Tank or Trays?

[southy]

I have accumulated a random assotment of 4x5 equipment (http://www.largeformatphotography.in...023#post561023)
and I am trying to just start in 4x5 format.

I have developed 35mm and 120mm film, but I am by no means an expert, or even consistent (Probably less than 20 rolls total). I stick to black and white, because it is part of the fun for me, and I'm hesitant to try color, especially with the cost per shot of LF.



I have a jobo 2521, 2523 and yankee 4x5 film developers. I also have an assortment of darkroom trays, though none small enough to fit 4x5's without a lot of movement. I feel like I already loose track of paper in 8x10's with the safelight on.

What is an easier method to start developing 4x5's? Should I stick with trays and do one sheet at a time? or are the jobo's or yankees better? I might have a motorized base, but it is a beseler and not a jobo. I would rather do inversion with the jobo or the yankee. Is this practical or is it just a waste of chemicals?

Thanks!
-Southy

[Brian Schall]

I, too, am no expert but I would go with the JOBO drums over anything else you have. I had the 2521 tank but never got around to trying it. Inversion should work just fine with it. I sold the 2521 outfit off to pay for a 2006 Expert drum. I do have a couple of FR tanks that are similar to the Yankee. They are enough to make you stop shooting 4x5. I also use the Combi-Tank system. I've had good results with them. I have 3 sets and use them as a dip-and-dunk system.

Go withthe JOBOs and give them a try, definitely the best option that you own.

[southy]

Do Jobo rollers roll in one direction? I have a uniroller, that when I put the two jobo's magnet to magnet with a piece of plastic in between as a spacer, can roll the tanks freely. Do I risk over agitating if I do it this way?
-Southy

[jeroldharter]

I would go with the Jobo. Just do regular inversion processing. Uses a little more solution but for the volumes you are dealing with I would not worry about it. You have two lids for the Jobo. The one with the orange cap is for inversion processing. The one with the ratchets is for use on a Jobo processor, or on rollers.

The Jobo roller base is manual. It is simply two plastic dowel rods in parallel with the rollers on moveable crossbars to accommodate various sized tubes. You place it in a developing tray of shallow water for a water bath and "lubricant" for the tube and then manually roll it. Try for a consistent rolling motion and rotate directions about every 30 seconds.

[Merg Ross]

Keep it simple and use trays. I have always used 8x10 trays for developing 4x5, so if you have any that size, they will work. The important part of film processing is to find a method and master it. In 50 years of processing negatives, I have never used any mechanical devices. If you want to go that route, fine.

[Jim Noel]

If you use the Jobo tanks by inverting you stand a good chance of having the film come out of the reel. It is meant only for rotation. If nothing else, it can be rolled back and forth in the sink.

[John Kasaian]

Use the Yankee tank to hold pencils. You can fit a lot of pencils in a Yankee tank!

[Peter Collins]

Trays. Never be-trayed me. After you have scratched the soft, wet emulsion on a neg in developer just once, you forever after apply the appropriate care to shuffling the negs. Trays with slots/groves on the bottom are the best because it is easy to get fingers under the pile of negs. But any small tray, e.g., "5x7" for 4x5. I came into some trays that are ~8x10 and so I just use them, and tilt the one with the developer so that the negs drift downslope. I liked the cost enough to be at peace about the size.

In this forum I have seen posts of different workers concerning how many negs to do at once. I'm comfortable with 6 or less per batch.

Trays are my version of "keep it simple."

As for John K's thoughts about tanks for pencils, I find that it is unnecessary to purchase or acquire a tank. Lavazzo Espresso coffee cans (8 oz) work fine, and the price is a number approaching zero. And the coffee is excellent. Also, consider that John may be excessively tanked, and can in that condition associate pencils with tanks. Hard to tell from some of his posts. But I expect to hear more from him on this!

Early winter morning in Michigan!

[MIke Sherck]

I'd go with whatever is most familiar to you. Trays are easiest but the one film at a time thing gets old after a while and learning to shuffle sheets to process more than one at a time can be different!

[Robert Hughes]

Use the Yankee tank to hold pencils. You can fit a lot of pencils in a Yankee tank!

True, they're not so great for developing, but they make great washing/drip dry tanks. I use my FR tank (similar to Yankee) to hold up to a dozen 4x5's in water after fixing.