Is the Sous Vide the DIY Jobo?

ChristopherCoy · May 20, 2020

I had been thinking about aquarium thermometers etc, and wondered if I could make a DIY tempering unit, and today I saw a youtube video where a "sous vide" was being used. Some sort of underwater heater coil with and immersion unit. Can we say water bath heaven?

I know that B&W chemicals aren't THAT precise and I can use room temperatures and adjust development times, but... why? If this is so easy?

Never heard of these things, but it's now on my shopping list.

AndyH · May 20, 2020

My last attempt at C-41 processing was several years ago, and it did NOT go well. I attempted to use an aquarium heater to maintain temperature, and the C-41 kits of the time required more development time, so temperature control was more critical. The results put me off from a second attempt until quite recently, as I am now shooting a quantity of film that justifies the expense.

I do have an Instant Pot with a sous vide function that provides a constant temperature with an accuracy within one degree, actually less most of the time, and I use sous vide cooking anyway, so I broke down and finally found one on eBay for under $30 including shipping. Prices start generally at around $40 and can go up well over $100, but I'm a cheap s.o.b. so I went with a simple open box model. It's rated for precision to within 1/2 degree and it's got a heavy circulator motor, so it should work well for maintaining my dishpan water bath. If it doesn't work as well as expected, I can still use it for cooking a couple of steaks at a time.

Even with relatively short development times, this seems like the easiest and most affordable way to go.

Andy

MattKing · May 20, 2020

The Sous Vide approach is great for colour.
But for black and white on a boat in Texas, not so much.
For it to be helpful, you need a process that requires that the chemicals be heated, and given its level of precision, more than just a couple of degrees.

Joao Gomes · May 20, 2020

See Cinestill Temperature Control system.
For the price is the better choice.
For sure you can buy a cheap sous vide in eBay... But that one o offers much better quality and was developed taking in mind the use in photography.
It's supposed to be more precise in temperature range used in photography (which are significantly lower that the ones used in sous vide cooking), something different in the resistance too, and the software is designed to use in photography development workflow, instead meat cooking!! =D

Nevertheless, I was looking for that Cinestill... But I ended buying a 40 years old JOBO CPA 4100 COLORPROCESSOR and I am very happy with it. The reason I do that? JOBO colorprocessor let you use tanks and drums and has automatic rotation to process film and paper in a easier way!

Cheers from Portugal! =D

ChristopherCoy · May 20, 2020

MattKing said:
The Sous Vide approach is great for colour.
But for black and white on a boat in Texas, not so much.
For it to be helpful, you need a process that requires that the chemicals be heated, and given its level of precision, more than just a couple of degrees.

it could be good for winter processing though. And if I ever decide to try color.

Donald Qualls · May 20, 2020

Whoa! I'd seen these from a couple photo suppliers, at $100 or more. Didn't realize they were available for this much less. I just grabbed one on eBay for $36 including shipping, claiming 0.1 C precision. I can calibrate against my darkroom thermometer, so I don't care much about absolute accuracy -- as long as it'll maintain with the required precision. Nice!

Roger Thoms · May 20, 2020

Just got a Anova, the 750 watt, here’s a link to a post about it. Haven’t processed film with it but I did test it out and it holds temperature very well. Same price as the Cinestill, but the Cinestill is currently out of stock.

what waS your last photography related purchase?

Roger

ColdEye · May 20, 2020

The only thing that sets the cine still apart is those two handle things that supposed to grab bottles or tanks. Save your money and get they cheaper ones on ebay. I have an Anova that I use for cooking and it has held up pretty well for almost 2 years of almost daily use.

Kilgallb · May 20, 2020

I use the Anova and never looked back. I checked the digital temperature readout with a lab thermocouple and it was within 0.1 degrees C.

I bought the plastic food container made for the purpose to hold the water bath. A cheap way to keep the system at temperature.

fiddle · May 20, 2020

I have a 1000w one, payed maybe $50 for it. I use it to process c41. Throw my bottles in a plastic container, fill with water, turn the guy on and measure the devs temp. Reaches the desired temp pretty quickly.

blacksquare · May 21, 2020

Joao Gomes said:
See Cinestill Temperature Control system.
For the price is the better choice.
For sure you can buy a cheap sous vide in eBay... But that one o offers much better quality and was developed taking in mind the use in photography.
It's supposed to be more precise in temperature range used in photography (which are significantly lower that the ones used in sous vide cooking), something different in the resistance too, and the software is designed to use in photography development workflow, instead meat cooking!! =D
Cheers from Portugal! =D

Really?
Physically the same device as normal sous-vide cooker from Amazon for half price. Same temperature range and control.
I would really like to know where the development for photographic use is.

eatfrog · May 21, 2020

blacksquare said:
Really?
Physically the same device as normal sous-vide cooker from Amazon for half price. Same temperature range and control.
I would really like to know where the development for photographic use is.

View attachment 246652 View attachment 246653

I have exactly this second one but mine doesnt say redmond. I think they rebrand that same device for a lot of brands, including cinestill.. It works totally fine in any case. Still gotta use a thermometer to check the temp of the dev while its doing its thing.

radiant · May 21, 2020

The cinestill Sous De Vide machine is just rebranded to cinestill. I've seen exatcly the same kind of sous vide machine but on different color and logo.

Also the C-41 is not that super critical to temperature, it seems. Of course one should maintain certain temperature, but check out this video of about developing C-41 "badly" - and you will see the real effect. Results start at 12:42 ..

foc · May 21, 2020

vedostuu said:
The cinestill Sous De Vide machine is just rebranded to cinestill. I've seen exatcly the same kind of sous vide machine but on different color and logo.

Also the C-41 is not that super critical to temperature, it seems. Of course one should maintain certain temperature, but check out this video of about developing C-41 "badly" - and you will see the real effect. Results start at 12:42 ..

Very interesting video. I wouldn't recommend the 1st method in the video. No matter how experienced you are, you will not judge a chemical temperature correctly just by touching it.

C41 developer is designed for 3min 15 sec @ 38C and there is a reason for that, consistently good quality results

After the 1st method of developing, the guy says "we have pictures" BUT we don't see the negatives properly.
After the 2nd method of developing, we get to see the strip of negs against a backlight, briefly.

I suspect that the images shown in the comparison are corrected scans from the negative and not a true representation of how each film turned out.

I would have prefered if we could have seen side by side comparison of the negatives simply because the negatives never lie.

radiant · May 21, 2020

foc said:
Very interesting video. I wouldn't recommend the 1st method in the video. No matter how experienced you are, you will not judge a chemical temperature correctly just by touching it.

You are absolutely right. The purpose of the video was just give perspective to the accuracy of the temperature.

And about the density; probably those negatives were screwed for color printing but if you always scan the negatives it isn't so critical as the color twist can be also corrected digitally.

I don't really mean that one should do C-41 carelessly but just a perspective to the temperature accuracy.

grain elevator · May 21, 2020

As has been said, there's no point in it for b&w. If you look for one, make sure it actually allows such "low" temperatures. Many don't, probably to prevent user error as sous vide cooking can only be done above ~56°C, below one gets accelerated rot. These lower temperatures do have their culinary uses though, e.g. chocolate tempering. Maybe they even sell devices as chocolate temperers?

Donald Qualls · May 21, 2020

The one I bought on eBay (for $35 including shipping and tax) claims 0C to 100C -- so I presume it's designed for a broader spectrum than just sous vide cooking -- which I still don't understand, and don't much care. It's a good photo tool at a good price, assuming it works as it should (I'll test it this weekend, even if I can't develop any film because I'm still getting stuff organized).

Paul Howell · May 21, 2020

I have my color film processed at my local mini lab, but use a pet heating pad I had on hand for R4, have it set for 80s degrees, takes a while to stabilize but once in the zone, seems to be very stable, spot on with my color termometer (mercury) at 80 degrees. Still have process a print, will attempt this afternoon or in the AM.

Adrian Bacon · May 21, 2020

ChristopherCoy said:
I had been thinking about aquarium thermometers etc, and wondered if I could make a DIY tempering unit, and today I saw a youtube video where a "sous vide" was being used. Some sort of underwater heater coil with and immersion unit. Can we say water bath heaven?

I know that B&W chemicals aren't THAT precise and I can use room temperatures and adjust development times, but... why? If this is so easy?

Never heard of these things, but it's now on my shopping list.

I use the anova for my tempering bath. It’s an earlier model from what you have pictured, but, yes, it’s excellent. I do have multiple JOBO units, but find that a separate tempering bath lets me pre-stage a bunch of chemistry for a big processing run.

Kodachromeguy · May 21, 2020

I never heard of sous vide - proves how out of the mainstream I am. "In French, the term translates to "under vacuum," which makes sense. Chefs vacuum seal a protein with marinade, sauce, herbs, or spices and drop it in a large pot of water. There’s no contact with a heated metal surface. No contact with flames or steam or smoke. The water never comes to a boil. Yeah, it's pretty low-key." Hmm, sounds like the concept of a crock pot - slow cooking, simmer in lots of spices and juices, time is not super critical.

Sirius Glass · May 21, 2020

While Sous Vide will help with temperature control, there is still the need for agitation so the cost for all the necessary parts, one would be much further ahead accomplishing the mission and financially if instead one searched for used Jobo processors and tanks. I got my Jobo PPE2 for around $140US on APUG.

Valerie · May 21, 2020

Just take photos. You don't need this to make good pictures.

Donald Qualls · May 22, 2020

@Valerie But if it costs you a net $20 to get your $10 roll of film processed, and your monthly film/processing budget is under $100, where are you? You can process your own C-41 for a dollar or so per roll (depending how you source your chemicals) -- and this simple, cheap tool will make it easier to get the best possible results in home processing.

Ariston · May 22, 2020

Donald Qualls said:
@Valerie But if it costs you a net $20 to get your $10 roll of film processed, and your monthly film/processing budget is under $100, where are you? You can process your own C-41 for a dollar or so per roll (depending how you source your chemicals) -- and this simple, cheap tool will make it easier to get the best possible results in home processing.

Yes - my $40 sous vide (sp) has paid for itself many times over. It works perfectly for c-41 and slide film. I only process b&w at room temperature, so I've never used it there.

Slide and color film can cost as much as $20 per roll at a mail-in lab, if you want your negatives/slides mailed back to you. I ain't rich.

AndyH · May 22, 2020

Sirius Glass said:
While Sous Vide will help with temperature control, there is still the need for agitation so the cost for all the necessary parts, one would be much further ahead accomplishing the mission and financially if instead one searched for used Jobo processors and tanks. I got my Jobo PPE2 for around $140US on APUG.

Honestly I've never seen one for less than $500 in working condition. Lucky find for you, I think.

I have all the tanks, timers, reels, etc. from my former darkroom days, so my total cost for the sous vide system was $18 for the sous vide and $7 for a new dishpan. IT should get here tomorrow and I'm hoping to try it out this weekend. When I tried color processing many years ago, it was even fussier in temperature range, and I've seen a bunch of reasonably successful results today with DIY temp controls, so I'm hoping I'll be able to get consistent results on this.

Andy

Is the Sous Vide the DIY Jobo?

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