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Developing 4x5

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Krzys

Krzys

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May 28, 2009
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Brisbane, QL
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35mm
I have never developed 4x5 before and I am finding tray developing a bit daunting. Its not the logistics I am afraid of but the results, uneven development, stains and scratches. I can easily develop 35 and 120 in a tank with very pleasing results so obviously I would be inclined to find a tank for 4x5.

I have been looking at the Jobo 2523 a two reel 4x5 rotary film tank for $99 and two reels for $64 each from B&H. It seems to be the cheapest way to develop 4x5 in a tank (designed for 4x5, not taco in a standard tank) though still looks expensive compared to using the trays which I already have.

When it comes to developing in tanks over trays it is just for the convenience? It seems from my research that anyone who is serious is using tanks where as trays is a more amateur method, at least in this day and age.

I have also heard about the Orbital processor unit which seems to be very rare. Folks say that it can be had for a cheap price but I find that hard to imagine with the demand.

I would like to know about your specific way of tray developing, why it works for you and how you got to that stage.
 
I've been looking into this recently, too. Trays may be more inconvenient, but using 4x5 tanks with the inversion method uses ALOT of chemicals. Cost is also an issue, those jobo tanks are pricey. Ansel Adams's The Negative has some useful information about tray processing. Tray processing also allows you to develop each sheet for the exact amount of time you want, so you can push or pull each sheet of film as you wish.

I bought a Yankee cut film daylight tank, used it once, and I'm planning on getting rid of it. I used over a liter of developer and got really uneven development. I think I'm going to go back to trays.
 
I would be using a rotary method, rather than inversion. So very little chemicals would be involved (say 200ml?)
 
It's actually the evenness of development that makes tray processing attractive. In the Zone VI Newsletters, Fred Picker touts using 11x14 trays. He added a note in a later newsletter saying it's with 3 quarts of developer. I see what he means about pristine quality skies but the cost in my case is I am still getting some fine scratches.
I used to use a Nikor tank but had to abandon it because I was ruining my negatives with unevenness where the central spiral would disturb the flow of developer.
Haven't tried Jobo.
At the website affilitated with Beyond the Zone System they have intriguing film tubes that I think may deliver the evenness of random agitation with the cleanliness of tanks.
 
I haven't developed 5x4 in quite some time, but when I did, I used 5x4 film holders and 3 upright containers with my D, S, F. Admittedly, I had to do all of the processing in the dark, but I got great results - even development, no scratches and the ability to push/pull/at leisure.
 
I found the 25 series drums OK, I did move to the expert drums because I had the CPP2 processor. The only things to make sure you use is the little black tabs to hold the film in. The results are great and you can do all steps in the drum including washing with the cascade washer. A simple roller base can be made and rotate by hand or get a motorized base. I would go this way.
Pat
 
Haha, taco.

When I first started that's how I did it. Film taco in my crappy tank. Now that I'm thinking of doing a really big project, I'm rethinking 4x5 developing as well. Good thread for me to keep an eye on.
 
For those using drums/tanks (that work!) how much did you pay for your setup?
 
I use dedicated 5x4 sheet film holders - picked mine up for a song used for about $10 for 5.

To agitate, I use a "dip and dunk" style - place sheet film on holder into dev and every agitation lift out, angle down and place back in; repeat but angle the opposite corner down and place back into dev.

From memory, I think I did this 4 times per minute: lift, angle corner closest to me, dunk; lift angle corner farthest from me, dunk.

Bought the containers from Target or KMart from memory (could probably even get at a Woolworths), they included lids. I just took one of my holders along to make sure they fitted - hang on each side perfectly with enough room at the bottom so that it doesn't touch. I can process up to 5 sheets at any one time using this method.

Total cost: $15.00
 
I use a 25xx Series Jobo with agitation. No waste of chemicals if you use replenished XTOL.

Cheers
rst
 
I think tray development is great—it is simple, very flexible, and produces great results reliably. It is easy to do 12 or more sheets at a time, and each sheet can be its own development time in a single run. I will be happy to detail to you how I do it, if you are interested. Just let me know.
 
I tried tray developing when I first started to develop 4x5 sheets, its actually pretty easy, but you do end up using quite a bit of dev compared to other methods. If you're worried about scratching the film then you can buy a slosher tray, which fits into a normal trary but has compartments to keep each sheet separate.

In the end I decided to go with BTZS tubes. With this method you have one tube per sheet of film and you use about 60ml of dev per sheet. The closed tubes float on water in a tray and you manually rotate them; floating on the water helps provide a really enven development. If you're interested in this there are youtube videos describing the whole process. The main reasons I went this way because the process mostly happens in daylight and you can develop each sheet of film for a different amount of time and keep track of things easily.
 
I use 2521 jobo tanks all the time (one real tank).
It takes 1.2 liter water.

I use pyro at 1:1:100 so I use 12cc A and 12cc B for the 1.2 liter.
So the cost issue is not an aspect for me.

Next the benefit for a full tank is that the temperature is much more stable than a rotating device if it has no heating.

Second I can work in normal light. Working with open trays is more time expensive. If you put in to negs they may not overlap each over while in. And you have to search for them in the tray in the dark when moving from develop to a stopbath.

I never had any problems with uneven negs using tanks. I normally agitate each 30 seconds 1 inversion, but when the scene is contrastly i can change the agitation during development, which is not the case when using a rotation mechanism.
 
I like the Paterson Orbital. Like a light-tight tray than can do up to four sheets at a time, and only requires around 150ml of developer solution.

Simple to load, quick to fill and empty, and even, scratch free development.

The only issue is finding them - I eventually got one off Ebay UK for less than GBP25.

Until I got this, I used the taco method in my 120 tank.
 
Have you looked into using a tray insert(refered to as a 'slosher')? There is a thread about them here somewhere, I was just reading it last night, shouldn't be too hard to find. PF makes a very good model thats been getting raves, a tad pricey but worthwhile.

Rick
 
I've got an older Jobo 4323 (I think, not at home) and 2021 reels for 4x5. Actually have two drum/reels sets. I got these off ebay at different times, didn't pay over $30 for either set. I roll them on a unicolor base.

Mike
 
I have a couple of Jobo reels/tanks, but I prefer dip and dunk film hangers. Next to trays, they are certainly the cheapest solution, at least in terms of equipment. My tank holds one L and can accomodate 5-6 sheets, I use my developers one-shot, but going replenished would make the chem cost very low as well.
 
I've used metal hangers, 4x5 trays and so far my favorite is the Yankee Agitank. You could process up to 12 sheets at a time with about a liter of chemicals. Here's a link to Calumet for the Agitank: http://www.calumetphoto.com/item/BR8902/

You could also find them on Ebay. Good luck!
 
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