Beginner: Which Tank Size for 35mm?

[sterioma]

I have a basic question about the equipment for the darkroom which I

am putting together. I am only intersted in 35mm as of now, and I plan

to shoot no more than one roll per week (more likely 2 rolls a month).

I am now asking the following thing: would you buy a tank with room

for two reels or for just one? For the time being I would avoid buying

both smaller and bigger....

 

<br>Basically, these are my basic doubts:

<ol>

<li>Would a single reel tank allow to make higher dilutions?

<li>How do I avoid waisting chemicals when using a bigger tank loaded

with just one reel (which will be the case most of the times)?

</ol>

Following are the details of the offers from the online shop (price is

pretty much the same):

 

<ul>

<li>Paterson 35mm Tank: 14xH12 cm (1 35mm reel )

<li>Paterson Universal Tank: 14xh17 cm (2 35mm reels or 1 120 reel).

</ul>

 

<p>Thanks in advance!

 

<br>Stefano

[nikos peri]

Two reel tank. Trust me, once you get into the swing of things, chances are you'll be shooting alot more than a roll per week. It's very nice to be able to do two rolls at the same time. If you're looking at very high dilutions, you could face issues with the one-reel as you suspect. <p>To do just one roll in the Universal tank, just load the film on the bottom reel, and still keep both reels inside (prevents the reel from creeping up during agitation) and fill with 300ml minimum chemicals per reel of 135. <p>

[tom_herron]

I would seriously look into getting a double stainless steel tank and two reels. I

believe you use less chemicals with a stainless tank (they're smaller), you get more

even development and they last forever. I'm still using the tank and reels I bought

used 19 years ago.

[robert_davis2]

I don't even know why they make the single reel tank. The bigger tank is much more usefull.

 

Personally I'd consider a Jobo 1500 type tank but the Patterson works fine.

[ecarter]

Get the 2 reel tank - you never know when you may have two rolls you want to process, or if you'll ever decide to shoot 120 film, and having the larger tank helps.

 

In my tank, if I'm only developing 1 reel of film, I use 10 or so (I tend to be slightly generous to be on the safe side) of chemical and 20 or so with 2 reels or 120 film. 10 oz is enough to totally cover the bottom reel when you have the tank sitting normally, and I think it's about what the smaller tank uses in any case, so you can use the same amount of chemistry either way or work with it the same with either tank.

[john_shriver]

If you want to use D-76 diluted 1:1, you need the 16oz (two reel) tank, since it requires 8oz developer and 8oz water per 35mm roll.

[dean_williams]

"If you want to use D-76 diluted 1:1, you need the 16oz (two reel) tank, since it requires 8oz developer and 8oz water per 35mm roll."

 

No matter how many times you post this, it's still not correct. If you want to develop with D76 at 1:1, and your tank requires 8 0z to cover a roll of 35mm film, you use 4 oz of D76 and 4 oz of water. Just read the Kodak data sheet!

 

To Stefano's question, the Paterson tanks are good products and the reels are easy to load. I'd get the two reel tank. Then you have the option of doing two reels if you ever need to. If you are developing one roll of 35mm, you only need the required amount of chemical to process one roll. You don't have to fill the tank unless you are developing two rolls.

[tom_s.]

I used to run a darkroom with Patterson 1, 2, and 5 roll tanks. I used the 2 roll tank 90% of the time. As others have mentioned, once you start developing, you'll probably start shooting more. And once you see the time required to do one roll, you'll probably want to wait to have a second roll to do, so you'll get two rolls processed in the time for one roll.

[jim_a]

A 35mm technique which has, for me, provided the best results with the traditional spiral tank, was suggested by Bill Hoy of Bedford County, VA.<P>

 

* Use a tank at least twice the size needed for the number of reels you plan to develop.<br>

* Fill the extra space with empty reels, placing the film at the bottom of the tank.<br>

* Pour in just enough developer to cover the film, then simply invert the tank at the specified interval, draining the developer completely from the film.<br>

* After five seconds, reinvert the tank, reimmersing the film.

<p>

This advice was posted at <a href="http://www.slonet.org/~mhd/2photo/film/develop/develop.htm">http://www.slonet.org/~mhd/2photo/film/develop/develop.htm</a> and it's worth a look. <P>

 

A while back I switched to this method and eliminated uneven development.

[mdanger]

I agree with what Tom says. I've been using the same ss tanks for 30 years and the double tank is my mainstay. Mary

[conrad_hoffman]

You might have gathers from all the answers that a two reel tank is the way to go! I agree. IMHO, two reel tanks give more even development than singles. Even though I rarely do two rolls at a time, I always use a double tank.

[sterioma]

A lot of answers, and there seems to be a consensus toward the bigger tank. I will go for it and experiment :)

[jonathon_schuster1]

If you can put empty reels above your reels with film you will never ever regret having too big of a tank, but believe me, you will kick yourself if you have too small of a tank. Nothing worse than getting back from a big trip, having shot 10-20 rolls and only having a 2-3 roll tank to process in. Tanks aren't all that expensive, nor are reels, so I wouldn't worry about it too much.

[lex_jenkins]

I use both single reel and double reel stainless tanks. I also use a double reel plastic tank/reel system.

 

Single reel tanks can be handy if you tend to shoot a variety of films and experiment with exposures, developers and techniques. When I experiment I tend to develop only one roll at a time.

 

Some people claim that it's impossible to obtain adequate agitation in a single reel tank to ensure even development. I've never had a problem with this.

 

Used stainless tanks can be bought very inexpensively now so it wouldn't cost much to buy both a single reel and double reel tank.

 

What can cost more is good quality stainless reels. The old Nikor reels are excellent. If you're lucky you'll be able to buy a used stainless tank with the reel for a low price. Otherwise you'll have to buy new and the better new stainless reels are the fairly expensive Hewes brand.

 

Good plastic reels are typically less expensive than good stainless reels so it makes sense to buy the Paterson brand. The plastic reels are also usually easier for beginners to load. But there's no reason to switch to stainless if you're comfortable with the Paterson system.

[chris_waller]

I use both the Paterson 35mm and Universal tanks. But as a starting point I'd recommend the Universal. As Nicola say, you'll more than likely want to process more than one reel and you also have the option at some future date of processing 120 film.

[al_kaplan1]

I still use the same stainless steel tanks and reels I started to accumulate back in 1961. Most of it was purchased second hand or given to me by people giving up the hobby. Even If I'd paid full list price those tanks have more than earned their keep.

[silverhalide1949]

Another vote for a double reel stainless steel tank. I have been using the same Kinderman SS tanks & reels (I have both Kindermen and Hewes reels) for over 20 years with absolutely no problem. If you are going to develop more than 2 reels of 35 mm you will eventually need a 4 reel tank as well. I also agree with the above post that you will eventually have more than 2 reels to develop at a time.Good luck! RO

[patrick_ingram]

Wait. Why do stainless steel tanks give you more even development?

[lex_jenkins]

Patrick: See my comments in <a href=http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=009lh8><u>this thread</u></a>

[ian_butler]

Stefano,

 

I am a beginner myself, and I just want to metion something a few of the other people touched on. If you use a double tank to process a single roll. be sure to insert the empty roll on top of the one with the film as a spacer. I failed to do this once with a Patterson tank and the reel slid (probably from my tapping to dislodge bubbles or from inversion) and the reel slid up the black tube towards the top. The result was a roll of film processed on the botton half of each frame where the solutions reached it.

 

Ian

[sterioma]

Ian,

 

thank you for the information, it's really helpful.

 

You mentioned you've been using a "double sized" Paterson tank. Do you know whether it comes with two reels or just one? If it's coming with just one, it seems that I need to buy a second one to avoid the problems you've faced.

[nikos peri]

Stefano, the Patterson tanks that I've bought here in Italy ALL come without reels. You need to buy them separately.