Jobo tanks (both the 2500 system tanks and reels as well as the Expert drums) are being made and are readily available to the north american market, so are paterson tanks and mod54 reels.Originally Posted by Doc Chevalier
Jobo tanks (both the 2500 system tanks and reels as well as the Expert drums) are being made and are readily available to the north american market, so are paterson tanks and mod54 reels.
Well, I went and did it. I ran some film in the HP Combi for the first time.
To make things easy, I set up some plastic Dollar Store tanks on my bathroom sink countertop:
› distilled water pre-wash
› HP Combi with 36 ounces of D-76 stock (not 1:1) per the Massive Dev Chart
› Kodak Indicator Stop Bath
› Kodak Fixer (hardening type)
I used a spare plastic tank for several jobs such as Kodak Hypo Eliminator, wash, Kodak Photo-Flo, etc. (I need to pick up a couple more of those Dollar Store tanks.)
BTW, in the past with 4x5 Kodak films such as Tri-X, I never used a pre-wash. But several people on the web mentioned that Shanghai film had a heavy anti-halation backing so a pre-wash was a good thing. Otherwise the hardener in the fixer can lock some of the backing in place, not good. Not knowing any better, I gave the film a 5 minute pre-wash. The film had no crud on it when dried so 5 minutes musta worked well.
The good old Massive Dev chart said to use slow continuous agitation with the Shanghai ISO 50 film and D-76 stock, so I did. The lid of the HP Combi fit snugly. I knew from reading this thread that Bob said to press firmly on the corners of the soft lid to seat it completely. I did. No problems with leaks from the top while inverting during the slow agitation. I was concerned that the film would fall out of the grooves but the HP Combi's excellent top clip design prevented any film from getting loose. Nice!
Other tips I read on the Internet said to not put plastic products such as an HP Combi into contact with Photo Flo because the plastic evidently binds with the hydrocarbons in the Flo and bad things can happen over time. It's was on the Internet, so it must be true. :-) So after the hypo eliminator bath, I transferred each sheet of film from the Combi to one of my many Kodak #4A stainless steel sheet film holders for the rest of the washing followed by a soak in distilled water + Photo Flo. Then I hung them in the shower to dry.
The only real problem I had (other than sweating like a fat guy in a sauna) was the bottom drain of my HP Combi leaked (remember, I bought it used). Also the prior owner must have over-squeezed the top film clip so hard that one of the two horizontal bars cracked. So today I called Bob Salomon and ordered some parts to fix the problems. Thanks Bob for the GREAT support!
After practicing loading some dead film into the HP Combi while watching TV once I got into the darkroom everything went well. But I did make one goof. When I was teaching myself how to load the HP Combi, I learned how to touch the film (top and bottom) to make sure there was a gap between each sheet. If no gap, that meant two sheets were in one groove. Sure enough, when I loaded sheet #2 of 6, it was in the groove with sheet #1. I could tell in the dark because there was only one gap between the sheets instead of two. So I gently eased the two sheets of film apart and in the dark with no Combi Film Guide in place, I loaded sheet #2 into it's proper groove. Easy to do, because I practiced how to do it by touch. So for anyone reading this, be sure to train yourself in the light to do all the loading using some dead sheets of film so you can do it all by feel in the dark.
In looking at the dried Shanghai film, I was disappointed to see tiny clear round dots on the film. No, they were not air bells, not after a five minute pre-soak where I made sure to tap the film rack to release any. I bought that 25 sheet box of Shanghai about six months ago and read that some other folks were mentioning manufacturer defects, too. I told the guy who brings the film into the US that I was concerned and he really didn't want to replace it because, for him, there is little profit in each sale. The other day I ordered a second box which is on the way. IF that new batch of Shanghai also exhibits problems that is where they and I will come to a parting of the ways. I have some Ilford HP5+ on hand. Maybe I should shoot some of that to see if I get the same tiny round spots. If I do, then the problem is with my technique.
StonyNYC,
I bought a Mod54 just last week from B&H so I'm sure they still have them in stock. I personally have been using the HP Combi tank for 6+ years now I believe. The top leaked more than I was comfortable with for about 2 months but after that I guess it just softened a bit and it has not leaked since. It drains slower than I would like and I adjust development accordingly but it is a good tank and is serving me well. I like it. I actually but replacement parts last week from B&H as well just in case - since it is out of production now. As for the MOD54, I bought it so I would have something down the road and as a backup on the Combi. But I would check B&H for a MOD54 with the Paterson tank it goes in.
I do not believe that the expert [say, 3005 or 3010] tanks are being made anymore,
can you provide evidence to the contrary?
-Tim
Sure - i was at the Jobo factory in Gummersbach a few months ago watching the drums being constructed.
Here are a couple of photos from that visit. The lady in the photos is Rita, who is in charge of construction of the Expert drums, which can be seen wrapped, drying, as part of production.
Attachment 101868Attachment 101867
You can see her briefly on this video as well, completing construction of a Jobo 3005 Expert drum...
3005, 3010 and 3063 drums are regular stock items for us... These are new production items.
As a matter of fact, we get regular shipments of Expert drums, which are being made as we speak.
I hope that is enough evidence
I'd say thats pretty reliable proof.
While "best" is a subjective term even on the nicest days (see how I avoided the pun there?), I'd still argue that the Jobo Expert 4x5/8x10 tanks are the most well-conceived and well-executed tanks yet produced, from both a processing and systemic perspective. You've got tanks that are meant to yield consistent, even, repeatable results, provided they are used within the confines of the Jobo system. Brilliant marketing? Certainly, but at the same time, you've got a company saying "Look, if you use our products in the way they were designed, you basically can't fail, and you're film will be as good as the base exposure you made, every time, all the time."
What other system offers that sort of conceptual backing?
My darkroom used to be a meat freezer.
I use a JOBO 2521, but never got around putting more than 4 sheets in the 2509 spiral.
Hand inversion went well, as I was used to JOBO 1520 for 120 film. But with the necessary 1.5 L of HC-110 dil B, my developer reserves going down fast. Perhaps using another developer, not one shot, would save on purchasing hassle. Of course, keep the stop bath and keep the fixer. Now trying manually rolling the 2521 on the JOBO rollers, with less developer.
One advantage of the 2521 tank/2509 spiral is that there is no need to remove the film sheets for the washing cycle, just put a hose down the spiral core to the tank bottom and there you go, using exactly the same set up for all formats.
J. K.
1) - Developer that is still a one shot but is dirt cheap to make up would be OBSIDIAN AQUA, standard working solution is 1:500, it goes a long way.
2) - Tank that only needs 500ml for four sheets of 4x5 would be the Paterson Orbital Processor used basically as a tray but with a daylight lid.
Some modifications to the Processor and to the Method of using it are necessary but they are all easy to accommodate. Here's how.
Washing process is the same routine as the ILFORD recommendations only the agitation is tray type instead of inversions.
RR
Although I'm new to the 'develop your own film' thing. I want to give a vote for the Paterson Orbital.
But if you want to develop x-ray film, don't do the conversion that's mentioned earlier in this topic. Whitout this conversion, I've no problem developing x-ray 8x10 film with just 120ml of developer (Rodinal). And the negatives come out with very few scratches.
Are you agitating constantly with X-Ray film and just 120ml of developer, wash, fixer etc.?
RR
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