daylight tank for 4x5, 4-6 sheets?

[Daniel_Buck]

Hello, I'm new to 4x5 shooting. I develop my black and white film myself with daylight tanks, but I don't yet have anything suitable for my 4x5 sheets.

I'm looking for something that can handle 4-6 sheets. If possible, I'd also like it to not be a very large tank so I don't have to mix a lot of developer.

It has been suggested to me that I try to find something other than the Yankee and (used) Nikkor tanks

Has anyone used the HP Combi tank? Any suggestions? Plastic or metal, doesn't matter to me. I'll be doing relatively short development times (4-5 minutes) so something that has a fairly even development would be nice.

Thanks for any tips or leads!

[sparq]

Have you heard of Unicolor print drums? I use one for my 4x5 development. They are cheap and work fine (when not leaking). Be sure to get a rotating base, too.

http://www.largeformatphotography.info/unicolor/

There are also more expensive and more sophisticated drums for 4x5 film; I am sure someone will suggest using a Jobo drum. I have no experience with those.

[davidb]

I've been using a Jobo 2521 tank with a 2509n reel. I inverted it so it required 1250ml of liquid. I had some problems at the start but things are smooth now.

The reel can hold 6 sheets of film but I only process 4 at a time.

Check my previous posts for more about this.

[Jim Rice]

I can also vouch for the Unicolor drum with motor base.It gives me very even developement with 8x10" film. See the article on the lfphoto.info homepage.

[Clay Turtle]

Actually I was rather lucky to find an old SS tank, the reel probably holds more sheets than the drum of chemistry could process but it works. Actually, I still use the Universal tank for medium format ( tall enough for a 4x5 landscape mode) but processing roto drum fashion. OK if you aren't doing alot of shooting at once.

[Ron Marshall]

I use the Combi-plan and Jobo Expert drums. The Combi works well, but the retaining clip that holds the sheets in place must be inserted very carefully; if it is too tight or too loose then the sheets may come loose. This is not a problem if you practise loading it in the light a few times.

You might find a used Jobo for about $150. It is easier to load and use than the Combi, and uses about 1/3 the amount of chemistry.

[Erich Hoeber]

Avoid the Yankee daylight tank. I don't know anyone who's gotten good results with it. The combi-plan is inexpensive and effective, but a little quirky to use. See many previous threads on this. Everything else mentioned above works great as well.

E

[Bruce Watson]

Jobo 3010 drum or maybe the 3006 depending on how many sheets you think you'll really run at a time. Use it on a Jobo roller base or in a Jobo processor.

Processing in a rotary drum uses less chemistry than other methods. And it gives excellent even and consistent development.

[katie cooke]

If you can find one, and they are not easy to find as they've not been made for ages, I'd wholeheartedly recommend a Paterson Orbital Processor. You can develop four 4x5" sheets at once, and it only uses 100-150ml of mix at a time. (Any more than that and you risk the sheets floating loose and getting scratched, and so it's no good for stand dev, as you need to move it constantly, very gently and slowly to get coverage.) I've had fantastic, even, clean results with it over the past couple of years.

[Ole Tjugen]

I got a second-hand JOBO CPE-2, a 2521 tank, a 2509n spiral and two print drums (2830 and 2840). Works just great - 6.5x9cm, 9x12cm and 4x5" in the spiral, 5x7", 13x18cm, 18x24cm, 8x10" and 24x30cm in the print drums. I do both B&W and E-6, although I haven't developed larger slides than 13x18cm yet.