ahh! help with b/w processing

[Paul Frank]

I am newish to LF but not to b&w photography and processing. I've made the big leap of faith to LF but can't get even development with my sheets. I use a dayl ight tank to process. I know about jobo-type rotary processing but would like t o make sure I can't get good results with my tank before I put money into a diff erent processing system. In particular, the sides of my negs(but not top or bot tom - that's in the vertical orientation) build up a little more density than th e rest, and general uneven blotchiness happens in continuous grey areas like ski es. My tank is set up so that sheets slide into grooves on either side of the t ank. I've tried agitating both parallel to the sheet faces and perpendicular to the sheets, parallel gives better results but still uneven. Does anyone out the re use daylight tanks and get predictable results? Please help! By the way, I' m using 4x5 apx 100 in d-76 1:1. Any thoughts or help other than "use trays" or "use a rotary processor" are much appreciated! Thank you.

[bob moulton]

The problem may be with development. Some daylight tanks require that you pour the chemistry in through a tube, some other such device. That almost guarantees the density problem you indicate. You might try creating a totally blackout situation, removing the top, and pouring in the chemistry, starting the clock and replacing the top. While a hassle, you may find it a sucessful and inexpensive alternative.

Bob

[peter koning]

I agree with Bob, and if you have a combiplan tank, I guess its the only way to get even-developed negs.

[paul owen]

Hi Paul I've been using the CombiPlan and suffered similar problems - however, these have been sorted by using a pre-soak in plain water!! If you are using this tank then feel free to email me off forum for a (long) list of hints and tips on its use!!!!

[Erik Asgeirsson]

Try tray developing. I have never had a problem with uneven development when tray developing.

[tedkaufman]

Paul, I think you're fighting a losing battle with the style of tank that only permits agitation by sloshing side to side. The reason is the edges of the film will always receive more agitation, and thus, build desity faster than the rest of the film. This is also true of tray processing if too small a tray is used. The Combi tanks allow inversion, which would solve that problem. However, the Combi tanks have such a small opening for filling, you have no choice but to fill the tank first, then insert the film holder in the dark. After that, you can turn on the lights and use inversion agitation. This is an improvement, but hardly ideal, since you also have to remove the top in the dark to dump the developer, then stop and fix--all in the dark.

I'm not sure why you've dismissed the rotary option. Jobo drums are excellent, but they are rather expensive. However, you can buy a Unicolor agitating base and Unicolor 8x10 print drum for a total of $25-40 on ebay. This is a very effective combination for processing 4x5 sheets. They are easy and quick to load and processing is about as simple as it gets--reliable, repeatable and quick. Best of all, your negatives will develop perfectly even, and without the risk of scratches shuffle processing in trays invites.

[Bob Salomon]

The Combi tank is designed for inversion agitation. Rotating from top to bottom so the chemistry flows from to the empty portion of the tank. The tank is not designed to be filled to the brim with solution and it is not designed for side to side agitation.

[Tundra Slosek]

I am also new to LF (in fact, new to doing my own B&W processing) - I'm using a CombiPlan, and to my inexperienced eye I've seen none of the issue you describe - perhaps I should try some test sheets, one unexposed, one exposed for 18%.

I'm also using lots of APX100 - in HC-110 Dil-B. As Bob mentioned, I do inversion.

I have had a few problems with the CombiPlan, but they are all physical/mechanical issues.

[Charlie Skelton]

I use a combiplan, I always invert. With regard to the slow filling time, I use dilute development, with a development time up to 30 mins so 30 secs filling time becomes less significant. Incidentally the company that I bought the tank from (the ezcellent Robert White) recommended using a larger funnel than that supplied.

Charlie

[Edsel Adams]

The best method with that tank is to pre-wet the film ,dump,go dark with top off,pour in developer,then plug the hole on top so you can invert agitate.