B&W Processing in a Hotel Room

[Takizawa]

Here's the fictional scenario. Let's say that you are in a hotel room and need to process some 4x5 Ilford HP5+ 400 speed film. With a minimum of equipment and complexity, how could this be done?

And yes, I've seen quite a few links to darkroom processes but many of these leave me clueless as a beginner.

If you have any links to share that would be great as well!

Thanks! Michael

[Brian C. Miller]

Standard bathroom developing. I do this at home.

I use either a 5x7 tray with a slosher (DIY section (http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?64766-DIY-4x5-single-sheet-holder-for-trays)) or a Jobo drum that takes the 2509N reels. I also have a Yankee tank, but I've never had perfect results from it. You can use a Patterson tank and fit one sheet in it, or a larger Patterson tank and use the taco method or Mod54 holder. There's also the BTZS tubes.

First, can the bathroom be made completely light tight? That's the first trick. Then you can use a tray. If not, you have to use something that is light-tight for development. Can you put darkroom blackout plastic over the window, and a towel at the base of the door? You may need two layers of plastic over the window. Use blue painter's masking tape to hold it without causing damage.

Second, you'll need three containers for your developer, stop, and fixer. You'll need a funnel and a thermometer. You'll need clothes pins to hang up your film.

[Ari]

Bring a changing tent, Jobo tank, stirring rod, thermometer, and two 1L beakers.
Clothesline and hangers to dry the film, and Print-Files to store the film.

[Leigh]

Diafine and a Yankee tank, and obviously a changing bag, fixer, etc.
It requires a water stop, so no stop bath. And you don't use a pre-soak, so one less step.

Diafine is perfect for this environment because it does not care about temperature or time.
It works at any reasonable room temperature, and the time is always the same (5 minutes in each solution) regardless of temp.

It's a compensating developer, so it requires very minimal agitation.

It's a two-part developer. The components can be saved and reused without replenishment (as long as there is sufficient volume to cover the film) with no change in quality or developing time.

- Leigh

[IanG]

I've done this for over 25 years, minimal equipment is needed, as Ari says.

Ian

[Leigh]

I've done this for over 25 years...
Done what?

- Leigh

[Scott Walker]

What I have done in the past is to take the bed spread off and duct tape it to the wall over top of the bathroom door and close the curtains in the room. So you have a darkroom with running water to start with. If there is a coffee table I put it in the bath tub and that becomes my work bench, I take a small chair in to sit on, this works great for changing film. I have done 8x10, 4x5, & 120 this way. As far as processing goes put all the towles down on the floor for your knees and tray process in the tub for sheet film, it is no fun but I have done it sucessfully in the past.

[ShawnHoke]

What I have done in the past is to take the bed spread off and duct tape it to the wall over top of the bathroom door and close the curtains in the room. So you have a darkroom with running water to start with. If there is a coffee table I put it in the bath tub and that becomes my work bench, I take a small chair in to sit on, this works great for changing film. I have done 8x10, 4x5, & 120 this way. As far as processing goes put all the towles down on the floor for your knees and tray process in the tub for sheet film, it is no fun but I have done it sucessfully in the past.

What you've just described is my setup for developing 8x10 in our tiny Brooklyn apartment bathroom. I do it a couple of times a week. For longer sessions I use more towels under my knees. :)

[Doremus Scudder]

I look for hotel rooms with bathrooms without windows. Then I only need to put a towel in the crack under the door and maybe tape the other door seams or hang a blanket (or wait for nighttime). I develop 4x5 sheet film in trays.

I take: 4 5x7 Paterson trays, PMK A and B in small bottles, a small bottle of Indicator Stop, a small bottle of Ilford Rapid fix, a tiny bottle of PhotFlo, two 500ml plastic graduates, a pair or two of nitrile gloves, about five meters of fishing line (or parachute cord), a small ziploc of clothes pins, a small thermometer and a small kitchen timer. All that fits into a large shoebox.

I set up presoak, developer, stop and fix trays. I usually process on the counter next to the sink. I fill the sink with water at the right temp and work with it to mix solutions. I process till the film is in the fix, turn on the lights and then empty and refill the presoak tray. That becomes one of my wash trays. When the film is in the first wash tray, I dump the stop and fill the tray with clean water. This is my second wash tray. I shuffle the stack and change to a wash tray with clean water every five minutes for 30 minutes (yeah, its a lot of washing, but I can't use hypo clear with PMK). If the water is really hard where I'm working, I'll pick up a jug of distilled or demineralized water for the final rinse with PhotoFlow. In the meantime, I've strung up my fishing line somewhere in the bathroom. I hang the film with the clothespins. That's basically the same way I develop in my apartment in Austria.

Lately, I've been developing on the road less and just bringing home a lot of film to develop. However, if you really need to develop on the road, and you can deal with the low-tech of tray development, then there's really a minimum of stuff to pack along. You might get by without the stop and reduce the load a bit more.

Hope this helps,

Doremus

[IanG]

Done what?

- Leigh

Processed films while travelling, in hotel rooms, rented houses, even while camping. You posted as I was writing :D

In the past I used Rodinal in a Jobo 2000 (pre-rotary) tank 12 sheets of 5x4 at a time, these days I use Pyrocat HD.

Ian

[E. von Hoegh]

Here's the fictional scenario. Let's say that you are in a hotel room and need to process some 4x5 Ilford HP5+ 400 speed film. With a minimum of equipment and complexity, how could this be done?

And yes, I've seen quite a few links to darkroom processes but many of these leave me clueless as a beginner.

If you have any links to share that would be great as well!

Thanks! Michael

Very do-able, as others have described.

If you need some encouragement, a friend and I once developed E6 by loading the tanks in a janitor's closet, dried the film with hairdryers, mounted it, and had a slide show. The photos were of the start of a canoe race, the slideshow was during the post race party. There was no time to drive back to the studio.
But this was back in the previous millenium, when film was much easier to develop. (winking smiley)

[Fred L]

Used to use the Nikon 4x5 tank for hotel processing but that tank is gone. Would use the Jobo tank and reels. Just as important, if you're flying, is finding chemistry if you don't have room to bring powdered to mix up at your hotel. Don't forget some clips to hang the film as well.

[Brian Ellis]

Bring a changing tent, Jobo tank, stirring rod, thermometer, and two 1L beakers.
Clothesline and hangers to dry the film, and Print-Files to store the film.

Bring chemicals too.

[sepiareverb]

I have a small wooden box that holds a set of 8x10 or 5x7 trays, six quart bottles and two 4-reel (35mm reel) tanks. Thermometer, film clips, gloves & funnel too. In the US Motel6 and Super8 hotels almost always have bathrooms without windows. Draw the curtains in the room, throw a towel across the floor along the door and you are all set. Removing the bulb from the ceiling fixture even gives you an exhaust fan.