Jobo 3010 for 5x7?

[Sanders McNew]

I saw mention somewhere this week that a Jobo 3010 can process 10 5x7 negatives at once. I thought it could accommodate negatives no larger than 4x5. To those of you who use the 3010: Is it really possible to process ten 5x7s at once in it? I'm using Jobo 3006 tanks for my 5x7s but would love a tank with a larger capacity.

Sanders McNew (www.mcnew.net)

[Jeff Moore]

I use a 3010 to process my 4x5 negatives. There are five tubes, each of which will accomodate one sheet of 5x7 film. So you can only process 5 sheets of 5x7 at a time, not 10.

[Jeff Moore]

Forgot to add, among the Jobo drums, you are already using the best available option for 5x7, which is the 3006.

[tor kviljo]

When I had my ATL 3000 (now sold to fellow LF photographer up at Tromso), I used the very big (up to 10x12" and have 4 chambers) 3004 drum to process 8 sheets 5x7" each run. Prior to inserting in tupe, two sheets were folded emulsion side in, taped along one of the long sides - making a hinge - folded out and slid into each tube. The tape prevented film to move to overlap during developement, and helped removing both sheets easily after dev. The tape I used left no permanent stain or glue left on base side of film, and I have used it for about 150 pc. 5x7 (really "half format: 4 3/4" x 6 1/2") velvia developed that way. Greatly helps to maximmize chemistry-usage & reduce time developing - I could not afford having numerous expensive expert tanks around.

[ronald moravec]

My 3010 has two ridges in each tube designed to separate the 4x5 sheets. The 4 in dimension spans the ridges and 5 in is lengthwise using most all the tube debth.

If you roll 5x7 so the 5 in side goes in first and the 7 wraps around the drum, the film will not be held by the holding ridges and may not lay against the sides. Inserting the film another way, the 7 in will stick out.

[Scott Davis]

You can do 10 sheets of 5x7 in the 3005 drum, or 5 sheets of 8x10. You can only do 5 sheets of 5x7 in the 3010, but I would not recommend it because of that extra ridge , and because the 5x7 is dimensionally different than 2 sheets of 4x5 - I would be concerned about it floating off the drum during processing and potentially scratching itself.

[Sanders McNew]

Tor wrote: "I used the very big (up to 10x12" and have 4 chambers) 3004 drum to process 8 sheets 5x7" each run. Prior to inserting in tupe, two sheets were folded emulsion side in, taped along one of the long sides - making a hinge - folded out and slid into each tube. The tape prevented film to move to overlap during developement, and helped removing both sheets easily after dev. The tape I used left no permanent stain or glue left on base side of film, and I have used it for about 150 pc. 5x7."

Tor, cool idea! I have a 3005 tank, like your 3004 but with a fifth tube. Now that you explain it, I can see how I could do 10 sheets of 5x7 film in that tank, following your example.

Question: Surely the tape keeps the antihalation dye from washing off where the tape sticks to the base, yes? How did you clear the dye from the negatives? Did it just wash off in the rinse afterward?

Thanks again for the insight.

Sanders McNew

[tor kviljo]

Hello Sanders.

I have previously experienced antihalo-problems when trying to develope 8x10 ektachrome in a Jobo print-tank (which obviously did not permit enough washing on base side of film), however, I continued to use that system when developing Fujichrome 8"x10" film with no problem, so that film did not seems to have a "wash-demanding" anti-halo backing as the ekta 8x10".

I had that in mind when I tried taping the half-plate size velvia sheets in pairs to make most of the 3004 drum & chemistry (I considered the first try rather undramatic: I use a narrow tape, so at best - very minor part of the image area at one side would be affected - most of the area covered by the tape being the dark rim produced by the sheet-film guides inside the cassette).

I don't know what kind of anti halo backing is in the Fujichrom Velvia sheets in that format, but I never had a problem so far, no residue of tape and no (violet/magenta) dyes left from insufficient anti--halo removal. However, I allways find that the tape is partly loose when I open the tube to remove sheets, so the inner sheet must often be picked out using a long (12" or so) pincher. Thus, as the tape obviously loosens along the edge, the image part of the sheet may be freed of tape surface rather immedeately when process start, but it's strange if this have been so consequent as to me never experiencing the trouble if it can arise, so I guess that the velvia in HP have a very easy washed out anti halo, if anything at the base side at all (I guess not). Only bath the sheets is subjected to after dev. is about a minute or so in stabilizer before drying. When there is anti-halo removal problems, the stab. is going weakly pink due to anti-halo dyes, but I have not experienced anything like that when developing Velvia film this way, but on earlier occations, purple. stab. have been a bit too frequent (unfortunately - sometimes due to bad loading of the 2509 reels - sheets sticking together...) and I guess when dev. ektachromes, but I havn't made a note of it.

I belive one og postings in the discussion produced when I aired my trouble with ekta print 8"x10" dev. in print drums, explained that the troublesome "wash-demanding" anti halo of 8x10 ektachrome were not found on the smaller sizes ekta., so maybe the "tape-hinge" will work OK with Kodak also. Using it with velvia worked great, and I have used this film & developing methode as main LF et-up the last two years after aquiring a nice volume of this film in superbly odd half-plate size (!) i.e. 4 3/4" x 6 1/2" from Process-supplies in London. Belive it must have been a special order thing.

Hope this helps - unfortunately, I don't have any number for the tape used, but it were one of Scotch/3m's standard office tapes (as the office is where I stole it...).

[Sanders McNew]

!!!!EUREKA!!!!

Tor, YOU are a god! I tried out your suggestion tonight -- processed ten 5x7 negatives in my Jobo 3005 tank. When I pulled the negs from the tank, the tape was still in place, with the purple antihalation dye intact underneath. (I am processing TXP in Rodinal.) So I put the negs in my print washer to soak for an hour. When I came back, I found the dye had cleared completely, and the negatives were processed to perfection.

This is a HUGE help for me! Now I can process 22 5x7s at a time -- 12 in my two 3006 tanks, plus ten more in the 3005. Thank you thank you thank you!!!

We should post this somewhere where more people might see it and take advantage of it.

Sanders McNew

www.mcnew.net

[Ron Marshall]

Just developed my first 5x7 negatives in a Jobo 3010. Worked perfectly. No movement or scratching, even development.

What a difference from 4x5. Definately the Goldilocks format. The 4x5 will now be relegated to color only.