4x5 - Developing Question

I am all set and ready to develop some 4x5 Tmax and Efke 25 this weekend and am in need of a little advice.

I have 30 sheets that need souped and want to try 2 different methods to become famliar with them.

Method 1 will be using trays and method 2 using film hangers with Kodak hard rubber tanks. I have either Rodinal or Xtol at my disoposal.

How many sheets will a filled 8x10 tray or rubber tank process before it is exhausted in either Rodinal or Xtol? Similarily, how long will a tray or tank of fixer last before it needs to be repaced?

Does exhaustion rates vary based on the type of film. Ie. Tmax 400 vs. Efke 25?

I will most likely not be developing any more then 5 sheets at a time for now until I get the hang of it.

As always, thanks in advance for your comments and suggestions.

I would recommend the hangers due to the softness of the emulsion. Every time I've developed EFKE in trays I've had scratching, which I never get with Ilford films. The TMax should be fine in the trays though.

Someone else should verify, but due to the volume in those tanks you should be fine on developer and certainly on the fixer.

- Randy

Manufacturers publish exhaustion data for chemicals. Usually, they express the rates in terms of rolls of 35mm film, but you can equate four sheets of 4x5 to one roll of 35mm.

That said, one of the hallmarks of large format work is the ability to maintain control over the process, and control implies uniformity. It's hard to maintain uniformity and control when reusing chemicals, especially developers. For that reason, I would discourage reusing developer.

When using hangers, the number of sheets that you process at a time isgoverned by the design of your equipment. With sheets in trays, however, you have more flexibility. Practically, however, if you are not really practiced in handling sheet film in total darkness, you really should not get carried away in the number of sheets that you try to process at a time. I would think that you should give yourself a limit - say 4-6 sheets, and not try to go beyond that until you really are comfortable with the process.

Even then, keep in mind that the more sheets you are processing, the faster you will have to work to maintain the same level of agitation. Or saying it differently, as the number of sheets increases, if you maintain a constant rate of shuffling sheets, you will actually diminish the rate of agitation and that will lead to a reduction in contrast.

Fixer works to completion, and generally fixer can be reused until it is depleted. That said, the film makes a big difference. T-Max film depletes fixer dramatically faster than conventional film like Efke.

Final point: Efke has a reputation for having a softer emulsion than other films. That means that it is more prone to scratching, and therefore you need to me more careful in handling it. Practically, that translates into fewer sheets per processing run when shuffling in trays.