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Should I move from Jobo 15 to 25 series ?

kl122002

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Apr 17, 2022
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Location
Hong Kong
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I like my Jobo 1500 series (1510, 1520, 1530) and used quite alot in recent days with the aid of cheap automatic rotary machine (etone) . Overall I don't have much to complaint , execpt sometimes the film jammed after loading the 3/4 into the reel .

Jobo has another 2500 series that is designed for rotation procressing and I can see the tank is much bigger than 1500s. But what are the main difference between 1500 and 2500 ? Does 2500 really work better than 1500 ?

Thanks,
 
With the 2500 series, the only basic difference is size and that you have the option to process some sheet films in addition to roll based film with the appropriate reels.

Why "move" from the 1500 series, when you can purchase one 2500 and supplement your system?
 

I just don't wan to keep too many tanks at home . Seriosuly, I have given up my old Paterson and moved to current Jobo.
 
Other than the expense, it shouldn't cause any issues.

Just be sure all formats you shoot are supported by the 2500 series.
 
Other than the ability to use the 4x5 reel, and paper developing (with the extension), I don't see any advantage the 2500 series has over the 1500.
 
OK, highly diluted developer would certainly require more volume than the 1500 series. Yes, you could snap on more extenders and empty reels on the 1500 tanks, but it would probably not work well on the eTone processor of the OP.
 
I've used both and, personally, I prefer the larger reels of the 25xx series tanks. I'm sure it's just my imagination, but I feel like a I get more even development with the larger reels. I don't mind the extra chemistry needed. As said above, the larger tanks also allow you to process 4x5, if that's something you're looking to do, too. But I have no personal experience with the 4x5 reel as I use Expert Drums for all my LF development.
 
I have both, and mostly use the 1500. It uses less chemistry. I use it for b/w and c41, separate reels for each. The 2500 I use for E6, maybe once a year. Sometimes you want to be able to use more chemistry. E6 seems like that process.
 
Dani said:
Although now I’ve moved to hand inversions so that the film is fully submerged in the chemistry all the time.
Click to expand...

I've gone back to that, also, for 35mm - and I may also do it for 120. I've been having issues with the Jobo not doing justice to certain emulsions - Plus-X is one of them. I've been finding a huge difference in tone in PLus-X hand-inverted vs constant rotation. (and I'd rather not waste my remaining Plus-X)
 
I have two sets: 1500-series tanks for 35mm and 120 film, and the 2500-series which I only use for sheets.

I thought about standardizing on the 2500-series but decided against it. The 1500-series uses less chemistry, they are faster to pour liquids in/out for the same film load, and they're easier to hold in one hand for clumsy people like me. I also find the 1500-series tanks to be easier to maintain temperature with high precision: the temp. drop caused by pouring a developer into a tank is larger with larger tanks.

The only limitation of the 1500-series tanks is that they can't be used with sheet film.

However, somewhere in the JOBO documentation they mention that the 2500-series tanks offer slightly more consistent density because the difference in relative rotation speeds of inner and outer sections of a reel is smaller with larger diameter reels, but I am yet to notice it in my results. Note to myself: develop two control strips on the inside/outside sections and share density readings on Photrio.
 
peoplemerge said:
Interesting. I haven’t noticed that. What soup? I use Pyrocat-HD
Click to expand...

Homemade D76 1:1. I find the higher tonal values get a bit too aggressively developed in the Jobo. Other film, I don't see any such thing - such as Aviphot 200 (the Catlabs stuff, the Rollei Superpan stuff) or Tmax 100. I've never paid much attention to agitation schemes, but I think some film might benefit from hand-inversion. Or I'm giving it a try, at least.
 
Steven Lee said:
they're easier to hold in one hand for clumsy people like me.
Click to expand...

I recently had to glue the magnet onto the bottom of my 2500 tank because I dropped it on the floor one too many times....
 
I have both setups. As mentioned by Dani, the 2500 gives a little more volume for diluted developers. I prefer the 1500 and run XTOL straight undiluted or Rodinal standard dilution (1+25?)
 
Another difference between 1500 and 2500-series reels is that 2500 reels also accept 127 (46mm) film, in addition to 35mm and 120. If you shoot 127 then this is a huge advantage. (There must be at least two of us out there that still shoot 127?).
 
I use 1500 tanks and a 3010 Drum. I have not had a need to use 2500 tanks.
 
OrientPoint said:
Another difference between 1500 and 2500-series reels is that 2500 reels also accept 127 (46mm) film, in addition to 35mm and 120. If you shoot 127 then this is a huge advantage. (There must be at least two of us out there that still shoot 127?).
Click to expand...

I went down to my darkroom to check this out. The 1501 reel is not capable of spooling 127 . Last time I processed a roll of 127 was at least 20 years ago, in a Paterson setup.

No trouble with adjusting the 2500 reel to 127.

I play around with this stuff all the time. Learned something new!!
 
There are actually 1500 series reels that do take 127, but they're pretty rare. I have one and it comes in handy sometimes. All 2500 reels take 127; or at least I've never seen one, old or new, that doesn't.
 
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