Thinking of giving up on B/w altogether..Can someone help?

[Max]

Sounds like a good situation for a slosher tray or hangers...

 

[Donald Miller]

I have found that Efke will develop evenly in BTZS type tubes. That method seems to eliminate the potential damage problems; it can be used with conventional developing procedures or with minimal agitation for enhanced edge effects. I use this on both 4X5 and 8X10 formats...so it would seem to be suitable for 5X7.

Efke PL 100 can be developed far beyond N+2 in Pyrocat when one develops for a density range suitable for silver enlargement printing.

This method would allow you to use a dishpan in the bathroom as your tempering bath, if you so desire. In fact much of the development can be done with room lights on.

 

[Jorge]

Mark, you are just going through growing pains. You have to be patient and find the best method for you. I have tried them all and I have to say I successfully failed at the many sheets shuffle tray method. I tried it twice and like you I got gouges on the sheets from the corners, uneven development, etc, etc. IMO trying to do too many sheets in one time is a waste of time and money. Just think, if you had done one at the time, you would have gotten all of them fine. It does not pay to be impatient in the darkroom.

TMY in pyrocat will give you all the expansion and contraction you will ever need.

For the Unicolor tube, you need to put a lot of solution in it, if you put too little you get aerial oxidation of the developer and streaks. I have not seen your negatives but I bet if you double the amount of developer you are using you will solve your problem. Pyrocat is cheap, dont be stingy with it.....If you can, go to home depot and get the tubes they use for storing welding rods. They are awesome! Mike Pry sent to me some and they are absolutely perfect for this. If they are any color other than black, you might have to paint them, but I assure you, it is worth the time and trouble.

 

[mark]

DOnald

I tried the btzs tubes even with the screen I was getting scratches on the backside of the negative. I tried this before I went to the Unicolor Drum.

It is amazing how many different ways there are to do things. Thanks folks.

 

[L Gebhardt]

This may be a dumb question, but do you have a roller for the drum, or are you just rolling it between the feet?

 

[mark]

I'm just rolling it back and forth. This is the first time I I have gotten uneven development so I thought I was doing fine.

 

[waynecrider]

I always used dip & dunk tanks. Floating lids and plastic wrap kept the stop and fix solutions good. I kept the developer bottled. Never ever had a problem and always had consistent negs.

 

[photomc]

Mark, understand your frustration but it really will pass. When I did my first sheet film I tried a Beseler tube and it was an horrible. 2 sheets was all I tried and they ended up overlapping each other one time, next time there were streaks everywhere. Gave up and started using trays..did have some problems with little scratches, but tried too many films at once. Cut down the number of sheets and it has gotten better, then started doing stand development which for the most part has improved everything. Now I just have to watch while washing, because they float around and that emulsion is ssoofftt! Need to build a sheet film washer and that should improve things much more. Keep thinking about one of the Jobo tanks, but ....

 

[Konical]

Good Evening, Mark,

Hope you won't give up on the drum approach. You've had a lot of good advice above. Use the drum on a motor base for consistency in agitation, use a water pre-wash for a couple of minutes before the developer, and use around ten to twelve ounces of solution. There's no reason you shouldn't have absolutely even development with virtually no problems, and it's a lot easier to work in room light than in the dark agitating in open trays.

Konical