Need help with the challenge of processing large format!

[rsank]

I need some guidance from you experienced LF shooters. I live in a small apartment and have no chance of setting up a darkroom until I go and buy a house. I have had no problem with smaller formats and the kitchen sink has worked well with BW and even C-41. The problem with LF that really puts a damper on my enthusiasm is the difficulty to develop film. I even bought a Yankee daylight tank but it requires 55 oz (1.6 l) of chemistry every time I use it which really does not make it suitable for developing one or two sheets at a time, plus the difficulty of controlling temperature for C-41 process. So now, I am more inclined to use a roll film back than 4x5. I guess what I am after is an efficient daylight system that does not require me to turn off lights to load chemistry (btzs tubes) and does not require me to use enormous amounts of chemicals (paterson mod 54 , yankee tank etc.) for low volume development. I don't mind doing some work and actually DIY'ing something if I can get some instruction.

I use a Horseman 45FA, Schneider Symmar 210, Schneider Super Angulon 90, Schneider Symmar Xenar150, Horseman 6x7 rollfilm back. As you can see, I have a reasonably good kit and all I need to do is go out and shoot, but it's not happening.

[rsank]

Correction: schneider xenar 150, not Symmar Xenar... :-)

[Oren Grad]

If you have the cash, Jobo Expert drum 3006 or 3010 with a roller base. If budget is tight, one of the less expensive print drums with a roller base.

[Darin Boville]

I would also seriously consider waiting to develop until you have a dozen or more sheets to do. Developing one or two sheets at time in LF is sort of wasteful and inefficient by nature...

--Darin

[Brian C. Miller]

I need some guidance from you experienced LF shooters. I live in a small apartment and have no chance of setting up a darkroom until I go and buy a house.

First, welcome to the forum!

Second, you are in exactly the same position that I am in. I also live in a small apartment, short ceilings (a few inches under seven feet), and of course no darkroom. What I did is I blacked out the window in my bathroom, and I put my enlarger on a home-made cart. I have a piece of plywood I put over my tub, and I use it as a bench for loading film or putting my Jobo on it, etc. My sink is to the right, and its counter is large enough to hold three 8x10 trays.



For daylight loading of LF film into a tank, your best bet is to make your own dark box out of thin plywood. Get one of those cheap dark bags, and then chop off the sleeves, and use those sleeves on the box. You can then have enough room for BTZS tubes, or a Jobo 2521/2523 tank. The Jobo tank is Jobo's smallest sheet film tank, and it works great. Another thing to try would be the HP Combiplan tank, but it's out of production, so you'll have to wait for something to show up on eBay. The Yankee tank has never worked right for me, so I don't use it.

The window in my bathroom is blacked out with a sheet of plywood, clipped into the window tracks. Before that I used a sheet of blackout plastic. You can make an entire blackout door out of that plastic, and it works adequately if you aren't using infrared film.

The New55 project has started, so there may be a replacement for Polaroid Type 55 next year. Another thing you can do is use Fujifilm FP100C, and recover the negative from it. Only the smaller size is available now, so you'll need a Polaroid 405 or Fujifilm PA-145 holder.

One other thought: both BTSZ and Jobo use a minimal amount of chemistry, and it's expected that you'll toss it, because the chems will be exhausted. But chemistry has a capacity, so just total up the number of sheets you've used, and watch that limit. Xtol was designed for running lots of film through it, and it has a chart of increasing times for the amount of film used with it.

[djdister]

You might want to review this thread on Low volume processing tanks

[vinny]

Those are pretty nice tanks!

[sanking]

"I would also seriously consider waiting to develop until you have a dozen or more sheets to do. Developing one or two sheets at time in LF is sort of wasteful and inefficient by nature..."

Not necessarily. Processing in BTZS type tubes, or in a Jobo Expert Drum (or print drum) with a roller base, is about as efficient as it gets for processing B&W. Plus, these methods take up very little space and give outstanding results.

Learning to use a view camera, and developing film, are two different skills, but you need feedback from both to become a better photographer.


Sandy

[Martin Dake]

You can also find a Unicolor tank and motor base that can be used for 4x5 film for not a lot of money.
You can do 4 sheets a a time but I am more comfortable doing in when I use mine.

[rsank]

Thanks for the many replies. In the days when my daughter was a toddler and we didn't have so much pressure on our one and only bathroom, I developed a few sheets in trays placed inside the bath tub. It worked but that is not an option today. I want something that is as easy as developing roll film in daylight tanks. and I guess Jobo tank and roller seems to be something I should invest in. The added benefit is good temperature control and ability to get consistent results with color processing.