Re: Stearman Press SP-810
my one gripe... I don't like the cover. I wish it snapped into place, coming to this tank as a Patteron Orbital user. I like that secure "snap" in the Oribital that gives me peace of mind.
With all that said, it works. Trying to figure out how to best agitate this tank.
Re: Stearman Press SP-810
Quote:
Originally Posted by
dodphotography
my one gripe... I don't like the cover. I wish it snapped into place, coming to this tank as a Patteron Orbital user. I like that secure "snap" in the Oribital that gives me peace of mind.
With all that said, it works. Trying to figure out how to best agitate this tank.
There's a YouTube video. I rock mine side to side, then for next round I rock it front to back.
Kent in SD
Re: Stearman Press SP-810
Quote:
Originally Posted by
dodphotography
my one gripe... I don't like the cover. I wish it snapped into place, coming to this tank as a Patteron Orbital user. I like that secure "snap" in the Oribital that gives me peace of mind.
With all that said, it works. Trying to figure out how to best agitate this tank.
I don’t think the exact agitation method matters much. I tried side to side, front to back, circular motion... it all came out fine. This thing is rock solid in delivering excellent results consistently.
Re: Stearman Press SP-810
Last year SP was trying to decide if the SP810 would be successful and sell enough to be worth doing. They took the chance on it anyway. I have to say it has easily exceeded all my expectations.
Kent in SD
Re: Stearman Press SP-810
Here is something I do to make me feel a little safer like I won't accidentally pull the lid off.
I use a slightly large rubber band. works like a charm and I don't feel like Ill make some crazy move and be looking at my film in the tank.
Also on agitation, Its important to know that over agitation can be just as bad as under. In that with my first batch in the tank I forgot to remove one set of dividers and ended up with a couple contact points in my 4x10 sheets. My bad but from that I learned that if you simply lift or push the tank on the little balancing points on the bottom of the tank so it just slightly lifts each end its enough.
Id image that if you rocked it back and forth a bunch or too much you could start to see wear from slight contact areas in the tank but using it normally with just the usual 10 or so seconds ever 30 or 1 min what ever is perfect and won't cause any issues.
Its such a great design that Im now doing all my 4x5 in it as well.
Re: Stearman Press SP-810
I’m being greedy... I’d love to see them make an 11x14 model!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Re: Stearman Press SP-810
I have found, too, that if one agitates too vigorously chemistry will spill out from under the lid edge. Slow, smooth, and steady agitation works best for me.
Re: Stearman Press SP-810
Here is what I did one day is just took the amount of chemistry that I would normally use only I just used water and left the lid off and filled it up with the water and had an old test neg I threw in there to see how it behaves and took it for a spin. I tilted it the way I would normally as if I was doing a process and then I shook it and tilted it and slowly rocked it and over a few min you get the feeling of what is working and how much is too much and how much is not enough.
Its actually pretty amazing how the film doesn't stick and that the little supports or pilars in the tank actually allow the chemistry to move a lot more than you would think. Simply amazing. The textured lining of the tank to keep the film from sticking is so cool. Nice work guys really a success story on this product.
Re: Stearman Press SP-810
Quick question and slightly off topic... how does this tank do with Pyro and if you used pyro would you be able to swap between a staining and non-staining developer? I'm just wondering about the plastic absorbing certain types of chemistry, just a simple (and probably stupid) question.
Re: Stearman Press SP-810
Quote:
Originally Posted by
dodphotography
Quick question and slightly off topic... how does this tank do with Pyro and if you used pyro would you be able to swap between a staining and non-staining developer? I'm just wondering about the plastic absorbing certain types of chemistry, just a simple (and probably stupid) question.
I have used PMK and Rodinal on successive developments a few times already, with no issue that I can see. I wash it well after I’m done, with some hot water, and then let it dry. The only thing is I use a separate tray for photoflo, not the SP-8x10.