For years I have processed b/w film in the black Cesco type 3.5 gallon deep tanks. I have always had some issues with the edges of the film being a bit denser than the middle. For most of my commercial work..which is products on white background, this didn't matter at all, but for my personal pictorial work I need to get absolutely even density. My developer over the years in the deep tank has been D-76 straight. I have used Tri-X, APX-100, Ektapan, etc.
I tend to process my 8x10 b/w in trays with a water pre-wet. I find this less satisfactory for 4x5, as the small sheets are harder to control in the dark in the tray for me.
I would like to resolve my deep tank issues, because I am starting to want to shoot more 4x5 pictorial images. I will sometimes have 30 sheets at a time to process, so using a drum or a Combi-plan tank (6 sheets) would be very very time consuming.
I have stainless steel film hangars that hold 4 sheets of 4x5. I have 10 of these hangers so I could process up to 40 sheets at once, but would rather keep it down under 30.
So, in rethinking my processing..there are a couple of things I could do to try to get more even development. One is to use a film developer that gives a longer developing time for the films I want to use, but it would have to be a tank style developer that would have a fairly long tank life. A weak HC-110 comes to mind, other than D-76. HC-110 can be replenished. Another thought is to use a water presoak, as I have plenty of tanks, and could easily have one filled with fresh tempered water each time I want to process. Also, perhaps I need to adjust my agitation style. Perhaps I have been too aggressive. Any advice would be appreciated.
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