Jobo ATL-1000 for Tri-X, Plus-X & TMZ

[phc]

Hi folks,

Since the un-deved films are piling up on my desk (about 200 now), I've taken the plunge and I'm now the proud owner of a Jobo ATL-1000. This means, of course, that all the times that I've been using for developing must be re-learnt. So I'm asking for some clues!

I use 400TX at 400 and 1600, Plus-X at 125 and TMZ at 3200. My standard dev will be HC-110B. I usually dev at 20degC.

Any ideas at how long I should set the machine to dev as a first attempt on a test roll? I was using 7-8min for 400TX in a hand tank, despite Kodak's sub-4 minute claim!

Thanks, Paul.

 

[MikeSeb]

Take the manufacturer's small-tank times at 24C/75F and subtract 10-15% as a starting point. Where "rotary tank" times are published, 5-10% less than those.

You'll get usable negs right outta the tank this way. Adjust to taste.

You'll love the jobo for its consistency and ease of use.

 

[ic-racer]

How did you determine you needed 7-8 min in the hand tank?? Why can't you use your same procedure to get your time for the ATL?

The way I would do it is to fire off a test strip with a 21 step wedge with the tank. Check the gamma. Then run a wedge in the ATL. Aim for a development time to give the same gamma. When you get the time, test it with some real pictures of favorite subject matter and see how they print. If they print on Grade 1 to 3 I'd be happy with the development time.

 

[Andrew K]

I've found with the Jobo processors that I can use the same processing times as normal hand processing.

The reason is that you need to pre-wash in the Jobo to get even development (I pre-wash for 5 minutes) - this seems to dilute the developer down a little, so it all seems to even out.

I used to hand process in Patterson tanks - invert continuously for the first minute, then 15 seconds (3 turns) every minute...I use the same dev times in my Jobo and the negs are identical....