Reveni labs is working on an automatic dip-and-dunk film processor

[Steven Lee]

The title says it all. Just found out about his latest Kickstarter:

 

[madNbad]

I really love the guys at Reveni but will there be much demand for this product? Fix the cube meter, improve the battery life in both the cube and the spot meter, bring the do it mostly meter to market, make all of them successful then work on the dip and dunk. If it’s aimed at someone who wants a Jobo, it needs to be better than the Jobo and easier to use. If it’s designed to be the center of a small lab, market it that way. An individual would have to expose a lot of film each week to even consider it. Good idea but Matt needs to market it to the right group.

 

[halfaman]

Where is the agitation? I don't see anything happening after dipping the tank into a cylinder. In D&D machines there is gas bubling (air or nitrogen) and in combiplan type you need to lift out the rack like shown below to renew the chemical in contact with the fillm.

 

[foc]

I wish them the best of luck.

Personally, it reminds me too much of the old Kis type minilab back in the 1980s.
Kis were not renowned for its film lab processing quality, they later rebadged other brand equipment under their name. Think of them as the Zenit equivalent in film processing machine design (that is probably insulting to Zenit )

I noticed that if you overfill the chemical mini tank, when the developing tank is lowered, it would spill over onto the heating pad underneath.
I agree with @halfaman , where is the agitation?

 

[Ballinderry-Michael]

It looks to me as if it relies on raising and lowering the tank for agitation. The likelihood of spilling and consequent messiness bothers me a bit too. I did e-mail Matt to ask him about compatibility with European electrical systems and got a good reply. As this processor is not for me (I use stainless steel tanks and a basic Jobo heater), I'll let others take up these questions with him.

[I have both Matt's meters and am very happy with them]

 

[Donald Qualls]

I'm certainly not in that market. First, I lack the counter space to set up four gallon paint cans (equivalent) and the dunker; second, I don't shoot enough film to want or need this, and third, assuming that's a flow-through daylight tank being dunked, it's just as much trouble to load as a regular tank (and if it's not, I have to stand there in the dark while it runs anyway).

 

[Alan9940]

I, too, wish Matt all the best with this new product but a couple of things bother me about the agitation cycle:

1. I can't really tell from the intro video but it looks like the solutions enter from the bottom of the tank through some arrangement of light-tight holes. It would be nice to know exactly how solutions flow up from the bottom inside the tank. When I first started using tanks & hangers, I got surge marks from the holes along the bottom of the hanger because I was agitating too fast. I guess I'm envisioning the same issue with this tank.

2. Is a simple up/down sequence enough to provide sufficient agitation? How 'bout a twist? Doesn't seem like a good idea to have solutions moving in the tank with a consistent pattern.

And, I could develop only two 35mm or one 120 with each run? Like Donald, I wouldn't have the counter or sink space in my darkroom for this machine.

(I, too, own both of Matt's meters and am happy with them)

 

[Ian Grant]

It's like reinventing the dunk dip processor inside a Photo-booth with additional complexity.

Ian

 

[btaylor]

It's like reinventing the dunk dip processor inside a Photo-booth with additional complexity.

Ian

I knew that set up looked familiar! The Photo Booth processor with software.
I don’t see why it wouldn’t work, dip ‘n dunk has been around a long time. People seem to like these gadgets. It’s clearly a hobbyist’s machine- it will only do a couple of rolls at a time. Personally, I don’t share the fascination, a couple of rolls of B&W or C41 takes only 15-20 minutes in a hand tank. But there does seem to be a market- and anything that supports film and film processing is wonderful IMO. Hope they are successful.

 

[BHuij]

I'm very intrigued to see how it goes, and I'm watching the Kickstarter carefully. I think Matt is a sharp dude, he's always been really responsive to his community (and me personally), and I absolutely love my Reveni Labs spot meter. I don't feel a need for this particular product, and IMO it has too many compromises (need for a full liter of every solution, and the subsequent heating time and energy costs) to justify a $950 price tag when a used Jobo could probably be had for not much more. But I wish Reveni Labs the best of luck. It's a company I like a lot.

Edit: I just noticed it's $950 CAD, so more like $700 USD, which feels like a much more comfortable price point TBH.

 

[Xylo]

950$ is a lot of money. And he will be up against both Jobo and Filmomat. So far, the only advantage I can see to his device is a lot cheaper than the competition.
Personally, I've never been a big fan of open air containers, especially the blix (boy does this stink!). I have a hard time imagining my darkroom and it's inefficient ventilation if I were to develop film using this device.

But like is said, he's a really nice guy (I've talked to him once). So I have to wish him the best of luck with this project.

 

[Randy Stewart]

I'm not in the market, but there may be a modest market out there. It does not require the continuous manual intervention of a Jobo, nor it an over-priced plastic fantastic with limited functional life. It is not strangled by the process step limitation of a Filmomat and others. It projects cost of about 20% of a Filmomat. It's process options are more like a Dev A, but it is priced about 12% of that machine and lacks its automation. So whether it reaches its Kickstarter goal seems dependent on how many buyers step forward based on a relatively cheap price and are willing accept its Rube Goldberg character, spillage (my guess), and other limitations. My guess: Those who have the interest will have the money for a Filmomat or Dev-A, and this one will die in Kickstarter hell.

 

[Wallendo]

I find this device interesting, and falls at a reasonable price point for my limited needs. I don't know if I will participate, however, as this appears quite bulky and I don't do a lot of color with film. For black and white, I use XTOL 1+1 one shot so the minimum fluid required by this significantly would increase my developer usage. I would really like to see this in action, as I suspect it could be messy. I may break down and subscribe for this for color use ... but I wonder if my more useful investment would be a film washer since washing B&W film (and the multiple water changes required) after development is the main hassle I have with developing film (I currently use an Aura rotary processor).

 

[MattKing]

This would be excellent for those who love to test films

 

[Xylo]

One thing's for sure, it's definitely a one of a kind processor that's going to require surprisingly little maintenance.

 

[BHuij]

It's funny, he seems to have noticed the complaints a lot of people had about capacity, and upgraded it to do up to 3 films at a time. That was the last thing on my mind when looking at it, it's a rare day that I develop more than a single roll at a time haha.

 

[fiddle]

It's funny, he seems to have noticed the complaints a lot of people had about capacity, and upgraded it to do up to 3 films at a time. That was the last thing on my mind when looking at it, it's a rare day that I develop more than a single roll at a time haha.

I think he did that in order to accomadate 4x5 reels.

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

I would want one just so that I can sit there and watch it do its thing

 

[pentaxuser]

It's like reinventing the dunk dip processor inside a Photo-booth with additional complexity.

Ian

That's exactly what it reminds me of from the 1960's, Ian. As I recall it, you had to stand by the "chute" from which the film exited for maybe a minute at least before the print was dry. Everything was analogue then and Al Koran, my favourite card magician on TV, looked like he had stepped right out of Michael Corleone's Las Vegas casino

pentaxuser

 

[Xylo]

I would want one just so that I can sit there and watch it do its thing

I don't blame you because I'd probably do the exact same thing if I had one
And to be honest, it's probably much more fun to watch than most of the stuff on TV...

But yeah, I always loved those old style photobooths. So many fond memories of them when I was a kid.

 

[railwayman2]

Back in the day I used to spend many hours in my home darkroom, and, after a small chemical spillage, I asked my insurance company whether my home insurance policy would cover me for damage if I had a real disaster.

The advice was that, as with any ordinary personal hobby interest, I would be covered, providing that I was using amateur equipment and materials packed and sold specifically for amateur use. Any paid work, or "a business operated from home" would have to be declared to the home insurers.

Just a thought, if anyone were considered this machine, and certainly storing and lugging arounf pails of chemicals in a domestic environment would seem a no-no anyway ?

 

[Xylo]

I guess it all depends on the type of floor in the darkroom.
I know a guy who dropped an entire tank of used blix for a Noritsu type processor... Lets just say that there were a lot of unhappy people in the house!

 

[scottwww]

I wish them the best of luck.

Personally, it reminds me too much of the old Kis type minilab back in the 1980s.
Kis were not renowned for its film lab processing quality, they later rebadged other brand equipment under their name. Think of them as the Zenit equivalent in film processing machine design (that is probably insulting to Zenit )

I noticed that if you overfill the chemical mini tank, when the developing tank is lowered, it would spill over onto the heating pad underneath.
I agree with @halfaman , where is the agitation?

The arm holding the film would spin and raise slighty and down again, converted on to do B&W processing
Worked well for me during the late 80s & 90s
2 rolls at a time but in 20mins its was processed