Request for a point in the right direction...

[Matus Kalisky]

Intriguing... Can quality LF BW negatives be developed using simple trays by someone with rudimentary experience enlarging and developing BW prints from roll film? Or, do you really need some kind of tank development system to get consistent results?

You have just said that you have darkroom experience. Obviously more than I do

Indeed there are tanks to develope 4x5 films, but you can do with trays as well.

For tray developement you need some 5x7 inch trays. You may also consider some plastic food containers as they can be deeper.
I used 3 trays (developer, stop bath, fixer) and two containers - one large for pre-wash (I put film to plain water for a few minuts before it goes to developer) and one for final washing - after fixing. Then I use one small one where the film gets a shor rinse (water + photo-flo - tu supress the possible water marks). Once developed you hang your negatives in the bathroom (usually the least dusty place) and let them dry overnight.

You will need some timer (I still use my mobile in a pocket) as you will be working in total darkness - you can not use safelight in this case.

The developer is your choice - ther are ZILIONS of them. I decided to go with Pyrocat-HD (cheap, long shelve life) what is not a traditional one, but that's what I have started with. Search around to learn more. I am not an expert.

For contact printing you need of course the stuff to develope the paper - but this you have done before. On top of that you need a light source with a timer to swith it on and off. If you still have an enlarger that should work fine. And you need a sheet of glass that you put on top of paper+negative sandwitch to keep them tightly ot top of each other. There are usually a few contact printing frame on the action site (paterson, jobo). Like this one or you cen get a more proffesional one with coated glass. I do fine with the paterson.

Good luck !

 

[Bob F.]

Intriguing... Can quality LF BW negatives be developed using simple trays by someone with rudimentary experience enlarging and developing BW prints from roll film? Or, do you really need some kind of tank development system to get consistent results?

Plenty of people use trays but there does seem to be a knack to it - a fair bit of reading about how others do it would be useful. I have never tried it and use the Jobo 25xx series tanks and reels.

You can use these with inversion agitation but they use a lot of chemicals that way. They are mainly intended to be rotated so you will need something to rotate them on: either a Jobo processor or, somewhat cheaper (!), a manual roller.

Each reel holds six 4x5" negatives and you can also use the tanks with different reels for 120/220 film. These are all readily available new, or used on the auction site.

Good luck, Bob.

 

[monkeytumble]

Looking for a couple of articles...

Since last posting I read Simmons' book "Using the the View Camera" and read many of the articles on LF photography website, and subscribed to View Camera. Does any one have the following articles from View Camera magazine:

1. Closeup Lenses, July 1989, pages 30-33
2. Up Close and Personal: Macro Photography, July 1992, pages 32-38.
3. Processing Sheet Film, July 1990, pages 46-49.

Thanks,

Jay Decker
Kennewick, WA

 

[Terence]

I tray developed B&W 4x5 for several years. Very easy and cheap. The only trick is getting used to do even simple things in the complete dark.

 

[John Kasaian]

Since last posting I read Simmons' book "Using the the View Camera" and read many of the articles on LF photography website, and subscribed to View Camera. Does any one have the following articles from View Camera magazine:

1. Closeup Lenses, July 1989, pages 30-33
2. Up Close and Personal: Macro Photography, July 1992, pages 32-38.
3. Processing Sheet Film, July 1990, pages 46-49.

Thanks,

Jay Decker
Kennewick, WA

IIRC, reprints of all the articles are available from View Camera magazine---shoot 'em an e-mail for details.