JOBO CPE-2 / CPA-2 / CPP-2

[Sirius Glass]

I recently got a CPP 2 with drums for 135 and 120. The 3010 Expert Drum alone [up to 10 4x5s] makes it worth it to use Jobo over any tank including the Combiplan. I have no regrets buying and using this equipment.

Steve

[domaz]

I am looking into purchasing a Jobo to process mainly C-41 4x5 negatives. After reading through the thread, I am certain I want either a CPP-2 or CPA-2. As far as I can tell, the only major difference between the two is the enhanced temperature controls of the CPP-2. Does anyone think that the CPP-2 will make processing that much easier or should I save some money with the CPA-2. It sounds like the only people that really need the temperature controls are those that are jumping from one type of film to another. Thanks!

The CPP-2 has better temperature control and a cold water inlet. There is nothing wrong with a CPA-2 though it's a great machine, it will do the job and then some. In fact you can even get by a CPE-2+ and a 2500 tank and 2509n reel.

[Denis Pleic]

...
Does anyone think that the CPP-2 will make processing that much easier or should I save some money with the CPA-2. It sounds like the only people that really need the temperature controls are those that are jumping from one type of film to another. Thanks!

As Domaz said, the CPP-2 has a cold water inlet & solenoid...

I've started with CPE-2, then moved on to CPA-2, and recently got a very used and alsmost derelict CPP-2, which I brought back to function... I thought I'd use it rather than my CPP-2, since it also has better temp. control and a nice digital temperature readout (my eyesight is getting worse....). I tried it for a day or two, and then put it back to storage and returned to my trusty CPA-2.

Reason?

The temperature readout was consistently off - about a degree above actual water temperature. Given that I sometimes do E6 processing, and need precise temp. control, I decided that I actually have more control with the manual knob of the CPA-2, even though that one is also consistently off...
But, needing a separate thermometer to manually read the temperature on the CPP-2? - For me kind of defeats the purpose of having a nice big red digital readout

I find that manually tweaking the knob on CPA-2 and monitoring the temperature WHEREVER I want (upper bath, lower through, where the bottles are being warmed, or actual temperature of the chemicals inside the bottles...) gives me more control of the process, regardless of whether the built-in Jobo temp. regulator is correct or off by a degree or two...

As for going with the cheaper (and smaller) CPE processor, I'd stay clear of it if you're ever going to be doing E6 color (slides): it's too small, and does not have enough space for warming all the bottles you need (5-7 bottles for E6). If you're only ever going to do B&W and C-41, you might get by with it, since you need less steps for C-41: 4 plus water for washing.
If you're very tight with space, CPE-2 is a better choice, though - did I mention it's much smaller?

Just keep in mind that it can't handle bigger drums and larger quantities of film.

To summarize: you don't need the more expensive CPP-2. CPA-2 will do just fine. But, since you'll be buying either of those second-hand, anyway, buy the one with the right price (I got my derelict CPP-2 for free!).

[Brian C. Miller]

The Tetenal E6 kit uses three chemicals, so a CPE-2 would be OK. You only need something with a cold water inlet when you are doing B&W during the summer and your darkroom is above 68F. When that happens, I feed my CPP-2 via a fish pump in a bucket of ice water.

[b.cipolla]

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction guys!

[Asher Kelman]

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction guys!

and for those who worry about resurrecting old threads, I assure you this is better than rehashing the entire topic from scratch! This is all very helpful. Thanks everyone.

Asher

[Roger Cole]

The Tetenal E6 kit uses three chemicals, so a CPE-2 would be OK. You only need something with a cold water inlet when you are doing B&W during the summer and your darkroom is above 68F. When that happens, I feed my CPP-2 via a fish pump in a bucket of ice water.

Not even then. I standardized my B&W at 75F. There's nothing written in stone about 68, it's just traditional. Kodak recommends 75 for T-Max and T-Max RS developers. I mainly use T-Max RS (because I love the results) but there's no reason you can't run D76, Xtol, Rodinal, whatever, at higher temperature with adjusted times either. My basement darkrooms have never run over 75 even in summer (but they are over 68 even in winter, because being relatively still like in a darkroom I myself will become quite uncomfortable after an hour or more at 68F.)

And oh yeah, I've done plenty of E6 in my CPE2. The three steps are fine but even with six steps you have four bottles plus four beakers. Just use both. No problem.

[Sirius Glass]

+ 1

[Sirius Glass]

I recently got a CPP 2 with drums for 135 and 120. The 3010 Expert Drum alone [up to 10 4x5s] makes it worth it to use Jobo over any tank including the Combiplan. I have no regrets buying and using this equipment.

Steve

I forgot to add that I picked up the Jobo CPP 2 with all the bottles, drums for 135 and 120 for $125US plus shipping [~$40US] at APUG.org. The lift arm was already broken off so I raise the drums and tanks by hand for both black & white and color with no problem. The 3010 drum I got new from FreeStyle.

Just look through the ads, they do show up and disappear quickly when they have a good price.

Steve