I have a Nikor 4x5 development tank that I hope to use for 4x5 BW development. But I'm seeing postings that this tank is harder to use than obvious. Is it? I'm used to using the 35mm and 120 tanks with good success. Is the 4x5 tank so different? For those who do successfully use it, what are your hints? I gather careful (frequent?) agitation is important. Vick
I think some people have trouble with the flow of the developer through the cage causing streaking on the negatives. I always make sure to use a developer and a dilution that take long enough for that to be less of a problem (8-10 minutes minimum) and I make sure to agitate with a swirling motion to get the developer going in all directions through the cage. But you definitely need to have the zig-zaggy band in place if you're going to be swirling it, or else the film will all slide out! It also takes a bit of time to pour the chems in and out, which is another reason not to use a short development time... Duncan
I used one briefly for a while, but it was without any widget to keep the sheets in their slots. The sheets invariably slid out, and uneven processing resulted. I think Duncan above gave good advice for how to use the tank effectively: Make sure the sheets don't 'escape', and use dilute developers for longer dev times.
I used this tank a few times, without any problem. When loading, attention shell be paid to the emulsion side of the film. Load tank with the emulsion looking inside of the film curve. This way emulsion didn’t touch any metal surfaces of the cage and developing will be even. Also, as I noticed some people successfully used rubber band instead of a zig-zagy metal band, but I never try this because I have a metal band.I had a problem only once, when first time used this tank, and loaded it without attention to the emulsion. The negatives witch was loaded with the emulsion facing to the outside of the film curve was ruined. If you will practice to load this tank with lights on, you will see why uneven developing happens. Film when loaded always have a contact with the metal parts of the cage from the outer side of the curve. But in the same time the inner side of the film absolutely free of any contacts and will be fully immersed in the developer.
I use mine with an extra tank so I can load the reel, stash it in the extra tank, fill the 4x5 tank with developer then plop in the reel in the dark. Cap it and do the developing routines while I put the fix into the extra tank. After a quick rinse in the dark the reel goes into the fix tank and cap it till the fix is good. This avoids the pour time problems. The extra tank is from a large diameter 220 setup.
Thanks all. I played with the tank and a scrap film. It all becomes clearer now, and loading it doesn't seem so hard. And thank you for the pointer to the manual.
Jealous, they are a few hundred dollars on eBay usually... Blah... Why Patterson/JOBO should buy the MOD54 patent and make them cheap (and in the US), just for me :grumbles: "stupid tacos...." ~Stone The Noteworthy Ones - Mamiya: 7 II, RZ67 Pro II / Canon: 1V, AE-1 / Kodak: No 1 Pocket Autographic, No 1A Pocket Autographic Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I scanned my Nikor 4x5 instruction sheets in and put them in PDF format, if that's your preference. http://www.backglass.org/duncan/apug/nikor_cut_sheet_tank_instructions.pdf Duncan
That's great! I'm saving this just in case, but the last page "Oftener" is that REALY a word? Just sounds improper somehow. ~Stone The Noteworthy Ones - Mamiya: 7 II, RZ67 Pro II / Canon: 1V, AE-1 / Kodak: No 1 Pocket Autographic, No 1A Pocket Autographic Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I've asked Hewes about whether they'd make them, indicating how much they were selling for on the used market, and they said it would be too expensive to manufacture today, and just to get a Jobo sheet film reel, even if they can't take as many sheets as the Nikor tank. Have you counted the spot welds on that thing? It's something like 120.
You mean the MOD54? that thing is plastic... hewes wouldn't make it, I thought they only did metal parts... sure they might make a Nikkor tank but like they said too expensive for the small amount of clientele. But the Mod54 is just plastic, that thing could easily be mass manufactured by Paterson or JOBO.
