4x5 C-41 Processing without an auto-processor

I'm setting up my darkroom this week and I need to get some equipment to process 4x5 color film. I may also be doing some 8x10 in the future and would like to minimize the additional cost of processing equipment for that. I'd like to avoid the auto-processors like the Jobo for several reasons, so I was wondering what the best route would be.

I was thinking of using dip-and-dunk tanks in a temperature-controlled bath - Fairly straight-forward, easy agitation, easy to set up and don't require a whole lot of chemistry.

How does this plan sound? Any better ideas?

Also, I can't for the life of me find a good guide to C-41 sheet film processing. I plan on wasting a few sheets shooting color cards to make sure I'm not getting a color cast on my film - but some wisdom would help as a starting point.

just out of curiosity, you might just want to look at using a lab for processing your film. Samy's in Santa Barbara(www.samys805.com/film-processing) does excellent work, and the cost is close to "nil", even when you factor in shipping to/from them.

I just gang up orders and send them in at the same time to save on shipping costs. I've personally been re-considering actually NOT purchasing a 3005 drum due to the cost-savings.

however:

IF you want to forge ahead and do C-41 yourself, I'd recommend STILL doing rotary processing, using Jobo tanks. Find yourself a beseler or other brand motorbase(self-reversing is recommended), and set up a hairdryer on the "warm" setting 2-3 feet away or so. Point it at the tank on the motorbase, it'll help keep the drum warm during the developer stage. Heat up your chemicals to 100F in a rubbermaid in the bathtub in their respective bottles, and have a big jug of clean h20 for the wash cycles.

Personally, I'd steer CLEAR of dip-n-dunk style processing, agitation marks from the hangers have their problems, and large tank processing, honestly, is quite impractical for small runs of film. Uses 4-5x the amount of chemistry that rotary does, and with a greater chance(IMO) of screwing something up. However, nitrogen burst systems for large 8x10-sized tanks work extrmely well, but you really need large amounts of film to go through them to make them cost-efficient on a per/sheet basis.

just my $.02

I'm a college student, so I'm looking to save $$$ wherever I can.

I've been processing my own color negs in a Jobo at the local photo center, but seeing that I charge myself ~$25/hr for my time as an assistant(to photographers), I have decided to have my color processed by Samy's from now on. They're SUPER CONSISTENT, NICE PEOPLE, and have super-fast turnaround(usually less than 1 business day).

b/w I tray develop, color I used to do in a Jobo or on a motorbase like I described above. About 300sheets total, 4x5 and 8x10(90% 4x5 though).

-Dan

Trays work fine for me. Two trays are on a heater plate pre-heated with water to about 101F and the solutions heated separately in water bath. I process in the developer in the dark of course using gentle tray rocking for agitation at 30sec intervals and then move the sheet to a stop tray. It's not at all difficult for the about three minutes it takes to process in the developer. After a minute or so in the stop the rest of the process can be done in the light. The developer doesn't last as long as when used in a tank owing to the greater amount of oxidation in a tray, but you don't need as much volume either. A 5x7 tray processes 4x5 or two 2x3 sheets quite well with ~500ml of solution. As far as I can tell, the film doesn't care whether it is in a tank or tray as long as the procedure is consistent with careful handling. I do handle the film in the solutions using nitrile gloves. To prevent the film from sticking to the tray bottom you can use a ridged tray, but I prefer a flat-bottom metal tray and place a thin glass rod in the tray bottom and to process emulsion side up.

I'd recommend a processor like the PhotoTherm SSK-4 or SSK-8. They have a holder which can hold 4x5 sheets. It's a great processor, I use mine for C-41 all the time (with 35mm and 120 rolls). It's quite conservative on chemistry, and does a great job, unattended.

-Ed