9x12cm (4x5"?) developing tank recommendations

I would like to buy (new or used) tank for developing 9x12cm sheet film, but as I have

seen only one really clumsy plastic "non-spiral" for 6 sheets (you need to insert 3 sheets

on each side of some elliptical holder) I do not know what to look for. I think I would like

something like Nikor stainless steal tank, but there may be something newer, better,

cheaper?<br>

Can you help me with with recommendations and explanations? <br>

<br>

<i>Well, I prefer to develop in trays, but sometimes I can't do that (as is now on vacation...

I have to wait for my wife and daughter to go to the bed and than I have to darken small

bathroom... clumsy), so... </i><br>

<br>

Tnx for your help.<br>

Janko<br>

Jobo tank and 2505n reels. Use as inversion tank and can daylight fill. Changing bag to load. I suggest you wait til you get home and do it right. shoot poloroid tests if nesessary.

http://www.largeformatphotography.info/unicolor/

I second Ronalds answer. Best there is and I've tried Yankee and HP Combi, both a pain of one kind or another. Chalres

The Jobo setup is very good and, if bought used at online auction, is not too expensive.

If you want dirt cheap, you can set up tubes inside a 32oz stainless steel developing tank. Go to Home Depot, and shell out $1.50 for a T-8 fluorescent lamp shield, a clear polycarbonate tube. Cut into 13 cm lenghts, smooth the ends. 5 fit easily in a 30z tank, you can squeeze a sixth down the middle. (Double-check that the film will fit in the T-8 sized tube, I know that 3-1/4" film will fit, but your 9x12cm is 3-1/2" in the small dimension. If it doesn't, but the T-12 size tube.)

 

You will have to fill the tank, but you can agitate by inversion. The Jobo tank uses less developer, but would require continuous rolling.

John, that only works if your Home Depot carries the small size of tube protectors. Mine, it turns out, doesn't (neither does Lowe's); both thought I'd need a specialty lighting store to get the smaller size.

 

OTOH, if you want to do Zone type individual sheet development, you can easily make single sheet (or double sheet) tanks from 1 1/2" ABS pipe and a few fittings. Cut a piece of the pipe about 1/4" longer than the dimension of your film -- for 4x5, you'd want about 5 1/4" length, but 9x12 cm will fit with the 12 cm dimension around the pipe, so it only needs to be 3 3/4" long. You'll need one plain cap for the bottom of each tube, and a cap with filler and light baffle for the top. Be aware, there are two kinds of cap; one has almost no internal space beyond the depth of the socket, the other has about a half inch (in the 1 1/2" pipe size); you want the one with internal space, at least for the filler end caps. I made the fillers for mine from a length of 1/2" PVC pipe, but you could use any size below 1", and larger might be better (though you'd have to test carefully for light leakage if you exceed 3/4"); mark the center of the cap, drill through a smidgen undersize for your pipe, and use a sharp knife to scrape the hole to a snug fit, then secure the pipe in the hole with transition cement, made to glue PVC pipe to ABS pipe. Use a PVC cap on the filler to allow inversion agitation, and cut a piece of ABS sheet (I used 1/8" thickness because I thought I could see my flashlight shine through the 3/32" even in black -- the sheet I got is textured on one side, and I put the textured side toward the filler to further break up reflections) to fit inside the reduced part of the cap (beyond the end of the socket that fits the pipe), and glue it in place with a clearance of 1/8" or so below the bottom of the filler. Repeat for each tube you want to have (one for each sheet or pair of sheets). You can use the same caps with single, double, 4x5 in single or double, even half plate, just by cutting different lengths of pipe. A single 9x12 cm sheet size holds six ounces; if you're very concerned about economy of chemicals, you could make a core to cement to the other cap out of more PVC with an internal plug, and save at least two and possibly up to four ounces, though the bottom caps would then become proprietary to a single tube length.

 

Of course, with larger pipe, you could easily make similar tubes to hold up to 12x20 (ABS pipe comes in up to 4" size, at least at Home Depot), though the capacity of a couple feet of 4" pipe pretty much necessitates a volume displacing core when you get to that size (of course, you need 3 films worth of solution for 12x20, but that's only 24 ounces in common dilutions, and a 4x20 ABS pipe holds more than a gallon). The 2" pipe would hold 5x7 and possibly full plate, though, and 3" would accommodate 8x10.

 

I've developed in my tubes a couple times now, and I'm very pleased with them; I lifted part of the design from my Minolta 16 tube, which was in turn modified from a Minox tube I found on the web...

Ack. It occurs to me, Janko probably isn't in the United States...

 

If that's the case, you may have trouble with either fluorescent tube protectors or ABS pipe; at the least, pipe is likely to be sold in a metric size, and you'll have to figure out your own dimensions...

A JOBO 2521 will hold one 2509n reel and requires 1500ml for inversion processing and it works fine.

Donald, tnx for your big and fine post, but as you already noticed, I'm not in U.S. Most

probably, creating tank as you described won't be a problem here, but I will 1st need to

find person who can translate all that... measures are not problem (instead of "inch", our

plumbers, for instance, use german "zoll" - same measure, different name). But, what is

ABS pipe? ABS... something with breaks on the car? ;-))<br>

Similar sub-question goes to John: what is "T-8 fluorescent lamp shield"?<br>

Can someone illustrate (quick photo or even dirty sketch) that DIY tubes? I think I have

idea, but why to invent something already invented? :-)<br>

Btw, any solution just have to be daylight savy... my main reason for use of such tool isn't

everyday developing (for that I have trays at home, or hangers at lab), but for easy working

on trips.<br>

<br>

and tnx again.<br>

My tubes are daylight tubes -- load in a changing bag (I don't even have a darkroom), fill and drain in daylight.<p>

 

Here's the <a href="http://pages.sbcglobal.net/jdelisle/blktank2.html">original page</a> from which I cribbed my design -- my cap is effectively identical to his, but for sheet film, I left the interior open. If you wanted to save developer, you could make a core similar to his, but cement it to the bottom cap so it won't contact the film sheet.<p>

 

ABS stands for Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene; the pipe I used is "cellular core" sold for household drain pipes (sewer drains, small sizes); it has an outer jacket of smooth black plastic, an inner wall of the same material (the inner wall is generally smooth enough to be glossy), and a foam material between them. The same material (without the cellular core) is sold in sheet form; here in the US, I got it at TAP Plastics, where one can get all kinds of polystyrene, acrylic, polycarbonate, ABS, and PVC in sheet, rod, bar, and tube form, as well as tools, adhesives, cleaners, etc. for working with the stuff.<p>

 

PVC, of course, is polyvinyl chloride, common plastic cold water pipe. CPVC (rated for hot water, at least in this country) would probably also work, but I think it comes only in white, and I wasn't comfortable with white because of the translucency; light entering low enough over the baffle might reach the film on a single reflection, which could fog.

I was discussing your question with a friend of mine resently since I too would like to develop 9X12 film on extended trips to an East European country.

 

The Uniroller tanks for developing prints are used a lot in the States for daylight processing of 4X5 sheet film but the problem is the "projections" (can't think of a better word) which are inside the tank are positioned to hold 4X5 sheets in place and will most likely not hold the slightly smaller 9 X 12 film in place.

 

My friend has suggested a Cibachrome (Ifochrome) tank for 8X10 prints. These tanks are available used on E-bay from time to time and from other places. This tank is smooth inside. You would then glue your own suitable "projections" to the interior to drum. Most likely you would be able to develop up to 4 sheets at a time.

 

Another solution could be BTZS film tubes or their homemade equivalent. Going from developer to fixer requires very subdued light but that shouldn't be a problem in a bathroom at night.

 

As for me I already have a Jobo 2521 multitank and a homemade roller base which is used for roll film. A 2509N reel and the required loader guide for 9X12 films will solve my problem.

T-8 is a size of flourescent light bulb, which means that it is tubular, and 8/8" of an inch in diameter (one inch). The plastic tube is made of a strong clear plastic, and is 40 inches long, about 3cm in diameter, and slides over the long tube light to protect it from impact, and to hold the broken glass if the bulb breaks.

 

Basically, you are looking for plastic tubes whose inside diameter is large enough to roll up your film, which have very thin walls, so they don't waste room in the tank.