5x4 film processor on ebay

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Nova-5X4-deve...ameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem#ebayphotohosting

I saw this on ebay today. Am I right in thinking you just fill up these tanks with chemistry and move the film from one to another in the darkness and the temperature is kept the same temperature? What's the best method you find for processing 5x4 film. I've got a chamonix winging its way to me next month and haven't had any experience with developing sheet film apart from in a tank which runs the risk of uneven development. Any tips would be great.

Yes, essentially a small dip & dunk processing line http://www.novadarkroom.com/product/166/Nova_Dip_&_Dunk_5_x_4_Film_Processors.html Quite nice, but as you point out, processing needs to be done in pitch darkness which I think could get very old, very fast.

There are dozens of threads with suggestions on how to process sheet film, a search will throw up many, but FWIW, I use 25xx series Jobo drums & reels (2523/2553 drums + 2509N reels) (http://www.novadarkroom.com/product/379/Jobo_2500_Series_Film_Tank_System.html) which I feel have the best compromise of utility/ease of use Vs cost. They are generally rotated horizontally on a base or in a Jobo processor (CPE-2 etc) as inversion agitation uses a lot of chemicals (that's not a problem with devs like Rodinal that are highly diluted tho).

Good luck, Bob.

a simpler 4x5 option

I have what I will call a 'daylight' 4x5 tank. It has a light trap in the top for a somewhat leisurely fill time. You can pour out with the lid on by tipping it up on one corner. It is made of bakelight, and accordingly I hope I never slip and drop the thing. It can hold up to 6 hangers.

I usually load up 6 hangers and arrange them in different corners my dark drawer (sized to hold 11x14 paper) according to if they are n+1, n, n-1 etc.

I start with the tank filled with developer, and , since I mostly work with 777 or pmk developer (both of which I like to run at 75F), I pour the developer into the tank, and then pop the tank into my 'darkroom' microwave to warm the chems up. The bakelite holds the heat well.

Put n+1, n and n-1 times on a post it note on the edge of the shelf above the sink, and set count down timer (gralab 300) to n+1 time for the temperature in use.

Lights out, fish the n+ hangers out of the drawer, and drop them into the tank. start the timer. Lid on, agitate. Usually a short time later lights out, add in the N film hangers, and again, if necessary, the n-1 film hangers at their time.

The count down timer powers another timer that beeps every x seconds. Usually I have it beep every 15 seconds for film, and give the tank a jiggle every time it beeps. Otherwise, the lights are on, and I am getting caught up on magazine reading, etc. or pouring the right amount of replenisher into the 777 storage bottle.

At the end of the devloper cycle if I am tuned in, I will start the pout early, and then pop the top off the tank in the dark to pour the stop rinse step in quickly, and dump and refill promptly before the fixer goes in. 2-5 minutes in PM's superfix, again with the lid on and lights on and then it is time to start the wash.

All up I don't consider it a drag doing this by hand since my brain is mostly free. I usually don't process 4x5 more than a couple of times per month. If I was doing it on a daily basis, then I would seek more automation.

If anyone has a spare b&w timer board for a wing lynch 4 laying around unloved, I certainly could be persuaded to pay for the pstage and start rotary processing my B&W negs.

I used to have one of these Nova processors but sold it because I got uneven development. I suppose it was due to the way I moved the CombiPlan holder up and down to agitate, but the way I did it (slowly raised and lowered 3x every 30") caused some major unevenness. That's when I switched to a Jobo CPP-2. But I know some people say they get good results with the CombiPlan holder and various tank systems that hold it, so I guess if you get the technique right it will be fine. You should test your technique by developing a photgraph of an evenly lit surface and see how your negative looks after development (I got major streaks).

Jarvman said:

What's the best method you find for processing 5x4 film. I've got a chamonix winging its way to me next month and haven't had any experience with developing sheet film apart from in a tank which runs the risk of uneven development. Any tips would be great.

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Jobo drum, 25xx (can't remember the last two digits), takes 12 sheets of 4x5 on two spools. Can be used in a Jobo processor (that'll be the most economical use of fluids and most rigorous control of temperature), on a roller base or with inversion or semi-stand (then you'll have to fill it to capacity with 3 liters, not so bad with highly diluted developers). Can't say I've never had uneven development with it, but if so, it has always been my fault. You have to fill and dump solutions real quick.
Best regards, Christoph

I have one of the NOVA Dip n Dunk systems.
However, I developed some test film from Fred Newman at The View Camera Store - as part of of a BTZS film speed/dev time testing
He said - he had never seen such odd negatives (that odd in a bad way)
I then tried a few experiments and came to the conclusion I wasn't getting sufficient agitation to develop the negatives evenly.
So I invested in a single Combi-Plan tank- in which I now do my film developing - and only my developing.
I then use the NOVA for the Stop/Fix/Initial wash sequence
I do it all in the dark - which I am OK with and use audible timers to keep count.
However, if you are starting out from scratch I wouldn't bother with the NOVA - I would buy a few Combi-Tanks and use the Trevor Crone method of pre-filling the Combi Tanks with the necessy chemocals and swap neg carrier through the the individual tanks like a production line.
The general concensus is don't try and fill Combi-Tanks - pre-fill them and drop the carrier into it - then seal the lid.
I found that 4 Combi-Tank neg carriers are about right & 4 tanks are what I need for B&W processing
I also only do 4 sheets in one go
That has been my biggest bug-bear with going to LF - the speed at which you can process sheets of film.
Good luck
Martin

Martin Aislabie said:

I would buy a few Combi-Tanks and use the Trevor Crone method of pre-filling the Combi Tanks with the necessy chemocals and swap neg carrier through the the individual tanks like a production line.
The general concensus is don't try and fill Combi-Tanks - pre-fill them and drop the carrier into it - then seal the lid.

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As a fellow Combi user, I concur with this.

Sounds a good idea. I saw this on a site somewhere too. Combi tanks are pretty pricey though so 3-4 is going to cost a fair whack. Saw one going for £30ish on eBay so you're talking £100. Would you seal the tank and then turn on the light so you can agitate and actually see the stopclock properly and then turn off the light before opening the tank and removing it and moving it along to the next one? Is that how it's done? I'd be interested in one or many if anybody has any spare. Maybe it's worth me listing an ad here.

Jarvman said:

Sounds a good idea. I saw this on a site somewhere too. Combi tanks are pretty pricey though so 3-4 is going to cost a fair whack. Saw one going for £30ish on eBay so you're talking £100. Would you seal the tank and then turn on the light so you can agitate and actually see the stopclock properly and then turn off the light before opening the tank and removing it and moving it along to the next one? Is that how it's done? I'd be interested in one or many if anybody has any spare. Maybe it's worth me listing an ad here.

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I do semi-stand with a pair of combis and a pair of stainless tanks. I fo a presoak in stainless in the dark...dev in a combi which is closed so I can turn the lights on for the 50 minutes of dev time....then a second water bath in the second stainless tank in the dark...then the second closed combi for fixing with the lights on.

You need a minimum of 2 Combi tanks
I don't pre-soak but many people do
The sequence would go something like this
1st Tank - fill with pre-soak water
2nd Tank - fill with Dev
Load film in the dark & immerse in pre-soak
Move film into Dev Tank & seal lid
Switch on lights and while dev'ing film empty Tank 1
At end of dev sequence switch off lights & move film into stop bath - seal lid
Empty dev from Tank 2 & fill with Fix
Back into the dark & move film from Tank1 stop bath into Tank 2 fix
Seal lid of Tank2 & do fix sequence
Switch on lights & fill Tank1 with water to wash film

I have a NOVA Turbo Film Washer I use to wash my films - http://www.novadarkroom.com/product/167/Nova__5x4_Film_Turbo_Washer.html
I have also found that Lakelend Plastics do a Lock n Lock food container that holds a Combi Tank Film Holder - so you can use those to do your wash sequence in - they have two advantages - 1st they don't leak when you agitate (unlike the CombiPlan) and second at 4 UKPounds they are cheap

If you add more tanks to the above process you reduce the emptying, filling and careful washing required.

Martin

Bob F. said:

Yes, essentially a small dip & dunk processing line http://www.novadarkroom.com/product/166/Nova_Dip_&_Dunk_5_x_4_Film_Processors.html Quite nice, but as you point out, processing needs to be done in pitch darkness which I think could get very old, very fast.



Good luck, Bob.

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Having a sink-line larger 3.5 gallon tank processing set-up for processing sheet film on hangers, I can tell you that the time in the dark is minimal, regardless of what process you are doing. Here is the real story:

For E-6..you are in the dark, processing for approx 10 minutes, as you may turn on the room lights when the film has been in the reversal bath for 1 minute.

For C41 again only about 10 minutes, as you may turn on the room lights as soon as the film leaves the bleach and goes into the first wash.

For B/W negs...yet again only about 9 minutes, assuming about a 6 minute development time...as (with rapid fixer) you can turn on the room lights when the film has been in the fixer for 1 minute.

Of course you do spend time in the dark loading the hangers, but you also spend time in the dark loading whatever daylight processing tank you may use.

I've mostly used a Combiplan at college with no problems at all using just one tank. Now that I'm on holiday I have a Paterson Orbital which is very economical to use, but I'm not sure I've completely got the hang of yet...

Martin Aislabie said:

I have a NOVA Turbo Film Washer I use to wash my films - http://www.novadarkroom.com/product/167/Nova__5x4_Film_Turbo_Washer.html
I have also found that Lakelend Plastics do a Lock n Lock food container that holds a Combi Tank Film Holder - so you can use those to do your wash sequence in - they have two advantages - 1st they don't leak when you agitate (unlike the CombiPlan) and second at 4 UKPounds they are cheap

Martin

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Thanks for that Martin, I was just about to order my Combiplan tomorrow but the above method seems ideal. But is it really worth getting the Nova Turbo washer when I could just use the Combiplan to wash the film instead?

Mike

Mike, it depends on you really
You can use the Lock n Lock to do the whole film wash if you want to
Personally, I like to stick the Film Holder in the Washer and go off and do something else for 20mins while the film washes
I usually use this time to get all the chemicals and initial wash water ready for the next round of Dev'ing
The main thing is - how much film do you have to process and how much time do you have available to do it in
Just to clarify - you need at least one CombiPlan to process your film in - more CombiPlan tanks & extra Lock n Lock make things a lot easier.
Martin

Now maybe it's just me being new to 5x4 and no one said it could/should not be done but I cut a paterson reel in 2 glued an extention piece made from cut down plastic waste pipe between the two parts to extend the reel.
Can fit 2 sheets of film to the reel and it fits the paterson 3 reel multi tank, 1 liter of chemicals and standard hand inversion prossesing, ID11 1+1 13 min @20 oc. so far no problems with film falling out of the reel once in the tank, sometimes getting the second sheet on can be a bit trying but as they say if it was easy everyone would be doing it.

Regards Paul.

Paul. said:

Now maybe it's just me being new to 5x4 and no one said it could/should not be done but I cut a paterson reel in 2 glued an extention piece made from cut down plastic waste pipe between the two parts to extend the reel.
Can fit 2 sheets of film to the reel and it fits the paterson 3 reel multi tank, 1 liter of chemicals and standard hand inversion prossesing, ID11 1+1 13 min @20 oc. so far no problems with film falling out of the reel once in the tank, sometimes getting the second sheet on can be a bit trying but as they say if it was easy everyone would be doing it.

Regards Paul.

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Hmm, interesting. I think I can picture it, but can describe how you load film to the reel in a bit more detail.

Mike Wilde said:

I have what I will call a 'daylight' 4x5 tank. It has a light trap in the top for a somewhat leisurely fill time. You can pour out with the lid on by tipping it up on one corner. It is made of bakelight, and accordingly I hope I never slip and drop the thing. It can hold up to 6 hangers.

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I use the Yankee tank system for the few times I'm able to shoot 4x5 each year. Although I do have the JOBO 4x5 reel/tank, I sold my ATL3 over 3 years ago.

Kept all the reels/tanks though. Should probably e-bay them for some extra $$, but I'd keep the 4x5 for things like semi-stand developing.