrectly. First time, though. Will get better with use.

Very excited to have this as an alternative to the taco method which scratched my negatives to hell and back and left them permanently (at least so far) curled. Would a Jobo be better? Of course, but for the price its hard to beat. Photos later

I'm sure the Jobo expert tanks would be better, but so big and expensive. I'm glad to read someone else saying that taco method scratches the film. Drives me mad how many people recommend it when the sheet corners will obviously be scratching the emulsion.

[chrism]

I was wary of spending the money on a Mod54, when I knew about the taco method. But when the taco method didn't work out well for me, I ended up making my own compromise with a contraption made from a coat hanger—see here, and later modified that with another W-shaped piece of the same coat hanger to prevent the negatives from rising up in the tank. Last week, boredom being what it is, and possibly out of denial of what this week's chemo would bring, I ordered up a Mod54 from B&H. I survived the chemo (so far) and the box from B&H arrived. I carefully cut three sheets of thin flexible cardboard to 4x5" size to load in daylight and tried it out. No matter how I did it, with the sheets this way up or the other way up, they always ended up touching. But since I usually develop just two 4x5 negatives at a time, why should I worry? It will work as well as the coat hanger trick with one negative on each side, although it takes a bigger volume of chemicals to use the three reel Paterson tank with the Mod54 than it does with the steel tank and my coat hangers (only 1000ml versus 900ml). My inclination is to try it out in practice next time I'm using a developer where I don't care about the volume poured in (yes, that means Diafine!). The only reason I can see for preferring two negatives in the Mod54 over two in my steel tank with the coat-hanger contraption would be if they ended up with less risk of scratches on the reverse/non-emulsion side of the film.

Chris