Need advise on home processing

[Mike Anderson]

Personally, I use the HP Combi-plan. It works, and that is the best that can be said about it. It is not pleasant, nor leak proof, nor very easy to load. After the fist hundred or so sheets, it gets much more manageable (as in: no improperly loaded sheets). But it is a daylight tank, and that is a plus. Especially if you do long developing.

I just started developing my own film, with a Combi-plan (no darkroom - changing bag). I've yet to screw up a development (I am surprised), but I have screwed up a few sheets before development (forget to close the lens before pulling the darkslide, etc.) Once I get the Combi-plan loaded and closed up, I go to the kitchen sink. At this point I'm kind of sloppy, overflow the tank and spill stuff, but it's all in the sink. Development for me is kind of a nervous operation but so far so good.

...Mike

[David de Gruyl]

The only problem I have had (and it has not ruined anything) is improperly loaded sheets that did not fix properly. Surprisingly enough, they all developed properly, and I could always pour fixer into a tray and refix the off sheets. Daylight is fine for fixing.

Two words of advice:

1. premeasure 1.1L of chemicals, and do not worry about overfilling
2. make sure you open and close the vent.

It is not as easy to operate as stainless steel tank (for roll film) developing, but it is really not that bad. It is also the best thing going for 4x5 as far as I know.

[bbarna]

Thank you for the replies. I guess I was a little bit vague when I mentioned this low budget idea. I really do spend money on good stuff, but right now I don't have the possibility buying a drum. So the point is I can not afford a daylight tool, that is I have to go with trays.
Regarding the chemicals I'll try Rodinal.
Thank you once again for advises, I really appreciate them.
Best of luck,
Barna

[trumil9]

My 3 cents
Foma is offered in US under Arista brand.
I use rodinal in dilution 1:100/10ml:1000ml
Entire process is in 20°C/68°F. You can use different temperature, from 64°F to 70°F but important is to keep the same temperature during entire process of developing - developer, stopper, fixer, rinse, final rinse. I always soak negative during 3 minutes in tap water before fill tank with rodinal. During 3 minutes make slow inversions. After tank is filled with rodinal I do inversion first 1 minute. Then brake next 4 minutes. Then 3 very slow inversions and break during 5 minutes. I repeat this third, fourth time, then 2 minutes brake and rodinal is drained. Together 22minutes - that is all. Inversion always very slow to prevent shaking.
Later stopper 30s, fixer (fresh/old - 4min/8min), 10 minutes rinsing with tap water, then Kodak flo 30s and distilled water as a final rinse just before drying.
I use HP CombiPlan T. I use this kind of developing for all formats. No difference regarding ISO between 100 and 400.
Latest 4x5 Arista EDU developing

[Robert Hughes]

Another thing that I forgot to mention is that tray processing is only doable with a good darkroom.

If by a "good darkroom" you mean "any dark room with plumbing and flat surfaces", I agree. My bathroom works as well for me as any special-purpose darkroom, if the process is kept simple: rinse-develop-rinse-fix-rinse-dry.

One fortunate aspect of darkroom photography is it works great with precision controls and top-notch gear, but it also works just fine on the cheap with trays and room temperature city tap water.

[Matthew Rolfe]

One fortunate aspect of darkroom photography is it works great with precision controls and top-notch gear, but it also works just fine on the cheap with trays and room temperature city tap water.

I agree, although I think it works great both ways.

In regards to the Combi Plan, I have never really had a problem with sheet loading or with leaks. There is always a little excess that drips off the nozzle when inverting, but actual leakage has never been a problem for me.

[tgtaylor]

Probably the cheapest way to go would be using Kodak hard rubber tanks with film hangers. I recently bought 3 of those tanks and 5 hangers off this site in excellent condition for about $15. I imaging that the thick hard rubber tanks will hold the temperature more constant than the plastic combi-plan and loading the hangers is about as fool-proof as it can get. What you end-up with is a fool-proof manual dip-n-dunk system for practically nothing. Also, the tanks will hold up to about 2 liters of solution which is ideal for low dilution solution solutions like rodinal.

[David de Gruyl]

If by a "good darkroom" you mean "any dark room with plumbing and flat surfaces", I agree. My bathroom works as well for me as any special-purpose darkroom, if the process is kept simple: rinse-develop-rinse-fix-rinse-dry.

One fortunate aspect of darkroom photography is it works great with precision controls and top-notch gear, but it also works just fine on the cheap with trays and room temperature city tap water.

by good darkroom, I meant "someplace light tight with enough surface for the trays", and preferably a comfortable place to sit or stand.

You can even do it with plumbing in another room.

And you are correct, trays and city water can work fine (but if you have unidentified spots on the negatives, you might want to consider a filter). Unless you are doing C-41 or E-6, you do not really need temperature control.

[Bob Salomon]

Another thing that I forgot to mention is that tray processing is only doable with a good darkroom.

If you do not have a darkroom you can stand up in (or, better, sit on a stool) in front of your trays, get a daylight tank and a changing bag (for 4x5). If you want to do more individual processing, use the btzs tubes, but you run a risk of gouging the negatives on the way in or out of the tubes.

Personally, I use the HP Combi-plan. It works, and that is the best that can be said about it. It is not pleasant, nor leak proof, nor very easy to load. After the fist hundred or so sheets, it gets much more manageable (as in: no improperly loaded sheets). But it is a daylight tank, and that is a plus. Especially if you do long developing.

Since you are in NJ and we are in NJ maybe you would like to bring your tank to us (assuming you are close to northern NJ) and have us check your CombiPlan and maybe show you some things you have not discovered about it. Or you could bring it to the Rod Planck show on Saturday at Nutley HS.

[David de Gruyl]

Since you are in NJ and we are in NJ maybe you would like to bring your tank to us (assuming you are close to northern NJ) and have us check your CombiPlan and maybe show you some things you have not discovered about it. Or you could bring it to the Rod Planck show on Saturday at Nutley HS.

I should have restated this: it is not idiot proof. The advice I gave about making sure the vent is properly opened or closed really does fix the issue.