MOD54 film processing "report"

[Light Guru]

Yeah, see.. i hate tray development And again - MOD54 + paterson are never been truly intended to be rotary system so you comparing apples and oranges. With tray - yes, you might get away with less, i guess.

Who gave the idea that the mod54 was a rotary system?

Rotary systems like the unicolor drum uses only 8 ounces to develop 4 sheets.

[SergeiR]

Who gave the idea that the mod54 was a rotary system?

Rotary systems like the unicolor drum uses only 8 ounces to develop 4 sheets.

you.

I'm referring to tray rev elopement and rotary based development systems. They use much less chemistry.

[Light Guru]

you.

Re read the post I did not say the mod54 was a rotary system.

[Shootar401]

I have a mod 54 and I've given up on using it. I have gotten way to many scratches on my film from where the "fingers" that hold the sheets in place make contact with the film. And every time I develop some films they always come loose and end up doing whatever they want inside my tank.

I went back to trays for 4x5 and racks & tanks for my E6 and I couldn't be happier. It's a great product just needs a lot of refinement.

[beellsphotos]

I just did my first round last night with the newest version of the MOD54 (MK27), no scratches, no detached sheets. I did inversions and I was not specifically gentle. I'm not seeing any unevenness in sky in the first batch I've scanned but I will keep you all updated.

[Fredrick]

I have the mod54 and I'm not the biggest fan. I've used it two times. The first time went smoothly, except for some marks where the sheets touched the holders. The second time was yesterday. Two of my sheets got detached and are ruined - they are useable, but the corners are blank. I have BTZS tubes for 8x10. I love them. In the start my negatives suffered from scratching, but that was due to violent first agitation. Like in Fred Newman's video. Now I'm more gentle and I have not have a scratched negative. I am considering BTZS for 4x5 too. The only thing I really like about the Mod54 is the daylight operation. The BTZS tubes are however better. There is of course another advantage with the Mod54, the ability to develop 6 sheets at one time. The chemistry usage is a bit high at 1 litre, vs 60ml with the BTZS tubes.

[GSX4]

I have the newer mk27 version to try. I am hopeful the issues are resolved.

[LuisR]

Here is my report. Yesterday I used the latest version of the MOD54 for the first time with mixed results as I will describe below. First the positive. After having practiced loading two dummy sheet of 4x5 in daylight, I had no problem whatsoever loading two exposed sheets into the MOD54 in total darkness. Since this was a test, I used two sheets, one in each of the outermost sets of fingers. I was actually surprised that loading in complete darkness was as easy as it was. During developing I always use, even with 35mm and 120 reels, the key that comes with the Patterson tank and just spin the reels inside for the required time interval. I never rap the tank on a counter to remove air bubbles and have never had any issues with bubbles hindering development of the film. I used this same procedure with the MOD54. Once the film was fixed, I opened the tank and the film sheets were in the same place I had placed them. I have read in other forums from other users of the MOD54 that the sheets had dislodged from the fingers .uneven development, but that was not the case in my experience with the MOD54. I washed the film in the tank while still in the MOD54 and hung the two sheets up to dry. Now the negative (no pun intended). Once the two sheets dried I examined them and to my horror there were in both sheets, scratches in the side opposite the emulsion. These were not mild scratches but rather deep gouges in the the FP4+ sheets of film which uses a rather thick film base stock. It looked as if they had been made by some type of metal element in contact with the film. I traced back my steps from loading the film into the holders and then to the processor, but could not find anything that might have caused this. I loaded the two exposed sheets back into the MOD54 and noticed that the location of the scratches was in the vicinity of the first set of fingers from the bottom of the unit. With this finding and the fact that in other forums users of the MOD54 have also reported scratched film sheets I concluded that the MOD54 is the culprit. The MOD54 is made from a somewhat soft plastic, probably a polyethylene, so its surprising that it could cause so much damage. If it were made from a hard plastic like a polycarbonate, I could understand it. Next I examined the MOD54 unit to see what could cause the scratches. Each of the horizontal elements of the unit has a thin line running right around each element which is where the two halves of the mold used to make each of these elements meet. I figured that if this mold line could be sanded out in the area of the fingers, the scratches might dissapear. To that end I used a tiny file on the edge of the top flange, but it made the surface rougher still. Next I used 2000 grit wet/dry sandpaper, which is used to remove small scratches from lacquer painted surfaces, but that did not work possibly because the plastic of the MOD54 is too soft. I would like to know if anyone has found a solution to this problem. The MOD54 is potentially helpful in developing 4x5 film. However, if it cannot be prevented from scratching film, it is all but useless.

[tenderobject]

can you post images as well? thanks!

I just did my first round last night with the newest version of the MOD54 (MK27), no scratches, no detached sheets. I did inversions and I was not specifically gentle. I'm not seeing any unevenness in sky in the first batch I've scanned but I will keep you all updated.

[tenderobject]

thanks fred. i will check btzs as well. i will be having 8x10 soon so i need a proper processor for it. i might try tray first but need to read more about it. i've tried tray before and i had problem with multiuple sheets.. so i never try it again after..

I have the mod54 and I'm not the biggest fan. I've used it two times. The first time went smoothly, except for some marks where the sheets touched the holders. The second time was yesterday. Two of my sheets got detached and are ruined - they are useable, but the corners are blank. I have BTZS tubes for 8x10. I love them. In the start my negatives suffered from scratching, but that was due to violent first agitation. Like in Fred Newman's video. Now I'm more gentle and I have not have a scratched negative. I am considering BTZS for 4x5 too. The only thing I really like about the Mod54 is the daylight operation. The BTZS tubes are however better. There is of course another advantage with the Mod54, the ability to develop 6 sheets at one time. The chemistry usage is a bit high at 1 litre, vs 60ml with the BTZS tubes.