New Daylight-Developing-Tank announced

Slixtiesix · Feb 20, 2017

Looks interesting and they say it will be available this summer: http://www.ars-imago.com/lab-box/
May be great for all those who want to shoot film but do not have the space for a darkroom.

Hans Mulders · Feb 20, 2017

Yes intrestring project.
I'm going to follow this.
I wonder what the price will be and how easy it will work.
Last week I had a "fight" in the dark with a film which did not want to go into the spiral of a Jobo.
This new thing could make life more easy.

Sal Santamaura · Feb 20, 2017

It will be interesting to see how, for 120, "...the film is loaded in the lower slot and clipped to the reel" under room light conditions without fogging. Many cameras expose their final frames within little more than an inch of the film's end, which is what must be clipped to the reel in this device.

Additional points of curiosity: will it have a built-in knife to cut paper/tape away after film is on the reel or do they expect the film roll crank to be turned backwards while holding the developing reel fixed, thereby 'ripping' the paper and tape away? How will separate fluid/dry compartments be sealed during processing? What agitation scheme is intended and how even will results be?

If this post sounds skeptical, that's because it is. Making a closet dark to serve as a film tank loading space is not too difficult. Running water and drains are the real obstacles, which LAB-BOX does nothing to overcome. I wish them complete success, but won't count on it, especially since there are so many other roll film development options already available.

pentaxuser · Feb 20, 2017

Like Sal I cannot quite work out how you can be sure of clipping the 120 film to the reel in day/room light with so little "spare film" before the first negative appears but I presume they tried this many times with different rolls and are satisfied that even the less than adept user can do it without exposing the negative area to light. I am also unclear on how the backing paper is finally removed unless you simply cut the backing paper but leave a little on the end of the film so the backing paper gets developed as well so to speak.

A U-tube video would have been helpful. It may very well work OK and be largely foolproof but if I were a potential buyer I'd need to see it demonstrated before I'd be happy to buy it

pentaxuser

Ricardo Miranda · Feb 20, 2017

Not a new product, but a revamp of an old one with one innovation as far as I can see: modularity.
See: https://rondinax.wordpress.com/

For the 2 posters above, this is how the 120 version works. You Tube video for Pentauser:

There you have it!

Slixtiesix · Feb 20, 2017

I must admit that I wonder about these aspects either. However, decades ago there was a similar product made by Agfa (The Agfa Rondinax 60) and this worked well and is a very rare and sought after item today. So there must be a way to work around the problem...

Edit: Yes, this is the thing mentioned!

railwayman3 · Feb 20, 2017

I've used, in the past, both 120 and 35mm Agfa Rondinax daylight-loading tanks, useful in their way. The 120 version removed the film from the backing paper in 2 stages, by pulling the film into a sort of sealed cassette, then clipping a leader ribbon onto the end of the film to draw it into the tank, which, with care, pierced only the start of the film where it had been taped to the backing. Not as complicated as it sounds, but the film needed to be tightly wound when taken from the camera and to be left for a day to get back its tight roll, otherwise it could stock or, worse still, concertina. The 35mm version had a rather small built-in thermometer, which was OK for B&W. The original "new" price was reasonable, probably equivalent to about £40-£50 ($60-70 maybe) now, but I wouldn't pay some of the Ebay prices which they seem to fetch.

But I'll follow this new version with interest.

mgb74 · Feb 20, 2017

Ease of loading would certainly be an advantage. Reminds me a bit of the old Minox and Kodak tanks the load in daylight. But I have some questions:

How well will the loading work with different emulsions
Will the reel load when wet (from the previous use)
How effective will agitation be

I realize the tank is oriented to occasional film users. But I have to wonder if it's just a very expensive alternative to a changing bag.

Sal Santamaura · Feb 20, 2017

Ricardo Miranda said:
Not a new product, but a revamp of an old one with one innovation as far as I can see: modularity...

Very interesting -- thanks. Two questions arise:

How compatible will the new product be with Acros, since the base of 120 Acros certainly is thin and squirrelly compared to others in that size?
How even will results be with manual rotary agitation on a reel, given the 'road ruts' many suffer when using Jobo rotary agitation with 120? As a side note, my hand and wrist are in pain from just looking at that video and imagining turning the small knob for so long.

Of course, answers will only be available if/when Lab-Box becomes a real product.

Thanks again; I wasn't at all familiar with Rodinax.

Hans Mulders · Feb 21, 2017

It's on kickstarter now.
I pledged for one multiformat package.
Want to give them a chance.
Now I have to wait till september earliest

gary in nj · Feb 21, 2017

It looks like in order to use this system with 35mm film you'd have to rewind the film, leaving the leader in place. Seems as though there is a high potential for not being able to load a roll of film that has rewound "aggressively".

OptiKen · Feb 21, 2017

Wow. too late already.
I was going to go for the unit and (2) modules @ 89 Euro but they are already sold out.
Next time.
Guess I'll just wait now until they hit the market and some reviews are out

keenmaster486 · Feb 21, 2017

Wow, it's quickly growing! $30K already!

pentaxuser · Feb 21, 2017

Sal makes a good point about turning what looks like a fairly small knob for maybe more than 10 mins continuously. Maybe they will think about adding a detachable crank or maybe the reel is so easily cranked that even 10-15 mins isn't a problem?

pentaxuser

Hans Mulders · Feb 21, 2017

pentaxuser said:
Sal makes a good point about turning what looks like a fairly small knob for maybe more than 10 mins continuously. Maybe they will think about adding a detachable crank or maybe the reel is so easily cranked that even 10-15 mins isn't a problem?

pentaxuser

If you fill the tank only half (250 cl) then of course you need to keep rotating the knob.
If you fill it up completely (500 cl) you rotate as with agitation every 1minute about 10 seconds.

locutus · Feb 21, 2017

This honestly seems like a lot of hassle for not having to use a darkbag....

Harry Stevens · Feb 21, 2017

Slixtiesix said:
I must admit that I wonder about these aspects either. However, decades ago there was a similar product made by Agfa (The Agfa Rondinax 60) and this worked well and is a very rare and sought after item today. So there must be a way to work around the problem...

Edit: Yes, this is the thing mentioned!

Well one went on UK Ebay the other week for £245.00,pheraps they are collectable or pheraps if you have a long term disability they could be of use......Left me scratching my head why a bid would reach £245.00 for one .

pentaxuser · Feb 21, 2017

Harry Stevens said:
Well one went on UK Ebay the other week for £245.00,pheraps they are collectable or pheraps if you have a long term disability they could be of use......Left me scratching my head why a bid would reach £245.00 for one .

Harry, it seems like only yesterday but was probably only a few months ago that the Rodinax was around the £40 mark. Maybe they are getting scarce and wil get scarcer. It might explain the kickstarter project. It is likely to be the case that a lot of analogue newcomers have neither the facilities, inclination or the money to have a darkroom but do have the facilities for hybrid so only need a daylight film processor.

pentaxuser

Helios 1984 · Feb 21, 2017

You got my attention, now where do I sign to get one?

Slixtiesix · Feb 21, 2017

Update: Wow, just a few hours and they fetched way over the threshold amount! They added a nice video too!

Prest_400 · Feb 21, 2017

Wow! Kickstarter already launched and it's gone past funding goal in 2h.
All the super early promo pledges are gone, given the scheme I may guess that the price for the tank and a module will hover around 80€.

Wallendo · Feb 21, 2017

At the bottom of the kickstarter page they mention that they are working on "Automated Knob Rotation" and "Temperature Control". If they can accomplish that then this could secure a niche as the poor man's Jobo.

holggger · Feb 21, 2017

This seems to be directly directed and marketed at people who have never developed film before and have no idea of how easy it is even without a box like this.
If you don't mind spending that much money and if it works well, then there's nothing I have to say against it. Wouldn't get one myself, though.

Also, I had to cringe a little when seeing how the video is basically telling people to develop their film on a table at their favorite cafe and then take the still wet thing out and have a look with all your friends at what's on the film... What happened with washing that thing properly and drying it dust-free?

Slixtiesix · Feb 21, 2017

I must admit I found the video funny as well. This guy at the end who is taking the dev tank in his backpack anywhere he goes together with all the chemicals... How far from reality is this? :-D
Seriously, as someone who can put a roll of 120 film on a JOBO reel in less than 2 minutes I´m not really interested in this thing either, but I think it could be great for people without a permanent darkroom. Students, people living in a single room flat etc. come to my mind. It can be frustrating to get a room completely light tight and even more so if you have to do it every time you want to develop film.

Maris · Feb 21, 2017

Slixtiesix raises an important consderation. Developing film without a darkroom has been around, in various forms, for decades. What the world really needs is a kickstarter than solves the challenge of exposing and processing paper without a darkroom. After all the film negative is only an intermediate step, not the end point, in producing final photographs for inspection or display.

New Daylight-Developing-Tank announced

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