First 4x5 B&W films processed...

[ic-racer]

I have been processing B&W roll film since 1973, but have never processed 4x5. I have been in bidding wars to get a Jobo Expert drum, but have not won one yet, so I thought I would try tray development to check out my new 4x5 camera.

I just filled some 8x10 trays with the appropriate chemicals and turned off the lights then used a gloved hand to run the film from tray to tray. My impression as I was doing this was that the film was getting marred each time my glove touched the emulsion (it's impossible to handle it outside the image area). I processed emulsion side up to keep the emulsion from touching the tray bottom. I agitated the film continuously by gently moving it up and down in the tray. I figured these negatives were going to be trash from all the manipulation.

Turns out they look great. The sheet film is more robust than I had imagined. I am really pleased with the results.

For drying, I prevously did a search on film clips for 4x5 but am still undecided. I got some clothes drying clips from my wife but they don't touch at the ends and won't clip the film. Also, it seemed like they would need to grab on the image area to stay in place anyway. I wound up using some surgical hemostats that could just grab the edge of the film, outside the image area.

BTW I was using TMX 4x5 in Tmax (nonRS) developer 1:4. I just guessed at times. 4 min for the first one seemed a little thin but still printable. I incresed it to 5 min for the following sheets and they looked very printable.

[cowanw]

surgical heamostats are a freaking brilliant idea!
Bill

[Peter Lewin]

Take a dry negative and practice hanging it up with a wooden clothes pin. You will see that while the very ends don't touch, if you hang the negative with just the corner near the notches inbetween the ends at the point where they do touch (clumsy grammar - just experiment to see how little of the neg needs to be in contact with the clothes pin) and you will see that the image area is unaffected. I've been hanging my 4x5s up this way for 20 years or so, no problems, and eight or more clothes pins cost way less than eight hemostats! (By the way, you may also get some posts about tray developing emulsion side down, lets just say the world is split between the "ups" and the "downs" - use whichever works for you - I happen to be a "down.")

[Ron Marshall]

I built a dust free drying box, out of 1" x 1" wood and plastic sheet. The hangers are tiny black spring-steel paperclips which tenaciously grab a tiny bit of the sheet edge .

[Donald Qualls]

For a single sheet at a time, no question, I'd process emulsion up. When I do a stack, however, I now process emulsion down, which has pretty much eliminated scratches in the emulsion from the corner of the sheet above (and the trays I have, with a fairly fine textured bottom, don't seem to damage the emulsion at all). Still working on better ways to process multiple sheets, though; I like the results from doing them in tubes, except for the dye left in the base side from contact with the inside of the tube (soaking in 2% sodium sulfite solution after fixing removes the dye, fortunately). I need to find a better way to handle multiple sheets in the tubes; maybe time to slot some of the ABS sheet I have around to make a multi-sheet carrier that fits in my quart-size stainless tank...

For hanging film, sheet or roll, I use magnet-backed spring clips from Office Depot; they can grip in the portion of the sheet masked by the film holder, and then hang from the bowl of a torchiere lamp, up to a dozen at a time.

[ic-racer]

Take a dry negative and practice hanging it up with a wooden clothes pin. You will see that while the very ends don't touch, if you hang the negative with just the corner near the notches inbetween the ends at the point where they do touch (clumsy grammar - just experiment to see how little of the neg needs to be in contact with the clothes pin) and you will see that the image area is unaffected. I've been hanging my 4x5s up this way for 20 years or so, no problems, and eight or more clothes pins cost way less than eight hemostats! (By the way, you may also get some posts about tray developing emulsion side down, lets just say the world is split between the "ups" and the "downs" - use whichever works for you - I happen to be a "down.")

Actually on the plastic clothes clips my wife had, the whole tip, in front of the notch, does not meet! They won't hold anything by the part in front of the notch, there is a 3mm gap. I looked at the whole box of them and they were all made this way.

[Peter Lewin]

Actually on the plastic clothes clips my wife had, the whole tip, in front of the notch, does not meet! They won't hold anything by the part in front of the notch, there is a 3mm gap. I looked at the whole box of them and they were all made this way.

I've only used wooden clothes pins - seems that the combination of wood and wet negs are nice and "grippy" - plastic scares me, seems too slick to hold.

[Louie Powell]

I saw some clips at Central Camera in Chicago a few weeks ago that looked just like alligator clips. If surgical hemostats work (and I would expect they would), the alligator clips should also. Haven't priced them recently, but Radio Shack should have a good selection.

[JW Dewdney]

I've dried THOUSANDS of sheets using common bulldog clips from office supply stores. My 'ghetto' version of this is putting about 20-25 on a wire clothes hanger - and hanging that from a showerhead to dry.

[Scott Kathe]

You can use regular clothespins if you do what Ansel Adams did (supposedly). Take a standard clothespin apart, put the flat sides against each other. Put the spring part in the square cutouts. The other ends go where the spring used to go, the grabbing action is now at the opposite end of the clothespin. These work great!

Scott