MOD54 Mk27, B's 4x5 developing reel Mk2, Stearman Press SP-445 compared with HP5+

Hi all,

I'm returning to 4x5 processing after some years. I used to tray process 6 sheets at a time in small trays, with good results.

I'm testing daylight processing options, since I don't currently have a darkroom.

Attached are the results of my first pass comparing the three products mentioned in the title. The MOD54 and B's Mk2 reel went in a Paterson 3-reel tank. All holders were loaded correctly, and had a full complement of sheets (6 sheets for the MOD54 and B's Mk2, and 4 sheets for the SP445).

All images shot on Ilford HP5+ at box speed (ISO 400). Process was ILFOSOL 3 at 1+9, 20ºC for 6.5 minutes. Agitation by gentle inversion: 4-6 inversions for the first 30 seconds, then 4 inversions every minute (approx. 10-15 seconds). Drain 20 seconds before development time completed, followed by a 30 second stop bath, and then 3 minutes in ILFORD RAPID FIXER. Wash was a version of the ILFORD wash method. Dried in small 3D printed racks, and some in clips (I'm testing drying approaches too).

I photographed a pretty-evenly lit wall in my apartment, the camera at about two-feet away, with the lens focused at infinity, so the resulting image should be decently even gray.

Here are the results. These are simple hand-held camera "scans" with a Nikon Z and a Kaiser Lightbox, they are not perfectly squared off. I inverted them in Lightroom, and deliberately exaggerated the contrast to reveal the results of the processing.

Obviously I'm not thrilled with any of these results, but it should be noted that the actual test images I took and developed at the same time look much better with "normal" contrast and exposure settings in the scans, although the same processing variations can be seen if you push them around.

What I'm hoping for here is some feedback on which of these tanks/reels is the best starting point for further refinement, and if there are any tips on developers, developing practices, times and inversion techniques, to make the most of the best of these three options. (Ultimately I think I'll go back to tray processing, but that'll have to wait until I get a darkroom going again.)

MOD54
The most obvious issues here are the over-development around the areas where the negative touches the arms of the holder; and the larger irregularity on the right side where liquid flow must be difficult (I do not believe the sheets were touching or loaded wrongly: they felt good before development, and looked correct after, during washing). Perhaps a different agitation technique could help the latter, but I don't know how to avoid the arm-marks.


B's 4x5 developing reel Mk2
This reel shows some interesting swirl patterns, particularly on the bottom right, where I imagine the liquid flow is tightest due to the shape of the reel. Overall it's more even, and without the obvious issue of the MOD54's contact points. The test image developed this way looks decent.


Stearman Press SP-455
This seems to be the best of the group, although it's still blotchier than I would prefer. I would appreciate any tips from SP-445 users on agitation or developers. But if I can refine this process, I love the size and convenience of the tank. And am excited for the forthcoming SP-645 6-sheet variant.
(There's a nasty scratch on this sheet, caused by an ugly bit of plastic flashing on one of the SP-445 film holders which I hadn't noticed. I'll double check them in future before use, but that's a minor detail.)


Any thoughts or comments welcome.

Interesting results. In the future, please consider doing a sheet in tray development as a control.

BrianShaw said:

Interesting results. In the future, please consider doing a sheet in tray development as a control.

Click to expand...

I wish I could’ve but I don’t have a darkroom currently, hence these tests. Maybe I can black out a bathroom sufficiently at night just to test, I may try that.

I do not have any experience developing 4x5 HP5+ in Ilfosol. My observation is that 6:30 may be too short a time. I remember from my TriX/HC110 days that development times less than 5:00 were not recommended because of uniformity issues, so I have always leaned toward longer times. I develop 4x5 Delta 100/400 in DDX for 8:00-10:30 in a SP-445 with no issues.

… and a very poignant reminder to check for extraneous flashing or sharp edges on holders. I’ve not experienced that and will double-check just to be double sure.

Given you're working in a dark bag to load these tanks, it may not be practical, but for the price you might want to test a Yankee Agitank. They're available from Freestyle and cost less than either the Mod54 or B's reels for your Paterson.

Downside is it uses a lot of liquid (1.65 L to cover 4x5 up to 12 sheets) and it's a little tricky to agitate without sloshing fluid out on your work surface until you get the hang of rocking it up to one end, then the other, then back down level as equivalent to an inversion cycle. With replenished developer this isn't a problem, but if you're strictly a one-shot user you may need to shop around on price for developer. It's also a little tricky to get correctly loaded (I've had more misloads than "clean" tank runs, but I don't shoot much 4x5 and I've only used mine three or four times), but at only about $40 it might be worth trying -- especially if you might shoot more than six sheets in a session.

Upside is that 1.6 L seems like less when you realize how fast the tank can fill and drain -- it's comparable to a 1 L Paterson.

Thanks for all the replies and suggestions.

A quick update. I did two further tests: tray development (to check my memory of how well that worked); and the SP-445 with DD-X and more frequent, shorter agitation cycles. Again, these are essentially gray-card photos, and I've deliberately adjusted the contrast to show the unevenness in development at its worst.

Tray
This was in ILFOSOL 3 at 1+9, 20ºC for 6.5 minutes (as previous tanks were). Agitation was by cycling the 4x sheets from bottom to top for the first 45 seconds or so, then one "shuffle" every 30-45 seconds, counting five sheets each shuffle (there were only four in the tray) to ensure they all got equal time on top of the stack. This does look about as even as I recall, and shows no obvious issues aside from slight overdevelopment on the edges.


SP-445 with DD-X
DD-X 1+4 for 9 minutes. Agitation about 10-12 inversions for the first 30 seconds, followed by 4 alternating side inversions every 30 seconds. This felt like the best tank result, and closely matches my tray result. I think the longer standard development time of DD-X is probably a contributing factor, so I may ditch the ILFOSOL for 4x5. It's a little streaky in the direction of my inversions, so I'll add some left-to-right inversions as well as the front-to-back, and I think could get this to match the tray result, which is good enough for me.

This is good timing for me. my local spot didn't have DDX last time so I bought some Ilfosol 3. My next sheets will get the Ilfosol 3. My first go with the Mod54 didn't result in the little "flares' you have at the arm points, but I had 2 sheets end up touching.
Any idea how many refinements the Mod54 has been through? I think mine is 3-years old.
Anyway, I appreciate all of the members on here who are willing to go through stuff like this and kick the results out into the community.

I am a huge fan of Ilfosol 3, probably the biggest one here, but I would never use it for sheet film. Ilfosol 3 is extremely unusual: it is initially highly active but also exhausts very quickly, to the point of getting noticeably different results from 300ml of developer with 36exp rolls vs shorter custom-cut rolls. You want the opposite behavior with sheet film if you want uniformity. Moreover, its strength is higher acutance which is nearly pointless with medium format, let alone 4x5.

Diluted Xtol or Ilfotec HC are much easier to work with.

I have used both the Mod54 (6 sheets in Paterson) and Yankee/Combi tanks (12 sheets), and here is my experience to get even and good quality development.

Common: I presoak film in water for 2-3 minutes before developer. And try to keep similar temperature.

Mod54: I use the middle stick to twist and turn, which gives me better flow of liquid around sheet film. I use Rodinal 1+50 or Clayton F76+ (Arista Premium) 1+9, 5 gentle twist clockwise followed by 5 gentle twist anto-clockwise, repeat 2-3 sets at each top of the minute. That is about 15 seconds for each minute.

Yankee/Combi tanks: I use Rodinal 1+50, and rock back and forth for about 10 seconds at top of each minute. Indeed this setup require much more liquid, and liquid will slosh out. But I can develop 12 sheets in one go. And after some practice, I can reliably load 12 sheets without overlapping.

Overall I like the Mod54 a bit more, mostly because it can do color (E6, C41) easily. I have 1L reusable liquid kits for color, and the Paterson is my standard. But Yankee/Combi tanks are also good for a lot of B&W sheets in one go.