Re: sheet film developing tanks...

Brad, I use the Combi-Plan tank for 4x5. It is not all that expensive ($60 from Calumet?),
and yes, it is easy to use. It comes with a rack that lets you load three sheets along each
side. I load two to each, so that I'm always developing the same # of sheets.

It does have a couple drawbacks, and while they are minor matters, it's good to know
about them:

(1) filling takes about 30-35 seconds, emptying takes about 25-30 seconds. I found (as
did the person who introduced me to it a few years ago) that you had better use long
development times to reduce the proportion of this load/empty time. Otherwise you are
going to get faint streaks or other problems. I did have some problems when I started,
because I was using HC110 on Delta film, and that's something like 6 minutes. Six
minutes is NOT long enough in relation to the fill/empty time. Of course, you could drop
the rack straight in in the dark, and cap it. I changed to HC110 (E), which extended my
times to about 9 min. No more problems. Currently I use Rodinal 1:50, and on most of
my films this requires 12-15 minutes. But anything over about 8-9 minutes seems to be
safe. These longer times eliminate any problems with uneven development.

(2) You do have to be sure to secure the sheets properly. There is a gizmo which
attaches at the top of the rack, and locks in the sheets. If you don't press it down far
enough, a sheet can become dislodged during development, and you'll find it secured to
the wall of the tank. The same also is possible if the gizmo is too tight. This seems to
buckle the sheets, and **can** dislodge a sheet also.

BTW, the CP is NOT a Yankee tank, so when you get thumbs-down feedback about that
tank, don't take it to mean that tanks are bad. The CP is a nice little unitI have used
home-made BTZS tubes for 8x10 and 7x17, which sucked because I haven't
elimininated leak problems. I now tray develop all 8x10 and 7x17. I really hate trays
though. Maybe I'd feel differently about them if I weren't having to stoop over while
rocking them on the bathroom floor? I really like the CP tank, though. It's clean and
easy, you don't have to fuss with wet gelatin, or spend long times trying to separate one
sheet from the other two. Scratches are reduced. And it's really no different from a reel
tank except that it's square instead of cylindrical.

Plus, you can spend the entire time in daylight. You know what that means. That's right,
there's fewer accidents when mixing cocktails and eating those baloney sandwiches with
one hand while agitating with the other!

MIke

On 1 May 2004 at 14:24, brad isaacs wrote:

> hi everyone,
>
> i have a question about sheet filn developing tanks,
> espcially the daylight ones i've heard about. are they
> easy to use? how exactly do they work?
>
> brad

_______________________________________________
Post to the list as PLAIN TEXT only - no HTML
pinhole-discussion mailing list
pinhole-discussion@spitbite.org
FAQ at http://spitbite.org/pinhole-discussion/list.html
Received on Sat May 1 12:32:48 2004