Deep Tank

[Graham.b]

Hello all, as above, anyone got one or use one of these. How easy is it to dev film and prints. Or get a Jobo and use trays as i do now.

Graham

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

Deep tanks are very convenient if you have a lot of film to process or if you use a replenishable developer. I use the Nikor daylight tank, trays, or tanks and hangers depending on what I'm doing.

Deep tanks aren't normally used for prints.

 

[Anscojohn]

When I think of deep tanks I remember working for a photographer in the 1960s who souped all film in huge porcelin tanks into which the 120 films were suspended vertically. They were partially sunk into the floor so we did not have to reach too high. We could do about fifty rolls at a time, each film clipped with ss clips on to a ss holder. Once we found a missing roll which had come off its clip in the developer tank and which had been in the soup for more than a week. Believe it or not, with some Farmer's Reducer, we were able to use the negs even though there were some holes eaten through the film support. The prints were lousy, but we got prints. But I digress.

For my film, nowadays, I use several brands of hard rubber tanks which hold either one gallon or half a gallon of solution. depending. I presently soup my film in D23, or sometimes HC 110, which I replenish. I use ss reels for 35mm and ss sheet film holders for 4x5 and 5x7. I get very even development but the down side is sitting in the dark until the film goes into the fixer.

I have no desire to use daylight tanks for my sheet film. My archaic, less-that-100 percent-conventient method works for me. With all the lamentation, consolation, and instruction pertaining to daylight sheet film tanks and roller processing, I am chary about changing anything to something more convenient. I may consider one of the pyro developers one of these years, though.

John, Mount Vernon, Virginia, USA

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

Yes, when professional labs talk about "large tank" processing, they usually mean something like this--

http://www.gde.dk/refrema/repages/products/dip.html

Which usually occupies its own room (or there may be a few in a large space).

 

[CBG]

Deep tanks are very easy to use. One option that makes deep tanks more accessible for those who don't do tons of film are the one gallon 8x10 tanks

I don't know what format you wish to use, but my vote for the most versatile deep tank for moderate amounts of processing is the one gallon stainless steel 8x10 tank. I don't have one right by my computer to measure but they are maybe 2 inches thick by 10.25 inches by 9 ish inches. The trick is that you can process 4x5 in "4 up" hangers, 5x7 in "2 up" hangers and 8x10 in the usual 8x10 hangers.

While I have not done this yet, a blank shaped like the outside profile of a hanger, made of thick plexiglass or similar could reduce the volume of the tank further so you could economically process just a couple of sheets at a time.

The 3 1/2 gallon tanks look too big for my modest needs.

Learn to load film in hanger using a bad negative or waste one sheet - first loading in the light, then with eyes closed, then in dark, before doing the process with exposed film you wish to come out well.

Best,

C

 

[Graham.b]

Hello C, the tank i seen was on Ebay.NOVA AMBASSADOR FILM/PAPER DEEP TANK PROCESSOR. It did seem like a good deal, but i also thought is this a item that would only more of a multi dev of film, and not for the dozen or so films a year. Jobo looks a good set up, but the same process is also set by a fish tank heater in what would be a tank.
Regards Graham

 

[Ronald Moravec]

Stainless 4x5 sheet film tanks work with hangars, proper hangar rack for 8 sheets of 4x5.

Film on reels with a lift rod allow you to use it for roll film. Rotate 1/4 turn raise width of film, lower rotate 1/4 turn. These motions may be combined.

 

[vet173]

Make your own. I made mine out of clear acrylic so I could watch them develop with NVG's. Make the INSIDE dimensions 10 1/2 x 10 1/2 x 2 3/8. 2 in was to close and negs wanted to stick together and is too tight to work with comfortably. It also only used 3.5 L. 2 3/8 used 4 L even, easier to mix up ( for my dead brain anyway). Make them out of 1/4 in, thinner will be too flexible.

 

[PHOTOTONE]

I love processing sheet film in my 3.5 gallon tanks. Cesco-lite, or Kodak. It takes less than 10 oz of HC-110 syrup to make up 3.5 gallons of Dilution "E", and it can last for a month in tank if you are careful. I easily process 20 sheets of 5x7 on 10 double-sheet hangers, or 40 sheets of 4x5 on 4x hangers. One one of my photography outings I regularly shoot around 60 sheets of 5x7, so I appreciate being able to process the whole lot in just three processing runs.