JOBO 2500 4X5 sheet film processing tank

[john_679]

Hi everybody. is anybody have experience on jobo 2500 4x5 single reel tank and p rocessing by hand. in small tank kodak recommended agitation at 30 second interv als. i would like to know the agitation for the jobo 4x5 processing tank.i also have problem with the developing time.(i used T-max 100 film and x-tol developer 1:1). thank for the response.

[Altaf Shaikh]

You can try the 2551 tank and a motorized roller base, it makes life a bit easier, if you want to do multiformat developing. If you want to do solely 4x5 try the expert drums.

[John H. Henderson]

If you get Kodak's publication on XTOL, it specifically gives developing times for rotary processors for several different types of film (including non-Kodak), different temperatures, dilutions and exposure indices. It's the most thorough data sheet they have. Of course, ultimately, you will want to do testing to establish your own development times, but Kodak gives you some reasonable starting points.

http://www.kodak.com/global/en/professional/support/techPubs/j109/j109.shtml

You are ROLLING the drum by hand, right? I don't think that drum and reel combination are intended for inversion processing.

[Paul Mongillo]

I have been using the Jobo drum you asked about for about one and a half years. It is a pleasure to use compared to trays or other daylight tanks I have tried. I simply put it on the Jobo hand roller (about $25.00) and smoothly roll it forward for a count of 20 and then the opposite direction for a count of twenty. The tank is not designed for inversion developing. However, I do use it as an inversion tank for compensating development (n-3 or n-4) because the developer is too dilute for the normal small amounts of solution you need for rotating development. I fill the tank up when doing compensating development.

Developing times a tricky. The only thing I can suggest is go to the Kodak website and use their times for rotary prroessing as a start. I don't use XTOL or I would give you mine. I use HC110 (dilution B) at 68 F and 8 minutes for tmax 100 normal development. I use Tmax RS for compensating development.

Good Luck Paul

[Tony_1123]

After taking a workshop with Steve Anchell (Darkroom Cookbook fame), I purchased the 2500 tank to process 4x5 sheets. I process 4 sheets at a time, and fill the tank up to almost capacity. I agitate it for the first minute, then 10 seconds each minute thereafter.

I gave up on T-Max after too many developing problems, and switched to Delta.

Tony

[Hisun Wong]

Tony, I assumed you invert the tank for agitiation using Jobo 2500? (because you fill the tank).

Regards Hisun

[Tony_1123]

Hisun,

I hand invert my jobo 2500 series tank, just as I would a smaller stainless steel tank for 35mm and MF.

Sorry for the delay, went away for Turkey day.

Tony

[Andre Noble]

" hand invert my jobo 2500 series tank, just as I would a smaller stainless steel tank......."

However, it's not really a good method to use these Jobo plastic tanks in hand inversion. Due to their plastic construction, you can't dislodge air bubbles as effectively after your inversions by giving the tank a good rap (as you can processing roll film with stainless steel tanks for example) without risk of cracking the plastic tank itself. And since you can't dislodge the air bubbles, there's a good chance you will be rewarded with a few "spotty" negatives, - the spots occur where developer or fixer could not reach the emulsion due to a persistent air bubble.

This happened to me recently with the larger Jobo MultiTank 2 w/hand inversions for 120 roll film development.

[Andre Noble]

PS On second thought, I acknowledge air bells in above case may have been due to my lack of pre-soak.

I usually pre-soak, but was deveoping in a rush that time and ddin't use it.

[Ole Tjugen]

I use the Jobo tank with inversion, and have never had any trouble at all with air bubbles. The instructions that come with the tank also include instructions for inversion.

If you rap the tank hard enough to fear cracking a plastic tank, you are also using enough force to dent a stainless steel tank. Don't. It only takes a gentle tap, not a slam.