Sheet film in Rodinal

[richard littlewood]

Just wondering what sort of tank - if any - is good for a semi-stand with Rodinal and 5x4. I tried a Jobo 2553 (using it like a Patterson tank) and (foolishly) 12 sheets of FP4, 18 mins total, initial 5 sec inversions time then 5 secs of gentle inversions on 6 mins, then same again on 12, did gentle figure 8 type inversions, but got a blochy look and some edge build up - I also do a decent pre-soak.
I think maybe I'm using the tank wrong, but I'd appreciate the input of anyone who devs sheet film, semi or stand in Rodinal, and manages decent overall development.
Cheers
Richard
www.richard-littlewood.com

 

[BobNewYork]

Jobo 2500's have been my choice for 4x5 for years now - never had that problem. I use the inversion method as per Film Dev Cookbook and it works just fine. I'm not overly gentle on the agitation - tried stand once and didn't like it particularly. Rodinal 1+99 and Tri-X or TMX - beautiful. I tend to do inversions for the first minute, then two inversions every minute thereafter - same in the fix. I switched to "manual" after the motor in my CPP-2 died. And I wished it had died earlier! I only do 6 sheets at a time in the "single tank - I wonder if that has anything to do with it? I have the double tank but the thought of inverting 3 litres for a full minute turned me off - I use it for washing while I develop the next batch. Perhaps when I can benchpress a VW Beetle I'll give it a shot...!!!!

Bob H

 

[Martin Aislabie]

Richard - have you considered a Combi Plan Tank - http://www.novadarkroom.com/product/123/Combiplan_5x4_Sheet_Film_Tank_.html

I use several in a sort of production line - I pre fill the tanks with the necessary chemicals, then in the dark move the carrier from one tank to the next

For sheet film I think its the closest you can get to a standard Paterson type tank for 35mm

I don't use Rodinal or prolonged stands between agitation, I use ID11 1+1 and 10 sec agitation every minute

Good luck

Martin

 

[sly]

I have done semi-stand (1+100, agitatate for first minute, 10-15 sec agitation every 15 min for an hour) with 4x5 in a tank. The tank is an FR. It came with my 2nd hand darkroom, so I don't know how old it is, or how it compares. It's all I've ever had for 4x5. It can't be inverted, so agitation is done by tipping and joggling. It takes 1.5 litres to cover the film for normal processing. I find that with semi-stand I was getting uneven development at the top edge of the film, and I now fill it to the brim (about 1.75 liters). A bit slops over with agitation, but I've been happy with the results. It makes for fairly dense negatives with a long tonal scale. I like them for pt/pd printing. Not so great for silver printing, but split grade printing usually gives me something reasonable.

 

[blokeman]

I've always used a JOBO, never had problems with unevenness although I usually stick to 6 sheets per load, sometimes 4. Have used Rodinal with this method 1:100 & 1:50, Tri-X, Delta 100, T-Max and Agfa 100. I could write my processing times if needed but others have done this already. I find Rodinal a very 'even' developer & I find no need for fancy inversion patterns, agitating for the remainder of the first minute after pouring in the developer.