Jobo product list old and new

[Dean Wilmot]

Hi all, does anyone know or be able to provide a list of old and new products that jobo have made? It seems there a a host of different reels/drums upgrades etc for the various old and new processors and I’m trying to ascertain if it’s worth buying older gear or newer and What is more suited to what reel and processor combinations. I know catlabs have some awesome info but was hoping for more, thanks

[Oren Grad]

Although it's not a complete archival listing, there's plenty of information here:

http://www.jobo-usa.com/

Between that and the information on the CatLABS site proper most practical questions can be answered, though there are certainly some obscure Jobo odds and ends that are not represented in either place.

The most important "worth buying older gear?" question has to do with the different generations of motors in Jobo processors, and that's addressed in both places.

EDIT: I should add, the above refers to the Jobo equipment likely to be purchased by amateur users. The ATL-series processors are another story, but at this point a second-hand ATL is usually going to be more hassle than it's worth for an amateur just getting started with Jobo.

[Dean Wilmot]

Great thanks Oren

[Dean Wilmot]

Btw don’t you recommend the ATL? My main need is for b&w 120 and 4x5 film processing

[Oren Grad]

The details vary with the model. But the ones that can take Expert drums are much bigger and heavier than a CPA/CPP, and thus more difficult to fit into a typical home darkroom and very difficult or impossible for an individual to move without help. They are also generally much more expensive to buy compared to a CPA/CPP in comparable condition, more complex mechanically, and more hassle to maintain. A CPA/CPP is fine for most small-volume amateur users.

I've been using a CPA-2 for the last ~20 years.

[Dean Wilmot]

Hey Oren, I’ve found a guy selling a cpe2 how do you rate it compared to the Plus version?

[Oren Grad]

This thread over at Photrio talks about the differences:

https://www.photrio.com/forum/thread...n-cpe-2.19710/

Keep in mind that the CPE models don't work with the Expert drums. That's why I went with the CPA.

[minh0204]

if it’s worth buying older gear

I went through that route when I started out. IMHO, it's not worth buy very old gears, simply because they will not fit modern machines, and once broken they're impossible to repair. So tanks like 4324 or any tank with RO label are out. Reels for those tanks won't fit modern tanks, like the 15xx and 25xx tanks, either.

All the tanks listed here (no affiliation with firstcall, I just use them a lot they're great) can be found used for much cheaper.

Old machines are not worth getting, e.g. original CPE / TBE. Earlier version of CPE2/CPA/CPP are not worth getting. You should be spending some time searching this forum and APUG/photrio for more info, this is a common topic with a lot of discussions.

Also if you can always reach out to catlabs. Omer is great to deal with and is a wealth of resource for anything Jobo.