4x5 Developing

[Marcelo Paniagua]

I use Yankee Plastic 4x5" Sheet Film Day Light Developing Tank


Only issue is that it takes a lot of liquid, but since I use home made Rodinal for my 4x5 not really an issue.

Pretty handy and easy to load. Also, sometimes I used it with my 2 1/4 x 3 1/4 film.

Marcelo

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

I like to use BTZS tubes for conventional/normal way to develop. It requires very little developer.

 

[Paul Howell]

For those into stand development the Yankee daylight tank would ideal, Rodinal 1:100, gentle agitation by rocking, then go watch TV for an hour and dump, stop bath, fixer and wash which all be done in the same tank.

 

[Kilgallb]

I have used a unicolor roller drum then graduated to a Paterson 5 reel tank modified to be a roller drum. This stopped my leak problems.

Here is a link to the thread

My Fix for a leaky Unicolor Drum

I got fed up with my Unicolor Drum leaking when I develop 4x5. I had a last disaster when all the developer leaked out in 3 minutes. I found a solution. I threw out my drums and made a handy device to convert my old Paterson tank into a roller drum. I made negative holders out of soft plastic...

www.photrio.com

 

[nosmok]

I use Unicolor tanks and roller base, the 8x10 size that can do 4 at once. Mine do leak a little, but I put a plastic take-out tray under the leaky side to catch the drops, which seems to work fine. It replaced an old Nikor film-pack tank, which worked OK, also leaked, and used a lot of chemistry. I keep the Nikor for 6x9 sheets, and pack film.

 

[ic-racer]

I think a Jobo processor is easiest.

 

[Tel]

I use Unicolor tanks and roller base, the 8x10 size that can do 4 at once. Mine do leak a little, but I put a plastic take-out tray under the leaky side to catch the drops, which seems to work fine. It replaced an old Nikor film-pack tank, which worked OK, also leaked, and used a lot of chemistry. I keep the Nikor for 6x9 sheets, and pack film.

Ditto that; my Unicolor tanks leak a few drops (blix tends to leak more than dev) but no more than my stainless steel tank with a plastic lid. I think leaking may be a result of abuse by a prior owner more than any sort of inherent design flaw. I just position the tank so the lid/filler end hangs over the edge of the sink.

 

[Bronson Dugnutt]

6 sheets of 4x5 in a 1L Paterson tank.

The 'reel' inevitably leaves marks in the margins of delicate double-sided emulsions like x-ray film but is fine for everything else. Trays, under safelight for ortho stuff, are an option and the only way I develop 8x10.

 

[Old_Dick]

BTZS tubes, easy and cheap to make. Great results. +1 what other people say.