Tank Development of 5X7 sheet film

[sanking]

OK, I recently acquired three 5X7 Kodak hard rubber developing tanks, with lids, and need advice on how to get optimum development with this type of development. The inside of the tanks measure 6" X 7 3/4" and needs about 5 liters of solution to cover the film on hangers.

Any help would be appreciated, either to documents on use of this type of tank, or especially, observations based on personal experience. I am most interested in understanding what type of agitations gives best results.

Sandy King

[Gem Singer]

Sandy,

I am assuming you are using SS hangers with those tanks in total darkness. It's the same method I have been using for the last few years.

Pyrocat-HD developer in tank #1, filtered water in tank #2, and Formulary TF-5 fixer in tank #3. All tempered to 70 F.

After loading film into the SS hangers, I place them in tank #2. After the hangers have been loaded and pre-soaked for a few minutes, I transfer them to tank #1, all at the same time.

Then, lift and tilt the hangers forward, lower them back into the tank, lift and tilt backwards, and lower them back into the tank. Do that continuously for the first minute. Slow and easy in order to prevent surge marks.

Then, proceed to lift and tilt forward and backward once every two minutes until the developing time has expired. Transfer the hangers back into tank #2, agitate them in the water for a minute, then transfer them into tank #3 for 5 minutes.

Lights on, Washing, Photo Flo, and drying are routine procedures.

I have been using the same water for pre-soak and stop bath with no adverse effects.

My negatives come out just right for scanning. If I want negatives for optical wet printing, I agitate every minute instead of every other minute.

[sanking]

Hi Gem,

Thanks very much for the details. Sounds like a good plan!!

Sandy

[Allen in Montreal]

Sandy,

I have used hangers for many years, my dad used them all his life, they work great.
Now we all want Jobo drums and Nikor tanks etc, but old school hard rubber tanks work like a charm.

I still keep one set of tanks and hangers for pyro, despite having 2 sets of Jobo tanks for the X-tol and D-76 negs.

Old habits are hard to abandon.


Edit: agitation comment removed

What Gem said. :-)

........
Slow and easy in order to prevent surge marks.......

Sorry Gem, I missed that on the first read through.

[sanking]

Hi Allen and Gem,

Do you lift the hangers to agitate one at a time, or all of the hangers at once?

Sandy

[Gem Singer]

I lift and tilt all the hangers at once. My stainless steel developing tanks are narrow, and only hold 1/2 gallon of solution.

If I'm careful, I can agitate all 6 hangers at once, but it's not easy to manipulate all of them in the dark without loosing one or two.Therefore, I usually only develop four at a time.

2 liters of Pyrocat-HD is capable of developing 16 sheets of 4x5 or 8 sheets of 5x7 before reaching it's capacity. It needs to be used within a short period of time because Pyrocat oxidizes rapidly.

[sanking]

Sandy,

Now we all want Jobo drums and Nikor tanks etc, but old school hard rubber tanks work like a charm.

BTW, hard to understand why these tanks are called "hard rubber." I bought three of the tanks and one was shipped by itself. The package was in good condition but the tank had extensive breaks around the top and lid.

Fortunately, the other two tanks arrived with no damage. But after seeing the damage to the first package I was fairly shocked at how brittle this "hard rubber" really is.

Sandy

[Gem Singer]

They are also hard to clean.

That's why I prefer stainless steel tanks.

[Jason Greenberg Motamedi]

Gem and Allen,

Just a bit of clarification; do you put the hangers into the pre-soak all at one time, or one at a time, after you load them?

jason

[Allen in Montreal]

Sandy,

Sorry for the crappy one handed cell phone picture.
All at once, I stiffen my hands on both sides of the tanks and slide them up the side of the tank and catch the entire batch at once and lift.

Gem goes forward and backward, I was taught left and right. Same difference, which ever feels better for you. I just every so softly, lean the side of the hanger on the tank so you know you are still straight over the tank and have not drifted a few inches and don't land perfectly in the tank. The execution for the pic is not that great, the timer on my cell phone is only 2 seconds, but you get the idea.