Best B & W film and developer for 4 x 5 newbie? Tank? Tray?

[NancyP]

I haven't hand developed film for a few decades, and back then I was using 35mm film and Paterson reels in tank. Suggestions?

[smithdoor]

I am using Yankee tank have since 1973 works great take 1/2 gal is the down side
For just one sheet I use AP Classic 2 reel tank I just take out the reel and put one 4x5 film inside only need 1 liter

Dave

[rjmeyer314]

I also use a Yankee tank for 2 1/4 x 3 1/4, 3 1/4 x 4 1/4, and 4x5. I've always gotten good results.

[Pawlowski6132]

how do you agitate a Yankee tank?

[NancyP]

Yankee tanks are the wide rubber tanks with floating lids, and with matching steel hangers. In the ancient days, research x-ray film got developed in tanks, and agitation was by dipping. That sounds as if it will need to be in a dedicated space in a sink or countertop. I am using shared space (admittedly not used very often). I will have to look into this. The large volume would require a large brown collapsible bottle if I wanted to pack up the kit and store it in a cabinet or in another room.

[Bill_1856]

I prefer tray development.

[Bill_1856]

Start with Tri-X film and D-76 developer. Can't go wrong -- no need for fancy, exotic stuff.

[Leigh]

Yankee tanks are the wide rubber tanks with floating lids, and with matching steel hangers.

The Yankee tank I have is a plastic (?Bakelite?) cube with an internal adjustable 12-sheet film holder.

It's about 6" on a side (I don't have it here to measure). The film holder is adjustable for different sizes.

It's in stock at B&H, about $40:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...eveloping.html

- Leigh

[Jeff Dexheimer]

I started with trays. Moved onto tanks and drums. Now I am back to trays. Trays take some practice, but I like the full control they give me. The others are not bad by any means, I just prefer the tactile feel of trays. Other methods work well too. Best thing to do is research various methods people use and find the one that sounds most suitable to you.

[Leigh]

To answer the OP's original question...

The best 4x5 film by a wide margin is Fuji Neopan Acros, with a speed of 100 ASA.
Don't confuse Acros with other Fuji Neopan films. Acros is a totally different film.
It's only available in 100 speed, and in formats 4x5 and smaller. No 8x10 unfortunately.

Acros has a very fine grain structure, yielding negatives of excellent detail.

The film is very forgiving of over/under exposure. It has the highest reciprocity ratings I've seen, with no compensation required for exposures up to 2 minutes, and only 1/2 stop extra required from 2 to 10 minutes.

For developer, I would suggest Diafine. It's a two-part developer, which means an additional step in the process.
However, you CANNOT use a pre-soak with Diafine, which reduces the number of steps by 1, and you're back to even.

Diafine does not care about time or temperature*, making it ideal for tray development, and for
people who have not yet developed tight process controls and timing.

Also, Diafine is a compensating developer that wants absolute minimal agitation.
This compensation along with Acros' very high tolerance to over-exposure makes it virtually
impossible to blow highlight detail when using this combination.

- Leigh

*Temperature of the two parts should be the same, in the range of 70 degrees to 85 degrees F.
Processing time is five minutes in each part.