Sheet film with hangers

[pwitkop]

I was wondering what experiences people have had with proccessing sheet film (4x5 specifically) with hangers? And would there be issues with staining developers, specifically pyrocat? It's a lot of chemistry, and I don't think I'd want to do more than one batch of film per tank of developer (or would I?), but I did a few calculations and with 8 sheets per tank, it'd be about $00.20 a sheet, which isn't bad and the tanks (according the description at B&H) are supposed to hold 12 sheets.

I'm considering changing processing methods since my jobo isn't doing so well; the magnet came off, and got epoxied back on, but it's not quit straight so it pulls the magnets off the tanks, and I'm not exited about searching for spare parts. I'll cerntainly fix it, but I'd like to have other options on hand for sheet film.

Peter

 

[wildbill]

There are many threads on this subject started in the past. Try the search button.
I've made tanks that hold 4 sheets and 1000ml chemicals and Two sheets with 500ml chemicals. Results are fine as long as you agitate quickly. Pyro and rodinal are considered "one shot" developers but i've re used rodinal w/o any issues and pmk a second time as well. Move quickly. I'd trade methods with you if your machine worked and i had the space!
vinny

 

[Ian Grant]

I used film hangers and large deep tanks a lot back in the 70's and 80's, and they are very easy to use. Using Pyrocat shouldn't be a problem but remember once mixed it wouldn't have a long tank life. Not being familiar with the smaller tanks you thinking of I don't know their capacity, I use an older Jobo (Inversion type) now and find it's economic with Pyrocat using 1litre of dev for 6 sheets of 5x4.

Ian

 

[Deckled Edge]

Having just left tray development for Unicolor/Chromega drums, I would suggest the very modest investment in a Uniroller and an 8x10 tank, in which you could do 4 4x5s with 4 oz. of chemicals. No problems with edge over-development, for which the hangers are infamous, and, like Jobo, the lights are on most of the time, with minimal drips. My negs have never looked so good, and the densitometer don't lie. My $.02.

 

[ann]

i have used and still do use hangers in tanks usually 8 sheets to a batch. Never have had any issues unless i got a brain cramp

 

[PHOTOTONE]

FILM HANGERS have been an industry standard way to develop sheet film in quantity for 50 years. It is a tried and proven professional method. The agitation and developer choice would have to be worked out based on your film choices. While the "standard" tank for 8x10 format hangers is 3.5 gallons, I have smaller tanks that hold less chemistry and (of course) take fewer hangers. In the 8x10 format hanger size, you can also get hangers that hold 4-sheets of 4x5, or 2-sheets of 5x7. This makes the 8x10 form factor quite flexible. If you get a set of tanks that will accept the 8x10 size, then you can acquire (on the used market) hangers for the other sizes also.

I have found, with b/w materials, that the pre-soak and agitation techniques can vary widely with different brands and emulsions of film. Some films require vigorous and frequent agitation cycles, while others can produce flaw-free development with minimal agitation. You will have to experiment a bit. As an example of this, with Forte 200 film, I find that after a water pre-soak (of 4 minutes with agitation from time-to-time) an initial constant agitation for 30 sec, then one lift and tilt per minute in the developer (HC-110b) will produce very nice flaw-free negs. On the other hand, with Foma 200 film (in HC-110e) after a 4-minute water pre-soak with frequent agitation, an initial agitation constantly of 45 seconds to a minute, followed with a lift and tilt x2, every 15 seconds is required to get streak free negs.

 

[pwitkop]

Thanks for all the replies. I just got a box of Foma 100 which I'll have to test anyway, I think I'll give that a try with hangers.

Peter