B's roller base

abruzzi · Jul 11, 2023

I've had two failures buying used Unicolor/Beseler roller bases. So as I get frustrated with 40 year old equipment that was badly stored and corroded, I was thinking maybe new would be better. Price is a little higher than used, but but not outrageous. I haven't seen anyone comment on these:

B's processor — Bounet-Photography

This is the new and improved B’s processor, check out all the new functions, compactness and versatility!

www.bounetphoto.com

Has anyone used one of these? I use a Patterson for 120 that this would work on, and I have a Beseler drum for 8x10 film this would work with as well. Nothing yet for 5x7 or 4x5, but I could find a Beseler drum that has the dividers for smaller sheets, if it works out well.

Besk · Jul 11, 2023

I have been using a Unicolor roller base for years.
B's processor looks good but I would want to know about the quality/robustness of the motor.

abruzzi · Jul 11, 2023

Yeah my question comes from the same place.

on the positive side, since this is a modern design made of DIY stuff (arduino, 3D printing), its likely that the motor is easily sourced from Mouser or Digikey.

Donald Qualls · Jul 12, 2023

abruzzi said:
I use a Patterson for 120

Your three-reel Paterson (holds two reels of 120 width) will accept a 4x5 adapter (B's offers one of those as well, or the Mod54 has been out a while).

johnwwyatt · Jul 12, 2023

I've been using the B's roller base for a couple years very successfully with various sized Paterson tanks developing 35mm, 120 and 4x5 b&w film. I find that it achieves very consistent and even development for various films. My only issue sometimes is a little leaking from the lid; I have the roller in a 11x14 development tray to catch the spills. I use mainly LegacyPro 110 at 1:31 dilution fort development. I plug the roller into a darkroom timer for powering/timing.

Alan9940 · Jul 12, 2023

abruzzi said:
I've had two failures buying used Unicolor/Beseler rNothing yet for 5x7 or 4x5, but I could find a Beseler drum that has the dividers for smaller sheets, if it works out well.

Check out B's 4x5 reel, especially if you decide to go with his roller base.

Bruce Butterfield · Jul 12, 2023

I've been using the B's processor for a few months and it has been a very pleasant experience -- I'm getting much more consistent development and I'm very happy with results. Note that I'm using it for B&W only, with fairly new Patterson tanks (as long as I burp the top I don't have any leaks.) I just use setting 1 for everything -- 2 rotations forward, 1 backward with varying rotational speed.

I'm curious about other folks opinions on using continuous agitation for B&W development -- I know this can be a bit of a contentious topic but I have to say I haven't seen any real world difference between intermittent manual agitation and continuous. The main differences for me are all on the side of continuous; less chemistry, (somewhat) shorter development times, and much better consistency. Plus it allows me to multitask during development/fix cycles; cleaning, measuring, etc. What do other people think?

Alan9940 · Jul 12, 2023

Bruce Butterfield said:
I'm curious about other folks opinions on using continuous agitation for B&W development -- I know this can be a bit of a contentious topic but I have to say I haven't seen any real world difference between intermittent manual agitation and continuous. The main differences for me are all on the side of continuous; less chemistry, (somewhat) shorter development times, and much better consistency. Plus it allows me to multitask during development/fix cycles; cleaning, measuring, etc. What do other people think?

I've used a Jobo CPP-2 with 1500 & 2500 series tanks/reels and 4x5 / 8x10 Expert Drums for nearly 30 years now. I've processed with "normal" developers like HC-110, D-76, etc, and with staining developers like Pyrocat-HD and PMK. I can't say I've ever done any formal testing between hand agitation and Jobo processing, but I can say that I've never been disappointed with any result out of the Jobo. As a matter of fact, I tray processed sheet film for about 15 years before getting the Jobo and, IMO, Expert Drums using some means of roller base provide the most consistent and evenly developed film I've ever seen.

And, like you I really enjoy being able to do other things while processing is trucking along. Honestly, I've read so many good things about the B's processor that I'm thinking about trying one for my smaller format films in Paterson tanks. The Jobo does a great job with these films, too, but it ain't a short or easy process to setup and tear down for each use (I don't leave mine filled with water.)

I do have a question for you B's processor users: What level of temperature drift, if any, have you noticed? I'm concerned that in the summer when my darkroom is running at about 82F ambient and trying to process film at 68F or, even 75F, that the internal chemical temp may drift too much.

abruzzi · Jul 12, 2023

Bruce Butterfield said:
I've been using the B's processor for a few months and it has been a very pleasant experience -- I'm getting much more consistent development and I'm very happy with results. Note that I'm using it for B&W only, with fairly new Patterson tanks (as long as I burp the top I don't have any leaks.) I just use setting 1 for everything -- 2 rotations forward, 1 backward with varying rotational speed.

I'm curious about other folks opinions on using continuous agitation for B&W development -- I know this can be a bit of a contentious topic but I have to say I haven't seen any real world difference between intermittent manual agitation and continuous. The main differences for me are all on the side of continuous; less chemistry, (somewhat) shorter development times, and much better consistency. Plus it allows me to multitask during development/fix cycles; cleaning, measuring, etc. What do other people think?

Thanks for the feedback, this is definitely helpful to hear. A Jobo is too expensive and too large for my setup, and honestly, while I do color on occasion, B&W is where I spend most of my time.

Bruce Butterfield · Jul 12, 2023

Alan9940 said:
I've used a Jobo CPP-2 with 1500 & 2500 series tanks/reels and 4x5 / 8x10 Expert Drums for nearly 30 years now. I've processed with "normal" developers like HC-110, D-76, etc, and with staining developers like Pyrocat-HD and PMK. I can't say I've ever done any formal testing between hand agitation and Jobo processing, but I can say that I've never been disappointed with any result out of the Jobo. As a matter of fact, I tray processed sheet film for about 15 years before getting the Jobo and, IMO, Expert Drums using some means of roller base provide the most consistent and evenly developed film I've ever seen.

And, like you I really enjoy being able to do other things while processing is trucking along. Honestly, I've read so many good things about the B's processor that I'm thinking about trying one for my smaller format films in Paterson tanks. The Jobo does a great job with these films, too, but it ain't a short or easy process to setup and tear down for each use (I don't leave mine filled with water.)

I do have a question for you B's processor users: What level of temperature drift, if any, have you noticed? I'm concerned that in the summer when my darkroom is running at about 82F ambient and trying to process film at 68F or, even 75F, that the internal chemical temp may drift too much.

I'm probably going to be removed from the B&W developer's hall of fame for this but I've never been overly concerned with temperature control -- I know it can make or break color development but for B&W I just use room temperature distilled water and chemistry. It does help that I live in a moderate climate (Seattle) and the bathroom I use for a darkroom is windowless so maybe I'm just lucky.

SodaAnt · Jul 16, 2023

abruzzi said:
Yeah my question comes from the same place.

on the positive side, since this is a modern design made of DIY stuff (arduino, 3D printing), its likely that the motor is easily sourced from Mouser or Digikey.

The type of motor isn’t listed on the linked site. If it’s a brushless DC motor I would expect it to last much longer than the brushed DC motors used in the Unicolor and other earlier bases. The product page for the B’s says it uses stainless steel hardware, which is always a good thing when dealing with aqueous processes like film and paper development.

Alan9940 · Jul 16, 2023

I was just about ready to push the BUY button, but then looked through the User Guide and noticed that he recommends manual inversion agitation for 4x5. Crap! I shoot much more 4x5 vs smaller formats. Guess I'm just going to have to get off my lazy butt and use the Jobo.

Sirius Glass · Jul 16, 2023

Alan9940 said:
I was just about ready to push the BUY button, but then looked through the User Guide and noticed that he recommends manual inversion agitation for 4x5. Crap! I shoot much more 4x5 vs smaller formats. Guess I'm just going to have to get off my lazy butt and use the Jobo.

You will never regret the Jobo 3010 Expert Drum for developing 4"x5" sheets on a Jobo processor.

B's roller base

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