Recommended developing tanks

<p>I am looking to get a stainless steel tank for doing my 120 film. Are there companies to stay away from? What size do you recommend? A two reel tank as a minimum? Are there 35mm only tanks or will they take a 120 reel? Recommend a reel/tank combo?</p>

<p>There are stainless steel 35 mm, 120 and 220 reels. These all work fine, better than any plastic tanks/reels. Tanks are as big as 4 reel 120 (about 15 inches in height). There is some question as to whether 220 reels give enough agitation because of the film's proximity to itself. Just make sure the lids are snug, that the phlange underneath (closest to the film) is intact. Oh yes, and that the caps fit well.</p>

<p>With stainless tanks and lids look for a snug enough fit to minimize leakage during inversion agitation. If the stainless lid leaks persistently a plastic replacement lid can often solve the problem, unless the tank itself is significantly out of round from dropping.</p>

<p>There are tanks that will take a single 120/220 reel or two 35mm reels. Those are good choices for most home darkrooms and occasional film users. I have a Chinese-made tank that will hold one 120 reel or two 35mm reels. It came with a plastic lid and there are no leakage problems.</p>

<p>I also have an older Nikor (not Nikon's Nikkor) tank and reel set that holds a pair of 120 reels. Paid around five bucks at a camera show. Nikor stainless tanks and reels were among the best available up until the 1970s or so.</p>

<p>Single reel 35mm tanks are available but may present problems. If you use the more dilute solutions of developer there's a risk of prematurely exhausting the developer. So if you plan to use, say, Rodinal at solutions more dilute than 1+25, ID-11 or D-76 more dilute than 1+1, Ilfosol at 1+14 rather than 1+9, etc., then it's best to get a two reel tank and fill it, even if you're developing only one roll. </p>

<p>However I will admit that I've used single reel 35mm tanks, including with very dilute Rodinal at 1+200 or 1+300 and never had a developer failure. But it's still not a good practice and I probably wouldn't do it with important rolls of film. I mostly used the single reel 35mm tank in college with HC-110 Dilution B (also a practice I'd avoid today due to the very short developing times in that dilution).</p>

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<p>Thanks for the info!</p>

<p>Avoid the generic Chinese stainless steel 35mm reels -- often manufactured pre-bent.<br>

The Hewes reels are amazingly good, but you can't put two of them in a Nikor Q15 tank. One fits fine in a Nikor Q8 tank. Advantage of Hewes reels is you can buy a new one and know it will be perfect.<br>

So long as it's not bent, a genuine Nikor 35mm 36-exposure reel is also great. Best to find a nice matched set on eBay of reel and Q08 tank.<br>

The commonly available cheap stainless steel tanks with the plastic lids work fine. They don't leak. But the plastic lid will eventually split, check for stress cracks before every use. (If it splits, it leaks developer and light!)</p>

I also like the quality of the Hewes tanks and reels if you can find them.

<p>Not stainless steel, but I was recently given a Gepe tank and reels. Unlike normal plastic reels, these load from the centre using a clip on guide (although I can load without it). They even allow you to reload when wet.<br /><br />I assume stainless steel reels are similar in operation - I have never used one.<br /><br />I was so impressed that I doubt that I will ever use a Paterson or Kaiser reel again for 35mm and I am now looking for a 120 version.</p>

<p>Hi, I am not sure of the tanks. I do have hewes stainless steel reels for 35 mm and they do have guide clip like you mentioned. They are available at bhphotovideo , adorama. I picked mine from one of them.</p>

<p>I've used all sorts of generic stainless steel reels and tanks, some with metal lids but most with plastic lids, with no problems. But I recently discovered that I have some Hewes reels (given to me by a friend several years ago and unused until a month or so ago) that have pins at the center that grab the sprocket holes of 35mm film without the need to slip the film under a wire spring like on most reels. These are easier to load and I really like them.</p>

<p>I have a few stainless steel tanks, most of them old Nikors. I have a pair of 8 oz tanks and a few 16 oz tanks (only one is a Nikor) and a 28 oz Nikor that has the 70/30 lid. I don't recommend the ones with the 70/30 lids. They take to long to fill and pour out. The 28 oz one will hold 4 35mm reels or 2 120s though.</p>

<p>If you are planning on only developing 1 roll in a double tank (16 oz), make sure you put a second reel on top of the first (make sure the one that has the film is on the bottom), this will insure that the reel won't get stuck halfway out of the solution.</p>

<p>As others said, the Nikors are probably the best there are. Also called Honeywell-Nikor in later years. There are several variations:</p>

<p>Lid: Quick-pour (or something like that...). These look like just a black circle at the top. Baffles keep the light out while allowing you to pour the chemicals in & out easily. Not-quick-pour has a "split" circle at the top. On a small tank, this isn't all that critical, but with a really big tank, the quick-pour has advantages.</p>

<p>Size: 8oz, 16oz, 32oz... Many variations. An 8oz tank is a single 35mm reel, a 16oz can be either one 120/220 reel or two 35mm reels. They've been made to fit as many as 4 or 6 120 reels...</p>

<p>I bought one Nikor tank that came with a 120 reel, and a loading aid which you basically ran the film through, and it curled it "just right", and the reels loaded very easily. You don't strictly need this, but unless you do a lot of film and really get the hang of doing it, the loading aid comes in handy.</p>

<p>As for whether to get a 1-reel or two-reel tank, different factors come into play. Will you always be processing the same films? You usually cannot process two different types of films in the same tank at the same time, because their development times will nearly always be different. Some might also say not to "put all your eggs in one basket". You can process one reel in a two-reel tank, of course (with an empty reel on top). I think most end up with multiple tanks. I've got several 16oz, one 8oz, and at least 1 32 oz...</p>

<p>Ditto, the quick pour lids Larry mentioned. Makes a significant difference when using developers/dilutions with very short times, especially with larger tanks. Unless accounted for, pour times can add to the overall development time, with unwanted increase in contrast and grain.</p>

Why are steel one so much better than plastic?

Because they can be kept clean easily and if you don't drop them they last almost forever. They also fit in tanks that use less chemistry per roll--typically 8 ounces per roll of 35 mm film vs. 11 ounces with plastic. I have taught beginning photo classes at a community college for 17 years now, and while the plastic reels are easier to load initially, students who use them tend to have more processing "gremlins" than those who use the steel reels and tanks.

Okay. I have had some gremlins but I got rid of them (I think) by running all through the dish washer each time. I think the cover especially is a harbinger. I have a few steel tanks but the reels with them are problematic. Or there is a simple different technique that I am not aware of. The plastic reels with the locking balls are so convenient.

My first tank was a Yankee II, which I used with 120 and 35mm film.

 

Not so much later, I learned about Nikor tanks from my grandfather.

He told me about the guide, and how after using it for a few rolls, you learn how to do without it.

 

After I inherited his darkroom equipment, including the tank, I used it for many years, still have it and still use it, but lost the guide many years ago.

 

The guide curls the film just right, but you also don't have as much feel for where the film is going.

 

Without the guide, you can feel when the film tries to go into the wrong groove much easier.

 

The 35mm reels that I have don't have a clip in the inside, but the film just starts inside and winds on fine.

 

The 120 reels have the clip.

 

I also have a plastic reel with a sharp point inside, and instructions that say you can load it inside out (using the point) or outside in (regular plastic reel method).

I mostly got that one for 116 film, but now have a 116 Nikor, with guide.

 

Stainless reels take a little more getting used to, but when you are used to them, they work much better.

It depends on your throughput. The main advantage of stainless tanks and reels is that they can be quickly heat dried and re-used. If you're only processing once a week, then a quick turnaround isn't an issue and plastic can be just as good.

 

One lesson learned with stainless tanks is to stick some adhesive tape around the lid as soon as the thing's loaded with film. Having the lid come off in room lighting is an embarrassment that you only suffer once - before you get the adhesive tape habit! A bit of vinyl electrician's tape can be re-used several times to keep the lid in place.

 

Bad plastic reels are sticky to load even when bone dry. Good ones load sweetly and smoothly. Jobo make consistently good ones, especially the larger diameter reels. Paterson, OTOH, are variable in design and "loadability". Their system 4 reels are OK, but anything earlier tends to be sticky to load. The stickiness is more of a problem in a changing bag than in a proper darkroom. The rubberised fabric bag keeps in perspiration that humidifies the film and increases the likelihood of sticking. You need to work quick and cool in a changing bag.

Edited October 14, 2017 by rodeo_joe|1

For the stickiness I found that applying a little outward pressure and jiggling (right word?) a little back and forth motion\ frees it up and let me continue.

It depends on your throughput. The main advantage of stainless tanks and reels is that they can be quickly heat dried and re-used. If you're only processing once a week, then a quick turnaround isn't an issue and plastic can be just as good.

 

One lesson learned with stainless tanks is to stick some adhesive tape around the lid as soon as the thing's loaded with film. Having the lid come off in room lighting is an embarrassment that you only suffer once - before you get the adhesive tape habit! A bit of vinyl electrician's tape can be re-used several times to keep the lid in place.

 

Bad plastic reels are sticky to load even when bone dry. Good ones load sweetly and smoothly. Jobo make consistently good ones, especially the larger diameter reels. Paterson, OTOH, are variable in design and "loadability". Their system 4 reels are OK, but anything earlier tends to be sticky to load. The stickiness is more of a problem in a changing bag than in a proper darkroom. The rubberised fabric bag keeps in perspiration that humidifies the film and increases the likelihood of sticking. You need to work quick and cool in a changing bag.

 

The ones I have, have lids that stay on pretty well. Proably not good to pick it up by the lid, when it is full, though.

 

Yes, I was once loading a plastic reel with 127 film on a warm summer day.

As it wasn't going in right, I kept trying and get more and more sweaty.

 

Convinced me to get a stainless 127 reel.

"The ones I have, have lids that stay on pretty well. Proably not good to pick it up by the lid, when it is full, though. "

 

It only takes a moment's inattention or slippery fingers to accidentally pull off the push-fit lid. Especially on a heavy two or four reel tank with half a litre of solution in it. Like I say, you only do it once before adopting the adhesive tape habit.

- Better to prevent it happening at all IMO. After all, a 4 inch strip of vinyl tape is far less expensive or precious than an exposed film or two.

I've managed with a single 120 stainless tank (dual 35mm) since high school, back when God's dog was a pup. I thought I bought it as an Omega tank, but the bottom is stamped ?ITTCO 18-8 Made in Japan. 18-8 is the stainless grade and I assume the name is Bittco, though the stamping is a bit light. It usually develops a small drip on the cap, but I always develop in a tray of water for temperature stabilization, so it's not a concern. Much later I got another 120 stainless tank at a flea market or someplace. That just says Made in Japan and has a black finished light trap. Yet to use it. I've got a variety of reels, even a NIB 127 Nikor reel, and a 16 mm reel for the spy cameras. I like spring clips, but eventually you just load these things automatically, regardless of style. It's like riding a bicycle, once learned it's forever. My first films were developed in a black plastic FR tank with an adjustable reel that you twirled to agitate. Left sprocket marks if you twirled too fast, so I've been wary of that design ever since.

It only takes a moment's inattention or slippery fingers to accidentally pull off the push-fit lid.

In all the years, I never had that happen with Nikor / Honeywell 2 or 4 reel. We'll see as I move back into film developing. Wouldn't be a big deal to use a bit of tape, though.

One thing I do suggest -- I have a stainless steel tray -- about 12 x 26 that I use under the tanks, got it at a garage sale. Completely eliminates spills and clean up -- just rinse the tray.

In all the years, I never had that happen with Nikor / Honeywell 2 or 4 reel.

(snip)

 

I try to keep tank and lid together, as matched sets. I suspect that if you use a lid with a different tank than it came with, and with normal variation in size, one might be too lose, or too tight. If it is that loose, it is likely to leak with inversion agitation.

 

But as the tanks get larger, up to maybe eight 35mm reels, the full tank will get heavier. Don't lift one of those by the lid alone.

My main tank is a two-reel Omega of uncertain age.

 

The lid on mine is quite snug and at its worst will only weep a small amount-usually not enough to be of any concern. With the fill cap on the top(which I think is actually mismatched as it does not sit perfectly flat/flush) getting the top off tank is quite a chore. Removing the fill cap to let air in helps some, but it usually requires a combination of gentle twisting and pulling. The small amount of fluid that weeps into the seam seems to make this even worse, and you almost feel like you're breaking a vacuum seal when the lid comes loose.

"...getting the top off tank is quite a chore."

 

That reminds me of another tip - keep a coin handy for prising the cap off.

 

On one occasion I had the cap stuck so firmly that it delayed my emptying the developer out. I broke a fingernail trying to pull the darn thing free, and was beginning to panic until I thought of using a coin from my pocket. Now I always keep a suitably sized coin handy on the worktop, along with a folded towel to bang the tank on to dislodge air bells.

 

How much extra would it cost to mould a groove and fit O ring seals to stainless tanks? Or roll a screw thread into the lid?

 

Too late to whinge about the design now. If anyone's still making them at all, they're not going to re-tool for sales that must only be in double figures a year.

 

Oh! One more thing. Look for 35mm reels with sprocket teeth, and not a stupid spring clip to grip the film. Sprocket-hole-catcher reels are far, far easier to load.

Edited October 16, 2017 by rodeo_joe|1