Developing 120 film

[ndwgolf]

Has anyone tried to use the Paterson 120 tank on a Beseller motor drive for developing 120 film. And if so how much chemicals do you use??
Neil

 

[glbeas]

You would have to have a minimum of half a tank full to cover the film. I would have to wonder about the consistency of the development. If you have the equipment shoot a test roll all of the same image and try it. Looking at the first and last frames should give you an idea. Most developer charts should give you adjustments for constant agitation.

 

[MattKing]

I use a Super System 4 tank (2 x 120 or 3 x 135 reels) on a Beseler automatically reversing rotary agitator for all my film development, but with the following cautions:
1) it works well for all stages of the process, except most (all but the first 30 seconds) of the developer stage. That includes (in my case) pre-rinse, 1st 30 seconds development, stop bath, first fix, second fix, rinse, HCA;
2) the problem with the developer stage is that the film migrates while in the reel - I expect because at that stage it is very slippery;
3) I frequently develop two 120 rolls in the same reel. This works well if I use inversion agitation for most of the developer stage, but is a disaster (the films overlap) if I use rotary agitation for all the development;
4) In my 1 litre tank, I use 1 litre of replenished X-Tol developer. All the other solutions work well with 600 ml;
5) You need the latest version (Super System 4) of the Patterson tanks, because they are the closest to having straight sizes;
6) You need to get good at "burping" the press on tops on the tanks, in order to prevent leaks.

I've also done something similar with stainless steel reels in plastic steel tanks - works well, but it is noisy!