@mshchem I hear you. I remember not thinking much about getting one, but the thing outperformed my wildest expectations, kicking the JOBO out of the house. My temperature control comment had nothing to do with the TAS per se, just the general observation of uselessness and inconvenience of water baths. Those contraptions are simply not necessary for roll film. In fact, I suspect that most JOBO users have been developing film for years not getting even close to the 100F without even knowing it. You lose far more temperature in a JOBO lift during pouring than via ambient cooling during the short window of 3:15. Well... unless you're developing outside in the winter. My testing was done within 66-72F.
To summarize, here's my list of why the TAS is better than a rotary processor:
- Better for B&W film because it facilitates intermittent agitation with configurable pauses.
- Better agitation than a simple rotation.
- Far more compact and does not require much storage space.
- Better built. No plastic.
- Much cheaper.
The JOBO's advantage is the ability to work with larger tanks.