Processing more than one film at a time

My question concerns processing more than one film at a time in stainless steel tanks. So far, I have been using for-single tank and processing one at a time. Next time, I'd like to use (new to me) tall tank and do two or three at a time.

My tank is about 7" tall and it *just* fits two 120 reels and one 135 reel.

1) can I process two 120s and one 135 at the same time? Or is this for two 120 reels only?

2) If I just fit two 120s, when I agitate, there will be quite a bit of reel movement. Are there any issues with this such as bubble formation? Should I place an empty 135 reel to fill the space?

3) How far do I fill the chemicals? To the brim or enough to cover the reels? I am aware, with some chemicals, such as D-76 1:1, chemical volume will dictate, but this isn't so with XTOL.

4) Kodak literature mentions "small tank" and "large tank". In some literature, it only mentions 8 and 16oz tank and 1/2 gallon tank. How do I (or do I need to) compensate for time?

5) Are there anything else I need to be concerned with, or do differently, from my usual one-at-a-time tank?

Thank you as always for answering my never ending Qs!

When Kodak talks about large tanks, they mean big sheet film tanks that hold gallons. Use the small tank time.
If the lid fits correctly with the 35 reel in place with the 120's, use it. If you have a roll of 35 to process, it's fine along with the 120 as long as the timing is the same. Always fill to the brim.
Unless you're using Xtol straight you will need to make sure you have enough stock in a diluted mixture just as with D-76 or any other developer.
For big tanks it's best to fill them with developer then put the reels in in the dark and start the timing. The fill time can be pretty long if you do it through the lid and you risk uneven development, or too much for the lowest reel and not enough for the top. Dumping in the dark isn't a bad idea either, but it's not as critical at the end.

If you are a true jedi master, you can spool two rolls of 35mm onto one reel. I've done it with 120 too. Beware, that agitation could possibly be affected, but I've never had any problem using Diafine.

BetterSense said:

If you are a true jedi master, you can spool two rolls of 35mm onto one reel. I've done it with 120 too. Beware, that agitation could possibly be affected, but I've never had any problem using Diafine.

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I've done this with 2 rolls of 120 on a plastic patterson style reel but am wondering how this would work with 35 ?????

brucemuir said:

I've done this with 2 rolls of 120 on a plastic patterson style reel but am wondering how this would work with 35 ?????

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Back to back, but it's not a great idea. If the film has an anti-halation backing on the back surface, then it doesn't get washed out adequately when the film is back to back, so you would have to respool wet film from the fixer to wash it adequately.

tkamiya said:

...4) Kodak literature mentions "small tank" and "large tank". In some literature, it only mentions 8 and 16oz tank and 1/2 gallon tank. How do I (or do I need to) compensate for time?
...

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"Large tank" has nothing to do with your case, you have a small one. The interesting thing about the development times Kodak suggests is that the large tank times are those for small tanks increased about 10 - 15%. There's a little detail though, they suggest agitation at 1' interval for large tanks and 30'' for small. Since agitation affects development time, you can probably change to large tank times if you wish to agitate every 1'.

I can load two 120 rolls onto one plastic reel, one after the other, using the tape which attaches the film to the paper to join the two films together. Sometimes it is easy and other times I invent new swear words in the process.

I don't think the reels have sufficient capacity to load two 35mm films one after the other though.


Steve.

tkamiya said:

My question concerns processing more than one film at a time in stainless steel tanks. So far, I have been using for-single tank and processing one at a time. Next time, I'd like to use (new to me) tall tank and do two or three at a time.

My tank is about 7" tall and it *just* fits two 120 reels and one 135 reel.

1) can I process two 120s and one 135 at the same time? Or is this for two 120 reels only?

2) If I just fit two 120s, when I agitate, there will be quite a bit of reel movement. Are there any issues with this such as bubble formation? Should I place an empty 135 reel to fill the space?

3) How far do I fill the chemicals? To the brim or enough to cover the reels? I am aware, with some chemicals, such as D-76 1:1, chemical volume will dictate, but this isn't so with XTOL.

4) Kodak literature mentions "small tank" and "large tank". In some literature, it only mentions 8 and 16oz tank and 1/2 gallon tank. How do I (or do I need to) compensate for time?

5) Are there anything else I need to be concerned with, or do differently, from my usual one-at-a-time tank?

Thank you as always for answering my never ending Qs!

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Follow bdial's suggestion. I would load two 120reels and insert the empty single 35 on top to keep the other reels from rattling around. FWIW, I have several multi-reel tanks, but never use them. I get more consistant results doing single reels. Yes, it does take more time, but I have plenty of time, and I never allow myself to getget a backlog of film. Always follow the film manufacturers recomendations, and do everything you can to be consistant. Take many notes of everything you do, from shooting to finishing, track all steps. Keep a step by step procedure list next to you when processing, so as not to make any errors. I could go on for a very long time on this subject, but you dont need that.
Keep on shooting, and have fun.

Rick

When processing many reel at the same time, you need to make sure that all reel are submerged into the chemicals. Therefore, you should insert spacers, aka empty reel, to avoid the reel to move around and getting stuck on top of the tank over the chemical level. Also, regarding consistency while processing many reels at the same time, you should be aware that when you fill a big high tank, the lower reel will receive more development than the top one if you don't poor the chemical fast enough.

I personally process my roll regularly and can get away with a single 220 reel or two 135. I process my 120 by taping them together on SS 220 reel.

I have routinely processed two 35mm rolls at a time in a two-reel tank. Not a problem.

Others have mentioned the practice of loading two strips of film back to back in the same reel - this is an old newspaper trick. It's possible to do it but - - -
- be careful. If the reel is hard to load when there is only one roll of film, it will be VERY hard to load with two rolls of film.
- make sure that you have enough chemical to process all of the film. In particular, if you are using a highly dilute developer, a standard tank may not hold enough developer to be able to have enough of the developer concentrate. Using a developer that calls for a lower dilution may be smart.
- my opinion - I wouldn't try to do this with roll film. Roll film is too hard to load under the best of conditions.

I have a couple of four-reel tanks that I use on rare occasion when I have a lot of film to process. There is a difference as the tank gets larger. Because the tank is bigger and heavier, a subtle difference is you tend to subconsciously change your agitation pattern. This can lead to less contrast than you are accustomed to getting. This can be a sneaky effect until you understand what is causing it.

When I used to shoot 135, there was no problem mixing the two formats in the same tank. I use a Patterson five-roll tank, which helps with large amounts of film quite easily. There should be no problems at all, but as with any new step in your photographic routine: test test test.

Processing multiple format in a single tank works, as long as the developing time are all the same and there is enough chemicals to cover the top.

I used to process on a budget, winding two 35mm back to back onto one spool, and 4 120 film onto one spool, that was before I found cheaper and more economic developer like Ilfosol 3 and Rodinal. I wouldn't recommend it, unless you are on a shoe string budget as I was earlier.

Taping one end of both 35mm together and wind it on the spool was not difficult, but time consuming, and also there is higher risk damaging the negative especially in a changing bag as the film canister parts or other tool can scratch the film which I later discovered and spent more time in post production. I followed the manufacture recommendation for developer dilution (DDX), and found no problem with the negative. As for the reusable stopper and fixer, 10% more was added before mixing just to make sure the extra load of film won't exhaust the chemicals that fast. And they all turn out fine.