Peter,
I also do my film developing using the "plywood method." My bathroom is not fitted for darkroom work at the moment, so just like Don, I try to use my creativity . This said, let me point out that in the past I had some 35mm work done by San Miguel Photo Lab in New Mexico (http://bestlab.com/). Maybe you can try them.
If you do want to go with a lab, and can't find something suitable in Canada, you might call Panopticon in the Boston area. They specialize in B&W and do handle sheet film. I haven't used them in many years since I started doing my own film development, but you would always want to do an initial trial with non-critical film anyway, to verify that their quality is still OK. I don't recall whether they go as large as 8x10, but a phone call will answer that.
www.panopt.com/photolab/photolabfilm.html#Sheet%20Film
The answers I can provide:
1. My only experience is with Proulx brothers in Ottawa. They are on Catharine Street if my memory serves me right. I have not been in Canada fort two years, so this is old info.
2. I can not give you information on that. Why would you? I would check out Bob Carnies lab first if you are willing to send by mail.
3. Never tried it.
4. I would not contact print on it. For contact prints I use AZO.
I regularly have both color and black and white (Scala) printed digitaly on Ilfochrome by Lambda. It can be highly rewarding if you control the process. And like the look, some people seem to hate it...
Would you consider it as a good idea?
Contact printing: no. It would be very hard to control color balance and contast. Use an enlarger or a Lambda printer (scan the negative or slide, adjust digitaly and print).
5. Kodak Azo. You can find all you (n)ever wanted to know about this paper and more on michaelandpaula.com
6. Never tried.
Don't get put off by all the critisism you are getting. Good light! Jan
I had a similar problem several years ago, but using 5x7, not 8x10, but it would work the same. I did single tray development in a closet so small I had to hang a dark cloth over the door, couldnt fit in with the door closed,working at night with tin foil over the windows. I just kept 3 beakers, developer, stop, and fix in an 11x14 tray, with an 8x10 tray in the middle to do the film in. When I was done fixing, I took it into the bathroom to wash. At the time I had a leakey toilet, so roll film got dropped in the tank, a few film hangers would have been great!
You can do it, and you will really appreciate a bigger space when it comes your way. Good luck.
Thanks everybody for responses.
Thanks Jan and Brook for understanding. I am perfectionalist so I did not intend to process my own film unless I would feel by myselt I have at least appropriate conditions to do it. I am convinced by you guys that it is possible to develop film and get acceptable results.
I am going to change my mind about it and I know, lab development will be way more expensive, but at least quaranteed I will not bump anything on the floor or at me.
Being a perfectionist is an important added bit of info. If you are a careful worker, you can do better black and white than you can get in the market. Partially is that you need process to fit your own way of working and labs cannot do that very well. Second, all of the serious quality control in the processing industry has been directed to color film - not surprising, there is more of it to develop and you have to it right or it is awful. Ironically, if you want best quality without wet chemistry, the best bet would be to shoot color negative material, scan it, and do digital black and white. While a consumer scanner is not nearly as good as a drum scan, for 8x10 negatives you will not notice the difference on negatives on any size print you afford to make.
Ed Richards
http://www.epr-art.com
"Of course, commerical processing for 8x10 is so expensive you could amortize a processor pretty fast."
"If you are a careful worker, you can do better black and white than you can get in the market. Partially is that you need process to fit your own way of working and labs cannot do that very well."
I'm not sure I agree with either of the above statements. Granted, the average lab price of ~$5.00 per sheet is a bit steep but it could still take a long long time to amortize the cost of a processor for a casual 8x10 shooter. Keep in mind that a new CPP 2 processor with lift now costs nearly $2000 and all ot the ATL 2 series processors are way way more and you are talking about a lot of film. I have done the largest bulk of my own processing for many years but there are still times when I use labs (want immediate processing when I am shooting on location for a week or more, plain lack of time in a major rush situartion, etc.). There are labs all across North America that do quality black and white work. Granted there rae fewer and fewer every day but they are still around. From time-to-time I use Edgar Praus (http://www.4photolab.com) in Rochester and know that a chat with Edgar or Mike will get me exactly what I want in the way of processing and I have had good success with several small labs in Southern California. You need to talk with them first for sure. Ask what developer they normally use, find out if they will use the developer you specify and dothe processing the way you want. Many will and at no extra charge as long as you are giving them enough film for a full run.
Good advice. I was thinking of a used processor, they seem to be going in the $500 range.
You make a good point about the occasional user, but I see it a little differently. I did 4x5 for a few years, then stopped, and have recently restarted. One of the reasons I stopped was that I was using outside labs, and frequently mail order. I did not shot a lot of sheets and that lead to two problems:
If you send only a couple of sheets, the postage exceeds the processing cost, not to mention all the hassle of packing the film, and getting it shipped and returned.
But if you save up your sheets, there is a long delay between shooting them and seeing them, which I found really took the fun out of it, plus I had long forgotten what I was trying to do when I shot the picture.
It is a lot of fun to shoot a couple of sheets, come home, process them at once, and see what you are doing. Then you can go out in the next day or two and shoot again. Given the learning curve on LF, anything you can do it increase the chance you will take pictures rather than spend time on the forum is a good thing.:-)
Ed Richards
http://www.epr-art.com
"I was thinking of a used processor, they seem to be going in the $500 range."
In tha price range you will find CPE processors only AFAIK. You can process 4x5 in a CPE (or an ATL 1000/1500 for that matter) but only using the tank and reel combo's. You cannot use the Expert Drums in these processors, only in the CPA/CPP-2 and ATL 2 series and higher. The CPA's may sometimes be available for ~500 but generally not with a lift. The CPP's seem to run around 900 used with lift. You might also want to keep your eyes open for either a Wing Lynch or PhotoTherm machine both are fully as capable as Jobo's and both are still on the market new......although they are less frequently seen. Finally, if you are patient an d do a lot of searching you should be able to find an ATL 2000/2200/2300 for well under $2000. Sometimes at auction and other times from equipment brokers. You are far better off with the Jobo ATL processors if you have the space and can find one. My ATL 2300 can sit there and hum away all day long with no need for me to do anything except change the drum and push the button when it is time to run the next batch.
Find a used drum for 8x10 color. These were plentiful at one time. My favorites were made by Unicolor.
Load your film in a changing bag.
Processing can be carried out in sunlight if desired. In the past I used these drums on the kitchen counter, draining them inthe sink.
They work very well, processing is consistent, and scratching is very unlikely.
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