mshchem
Subscriber
Here is my general open tank approach - assumes everything is at a nominal 68F but a few degrees off will not be a huge difference:
Although this is more cumbersome than a closed tank, I find the larger tank and developer volume gives me very good consistency.
- Turn out the lights/close blinds in the room next to your darkroom so I can walk in an out with minimal light leaking into the darkroom.
- Prewash in running water for 3min
- Wearing nitrile gloves, place the loaded reel over an inverted funnel and run the lift rod through it. That's to suspend the reel above the bottom of the tank to minimize the tendency toward bromide drag - the nasties get pulled to the bottom via gravity.
- Drop the reel/inverted funnel/lift rod into a 2l tank of Pyrocat-HD mixed 1.5:1:200
- Agitate continuously for 2 min - lift and spin in the direction of the film wind so it doesn't come off the reel
- Cover that tank to make it light resistant. I use the black plastic trays that they deliver food in.
- Exit the darkroom an the let film sit/stand in the developer
- Reenter the darkroom and - at 31 min - again wearing nitriles, give the reel twisting and lifting agitation for 15 seconds
- Cover and exit as before
- Reenter the darkroom and pull the film at 60 min
- Wash for 30 seconds in running water
- Into the fixer for 5 min
- Lights on
- Wash for 25min
- Rinse in PhotoFlo 200 with 25ml of 91% isopropyl alcohol added to 500ml of working solution
- Hang and dry
I processed a lot of film in open hard rubber tanks. It's easy to work in the dark when you are acclimated. I need to try this sometime