(Icius) wrote in message . com...
Hello All,

I have been studying Ansel Adams' three excellent photography books
and trying to plan some things for a darkroom I am building. I was
reading the "Roll Film Processing" section in "The Negative".

Most of the value in those old books is ofuse for sheet film users,
not roll film users.

Most
places online indicate that one tank is used and chemicals are dumped
out and replaced by the chemicals in the next step.

Correct. That's the rational way to do it.

Ansel's
instructions seem to indicate a separate processing tank for each
step. I think this is further clarified by the pictures in which each
tank has a different letter on the front. I counted five as follows:

1. Pre-soak
2. Developer
3. Stop Bath
4. Fixer
5. Hypo clearing agent

Being new at this I am trying to stay as true to Ansel's
instructions/technique as possible as a starting point.

Don't even CONSIDER doing that. He's a wacko. Ignore thos old books!

I figure if I
follow the instructions of one of the masters it will eliminate a lot
of initial frustration. What are all of you doing? One tank or
separate tanks? Anyone tried both and noticed a difference? It seems
like chemical residue in the single tank scenario could play a part in
affecting development.

Ansel Adams's books are quite old, and nobody takes them seriously
anymore, ESPECIALLY if you're doing 35mm. Are you? Get a set of
Paterson tanks and reels. The Paterson tanks empty and refill very
quickly. I use ONE tanks and pour the solutions in and out. Using
multiple tanks means transferring your reels in total darkness.