Developing and agitation

[Neil Purling]

I have got a Fink-Roselieve developing tank for 2x3 3x4 and 4x5. I use it for 4x5 only.
I was wondering if with a really old type of film like Ansco Isopan they were meant to be agitated far more than modern emulsions?
I was also wondering that if I only half-loaded the tank (6 sheets) the developer might flow better around the sheets?
I agitate by shaking the tank side to side.

I just wanted to eliminate possibilities like bad film stock, poor agitation as I have had a mark on some negatives that just might suggest a light leak. It isn't there all the time.
I just hope (please God) that it is just the ancient Ansco I have been mucking around with or a poor agitation.

[Brian C. Miller]

I wonder if that tank is like the Yankee plastic tank. The Yankee tank has uneven development because there is not enough room for the chemicals to properly flow. Thus there are flow-marks on the film.

Have you tried tray development at all? Try it with just one sheet, and then compare the results. Also, put an unexposed sheet of film in your tank, and then take it out in sunlight. Then develop, and see if there are any light leaks.

[Glenn Thoreson]

It's similar to the Yankee tank, which I dislike intensely. I agree that loading half as many sheets as it will hold would likely give better results. In my opinion, whatever that's worth, the only reliable way to use these things is in the dark, lifting and lowering the rack to agitate. Be sure the tank is filled first, then lower your rack of film into it.

[Neil Purling]

I don't have a darkroom so tray developement is out.
What sort of technique gives the best result with your Yankee or F.R. tank?
A couple of short spells of quick agitation at the top and bottom of each minute ( after the first minute of continuous agitation perhaps?
Are my problems because I am not agitating frequently enough or fast enough. I had been doing it quite gently so as to avoid spillage.