I need your opinions about the Jobo ATL 1500

I had the opportunity to buy a Jobo ATL 1500 yesterday, in very good condition at a very reasonable price

from a local photo lab that has gone out of business. I believe it is a 1998 model it had moderate use and

has been packaged for a couple of years as the business expanded to large equipment. I have a two year

plan to get my studio built and purchased it primarily to be able to occasionally process 120 film. I know

the owner quite well and believe him when he tells me it ran beautifully when he packed it up. I would

really appreciate some feedback about general use of this type of system from those of you who have used

them. Thanks in advance.

I had one once, I let it go after a short time because I didn't realise it needs a direct feed of temperature controlled water for each wash stage. I had the non-programmable ATL-1000. I didn't have such water set up and had no where to put one in.

 

There is a pump available, or was, so you can use it with a bucket of warm water. Can't find them for love nor money now though. You can buy other pumps but this thing had a hole for a lead into the ATL1000 which would tell the pump to turn on or off.

 

Ultimately I couldn't use it for anything other than B&W. In the end the time I saved wasn't put to any good use. Though for temp critical stages and many colour films it's probably great! A few 8x10 prints too. Now I've gone over to a Nova dunk and dip process.

Thanks Ross. I asked the seller (who I've known for many years) about ease of use including

water temperature issues and he told me it wasn't an issue with the 1500 model as it's

designed for portability. I'll run some tests through it when time allows and that should

answer a lot of my questions. The reviews I've read are mixed so I turned to the Photo.net

forum as I really respect this community.

I have and use the ATL-1500 and it`s a GREAT machine.

I mainly use it for B&W and some C-41. I set it up in the bathroom, hooked up to the shower. For B&W and 2-bath C-41 there`s no need for super tight temperature control, as the external feed is only used for the final wash in those processes. I usually keep the water temperature within 1-2C anyway though...

It also has 6 compartments for chemicals and you can make custom programs with any of these if you wish.

 

Highly recommended.

Thanks Amund - that's what I was hoping to hear!

<p>It is also used for pre-wet. I have the heater that is useful for E6. I guess you need to use another bucket when use black and white (as the E6 one would pre-heat it to 38c). Need more testing whether the water on black and white would pre-heat it to 24c as well (other than the water & chemical in the machine).</p>