SP Compact 4x5 Developing tank

Is anyone using this tank for processing their 4x5 film.................thoughts?

I've also wondered about these. I used to use a yankee adjustable, but it was a bummer when you only had a few sheets to process

Many folks use this tank with success...me, not so much. I tried three different versions of the film holders, and all caused one or more gouges in the film emulsion from the "clips" that hold the film. Occasionally, I also had the dreaded "ghost image" of the holes in the holder on the film.

I've looked at those, but for small film batches in the past I've used tubes I made myself from ABS drain pipe, and for larger batches I use a Yankee Agitank.

People decry the large liquid requirement for the Yankee (1.6+ liters to cover one or more sheets of 4x5), but that just means it's aimed at replenished developers, or those you reuse to capacity (with or without increase development time) like D-76. For stop bath and fixer life, number of sheets is all that matters anyway, and with replenished Xtol (EcoPro, Adox XTIII) or D-23, for instance, you replenish based on number of sheets and the tank solution goes back into a storage bottle (and with reuse-and-extend types, your time extension for next batch is, again, based on number of sheets processed). Once you learn how to agitate the Yankee tank without sloshing the contents all over the darkroom, it does a good job. I find it tricky to load without getting two sheets in the same slot, but I just need more practice.

IMO, the Stearman Press SP445 has a limited market: people who don't already have an efficient way to process 1-4 sheets of 9x12 or 4x5 and who prefer one-shot developers.

I use the SP-445 with reasonable success. I find loading the film into the latest holders to be easy, but I struggle getting the holders into the tank for some reason. Never had any emulsion damage or other issues.

I find SP-445 to be the most confortable way I know to process 4x5'' sheets manually. Very easy to load and reasonable use of chemistry. The only drawback is that it only allows 4 sheets per batch which could be not much for some people.

Thanks all for your opinions..........................10 years ago I had to quit the darkroom I sold my combi-plan tanks and I really liked them. So I'm having to re-aquire some things but it may not be the same things. I saw the SP video demonstration on this tank and it sure seems easy enough and I do like that it uses just 16 ounces of solution.

Jack Baty said:

I use the SP-445 with reasonable success. I find loading the film into the latest holders to be easy, but I struggle getting the holders into the tank for some reason. Never had any emulsion damage or other issues.

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I also had some frustration guiding the holders into the tank for a while. The difficulty seems to have abated though, through practice presumably. The 4 sheet limit is just right sometimes, too little other times. It's most frustrating when I have just a few negatives, but with different developing times - that means several separate runs with the SP-445 only partly full. Hanger-and-tank can work better then, in terms of overall time and chemical consumption.

Overall the SP-445 works pretty well in my amateur, low-volume setting.

They leak when turned upside down, the braces on the back leave shadows on the back of the film, can be a pain to load in the dark and often emulation on the sides gets torn by the guides. Apart from that it works fine.
I prefer to process individual sheets in a tray these days. I tend to do low volume work.

I use it, never had an issue with developing. Leaks a teeny bit, more if you dont squeeze it while capping it.

I have used it for years, for film and plates, and have never had a problem. B&W, E6, C-41…. All come out perfect.

RTFM, watch the “how to” videos, etc, Good product.

I’ve been using mine for about a year with no problem. Only glitch was when I tried to process some Harman Direct Positive paper after a safelight test (I didn’t want to risk trays until after I tested my safelight); the paper wrinkled and slipped out of the holders. Probably my fault for being too aggressive with agitation.

I have the original kick starter model, been perfect from the first time I used it; still going just as strong.

After a 10 year absence from any darkroom work, I developed my first two 4x5 sheets of film yesterday. Before giving an opinion on using the SP45, I'll just say it was awesome and fun to have my darkroom functional again. To verbalize a bit more............the money that I have spent to this point in getting to take a 4x5 field camera out my front door and to a location, then to go through that large format "dance" of setting up, composing, metering, etc.......well, that was a well paid for "moment" and exciting to boot.

Now, the SP45..................to put it plainly, I don't like it. However, I recognize that this is the first time using it and things may change. The tank did not leak. I just found it awkward in agitating the film with the end over end inversions. I found filling the tank to be tedious. I had no problem loading the film as I practiced a lot with old, developed negatives of no count. I would take back my Combi-plan tanks immediately if I could, with a fair price that is. Prior, I used a three Combi-plan tank system: one for developing, then turn out lights, transfer the film into a second tank for stop bath, transfer to a 3rd tank to fix, cap the fix tank, finish with the lights back on, etc... No dumping and filling. Washing the film was a breeze, run water into the tank from the bottom drain spout, let it flow out the top.

I had a hard time finding combi-plan tanks, ebay had one at the time but the price was such as to be rediculous, so I went with the SP45. I found out later that the reason that they went out of production was because of that bad tsunami in Japan years ago. The tsunami damaged the plant where they were made; I believe the injection molds to form them were destroyed. Like I said, perhaps my feelings toward the SP45 will change.

If you don't mind risking less than half the cost of the SP-445, you might give the Yankee Agitank a try. Biggest downside is that you need 1.6+ liters to cover 4x5 sheets -- but that same volume of developer will process anywhere from one to twelve 4x5 sheets. Master the agitation technique (tilt one way, back to level, then the other way and back to level is one agitation cycle) and you'll get even development; it fills and empties almost as fast as a Paterson Super System 4, or your could use three the way you did your Combiplan tanks.

Use the Agitank with replenished developers, and it's economical; use it at full capacity, it's economical -- don't use it for a single sheet with one-shot developer unless you really don't care about process costs.

I have one and have no plans to replace it; I replenish either Xtol/EcoPro or D-23 (as well as Flexicolor C-41), so it costs me no more per sheet to develop a single sheet in it than to use it at capacity.

I see only two significant downsides: it's easy to misload, putting two sheets in a single slot at one or both edges, and it seems to be made mostly of phenolic -- generic for Bakelite -- which is brittle; if you drop it, or drop something on it, it's likely to break.

Donald Qualls said:

I see only two significant downsides: it's easy to misload, putting two sheets in a single slot at one or both edges, and it seems to be made mostly of phenolic -- generic for Bakelite -- which is brittle; if you drop it, or drop something on it, it's likely to break.

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Doesn't the loading tool prevent this? I've seen them sold on the bay missing the tool but the new ones from Freestyle come with it.

rcphoto said:

Doesn't the loading tool prevent this? I've seen them sold on the bay missing the tool but the new ones from Freestyle come with it.

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That's what the tool is for, but in my experience (not as much as I'd like, still building skill) it's pretty easy to have the tool on different notches at the two ends, which will 100% reliably load the film sheet with the edges in different number slots. I may at some point attempt to 3D print an improved loading tool with better alignment guides (the one supplied is, I think, compromised by being made to work on film sizes from 2x3 to 4x5).

Donald Qualls said:

If you don't mind risking less than half the cost of the SP-445, you might give the Yankee Agitank a try. Biggest downside is that you need 1.6+ liters to cover 4x5 sheets -- but that same volume of developer will process anywhere from one to twelve 4x5 sheets. Master the agitation technique (tilt one way, back to level, then the other way and back to level is one agitation cycle) and you'll get even development; it fills and empties almost as fast as a Paterson Super System 4, or your could use three the way you did your Combiplan tanks.

Use the Agitank with replenished developers, and it's economical; use it at full capacity, it's economical -- don't use it for a single sheet with one-shot developer unless you really don't care about process costs.

I have one and have no plans to replace it; I replenish either Xtol/EcoPro or D-23 (as well as Flexicolor C-41), so it costs me no more per sheet to develop a single sheet in it than to use it at capacity.

I see only two significant downsides: it's easy to misload, putting two sheets in a single slot at one or both edges, and it seems to be made mostly of phenolic -- generic for Bakelite -- which is brittle; if you drop it, or drop something on it, it's likely to break.

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Thanks for the information. I don't particularly like having to use that much solution but I appreciate your comments. I will continue to use the SP45, it may grow on me.

Chuck_P said:

I don't particularly like having to use that much solution

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Understood. I didn't at first, either, but I was headed into replenishment anyway, which makes it just a matter of having a big enough tank solution storage bottle.

Donald Qualls said:

I didn't at first, either, but I was headed into replenishment anyway...

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At the moment, I do not plan on replenishing with XTOL. It seems to be routinely touted as the best way to use it, and maybe I eventually will, but I much prefer to standardize with it un-replenished and get to know the developer that way first.

One step at a time. Without replenishment, the Agitank isn't economic to use for less than 8-12 sheets.

Another option that might be easier to load and needs less fluid is the Mod54 or similar inserts for the tall Paterson tanks. I've seen these with capacity up to 6 sheets in the one liter of liquid that fits in those tanks.

Donald Qualls said:

One step at a time. Without replenishment, the Agitank isn't economic to use for less than 8-12 sheets.

Another option that might be easier to load and needs less fluid is the Mod54 or similar inserts for the tall Paterson tanks. I've seen these with capacity up to 6 sheets in the one liter of liquid that fits in those tanks.

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Yes, and the combi-plan also held 6 sheets but really never developed more than 4 at one time, mostly 2 or 3. If memory serves was also 1 liter, I would go that route again using more developer if I had the chance. So there's one upside to the SP45 is that it will hold 4 sheets and only needs 475 ml of solution.

Chuck_P said:

one upside to the SP45 is that it will hold 4 sheets and only needs 475 ml of solution.

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Very true, and a lot of folks have used it and like it a lot. The inversion seems like just a matter of getting used to the technique, just like I had to get used to the technique to get good fluid movement without sloshing all over the counter with my Agitank -- or like you have to get used to "burping" the inversion cap (like Tupperware) on Paterson Super System 4 tanks to keep them from leaking. Every piece of equipment has its own quirks.

to invert the SP445 I grab it in the middle from above (grabbing the body not the lid), lift up off the counter and roll my wrist vertically 170 degrees or so. I do it this way as I don't trust the O ringed press fit lid, not that it has ever come loose accidentally however I prefer to not give it a chance!