So far I've mainly used transparency film in 4x5, but I bought a secondhand HP C ombi Tank on ebay recently in an effort to improve my use of black and white fil m (and to avoid the high cost of getting b/w film developed). I have some basic questions ;
1. It is quite slow to fill the tank - I understand that it will probably be eas ier to fill the tank with developer first, and then, in the dark, put the film h older in, put the lid on, after which the lights can be turned on. That's fine ; however, it also takes about 30-45 seconds to drain the developer from the tank - how does this time affect the selected developing time? Do you have to factor the drainage time in as part of the development time?
2. After draining the developer, you have to get stop bath and then fixer into t he tank. How is this done efficiently? Is it simply best to go back to the dark, remove the lid, pour the chemical in, and then replace the lid? To do this some how seems to defeat the purpose of having a daylight tank (!) so is there a simp ler way that I just haven't fathomed out yet? Pouring the chemical in through th e top valve unit is so slow (because the displaced air has to escape) that I can 't believe that this is the way to do it!
Sorry that these questions are so basic - I would really appreciate some experie nced advice.
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