Any Experience With This Exact Colenta / Colex RT Processor?

http://www.footprintsequipment.com/images/Photos/29286/5357/Colenta5357.jpg

Looking for info, experience, documents, anything you have.

I was told it's from 1997, though to me it looks older.

I used machines like this for many years before digital.. If it hasn't been used for a long time the rollers may perish, and you would have to check that the pumps and heaters are working, and that the filters are not blocked. They normally take about 20l of developer and bleach-fix, so you need daily throughput to keep the process stable. It brings back memories, but I don't think I would want to go back to them!
They are still used for processing X-ray film today, you could try contacting Colenta:
https://www.colenta.at/php/index.php/x-ray-film-systems

Brian P

Colenta started as a german manufacturer and I did not even know they had a US dependancy that signed as manufacturer.

Your model from its outer design looks like their model from 1968, thus I share your opinon that the sample in question is older than 1997. Also the power switch looks very outdated.

Colenta was also the USA Durst importer during the 1980s and 1990s.

I ran one of those in the early 1980's.
We ran more cleanup sheets than film. Scratches were a big problem.

Thanks everyone! I think I have decided not to pull the trigger on it. The seller stated that this is a 1997 model, which cannot possibly be true.

I'm in a unique situation in that my lab is big enough to outgrow a minilab but small enough, literally in the sense that we have 1300sq/ft, to not justify or allow a dip and dunk machine. I think a well cared for RT machine would actually be a great solution. I'm hoping to eventually buy one of the brand new Colenta machines. They make an 8" model that has a 7.5L 1st developer stage, which is similar to my existing minilab. Chemistry is different and better than it was in the 1980s or even 90s. It should not run as dirty and LORR developer does not require the same high throughput. That being said, high throughput is not an issue for me as we are getting a lot of film. If I stopped cleaning the crossover racks and squeegee my V30 would definitely scratch film. However I keep it clean so it does not. I've had and seen labs mess up film in Refremas and other D&D solutions. The key to it all is knowledge about your machine and regular cleanings.

Right now if I'm doing rolls I can do 2 at a time. All sheets need to go through the ATL3. An RT machine would be dry to dry for both in all formats from 35mm to 8x10. Of course B&W and E6 would still be Jobo jobs, which makes sense given the volume of both we get. Pretty soon we will have 2 Jobo ATL machines that can run simultaneously. The bottleneck then will be space in the dryer. An 8" Colenta could do 3 rolls at a time and sheet after sheet film large format. Plus the idea that they're still around and can service the machine is quite attractive in an industry where we are all using long ago discontinued products and relying on parts units.

NortheastPhotographic said:

All sheets need to go through the ATL3.

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Are you using the Expert drums for sheet film?

Tom Kershaw said:

Are you using the Expert drums for sheet film?

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Mostly yes. However I have enough 2509ns for 18 sheet runs so sometimes that's useful.

NortheastPhotographic said:

Mostly yes. However I have enough 2509ns for 18 sheet runs so sometimes that's useful.

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For my own personal processing a have one drum each of 3005, 3006, 3010. If I need to do more than one run then I dry them out in my film dryer.

Tom Kershaw said:

For my own personal processing a have one drum each of 3005, 3006, 3010. If I need to do more than one run then I dry them out in my film dryer.

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Same. I'm often drying the drums a lot in a day of processing. There are also chemistry constraints as the ATL3 can only hold 1800ml. It can become a bit time consuming to refill the tanks after a few runs. We are awaiting a freestanding ATL2500 that should make this easier however with auto refilling and ATC B&W processing. It'll be MUCH faster to switch between processes or keep a series of runs going.

NortheastPhotographic said:

We are awaiting a freestanding ATL2500 that should make this easier however with auto refilling and ATC B&W processing.

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I wish I still had my ATL-2300, sadly it had reached the end of the road; although these days considering the rarity value I might have considered a serious restoration effort.

Tom Kershaw said:

I wish I still had my ATL-2300, sadly it had reached the end of the road; although these days considering the rarity value I might have considered a serious restoration effort.

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If you wish to re-acquire one Remjet lab (@remjetlab on Instagram) restores them on a regular basis. He's really breathing new life into these machines and does not price gouge. Though it's still not 'cheap'.

NortheastPhotographic said:

If you wish to re-acquire one Remjet lab (@remjetlab on Instagram) restores them on a regular basis. He's really breathing new life into these machines and does not price gouge. Though it's still not 'cheap'.

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Thankfully for the time being I'm happy with my CPP-3. There seem to be a few alternatives to the Jobo coming on the market soon, the New Zealand product and something out of Italy, but I'm not sure these are suitable for Expert drums / sheet film work.

Tom Kershaw said:

Thankfully for the time being I'm happy with my CPP-3. There seem to be a few alternatives to the Jobo coming on the market soon, the New Zealand product and something out of Italy, but I'm not sure these are suitable for Expert drums / sheet film work.

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The CPP3 is excellent. My primary goals are automation and efficiency but for a lower volume environment you really can't do much better.

Tom Kershaw said:

Thankfully for the time being I'm happy with my CPP-3. There seem to be a few alternatives to the Jobo coming on the market soon, the New Zealand product and something out of Italy, but I'm not sure these are suitable for Expert drums / sheet film work.

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I'm the New Zealand guy, the Chromabox-4 that I'm developing will do sheet film up to 5x7 using holders from 21st Century Camera, I've used one of their 4x5 holders in the prototype machine a few times and have had no problems. It won't take JOBO drums though as the machine operates in a significantly different way (spins the film inside the tank vs. spinning the entire tank).