sheet film developing is hard

On Fri, 01 Oct 2004 20:08:18 -0500, Frank Pittel
wrote:

: If I ever decide to develop film in trays that's the way I'd do it!!

: Thanks for passing that along. Sounds worth looking into.

I'm glad to have passed it along. I wish I was the one that thought of it!! :-)

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: Professional Shop Rat: 14,481 days in a GM plant.
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That's a long time to have worked for a single company. I congratulate you on it and
hope that you continue until you retire.

Retirement will be some time between Dec. 1 and April 1. If I've got
enough darkroom projects to last through the winter, it'll be Dec.
:-)


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Professional Shop Rat: 14,481 days in a GM plant.
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David Starr wrote in message

: If I ever decide to develop film in trays that's the way I'd do it!!

: Thanks for passing that along. Sounds worth looking into.

I'm glad to have passed it along. I wish I was the one that thought of it!! :-)

: - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
: Professional Shop Rat: 14,481 days in a GM plant.
: - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

That's a long time to have worked for a single company. I congratulate you on it and
hope that you continue until you retire.

Retirement will be some time between Dec. 1 and April 1. If I've got
enough darkroom projects to last through the winter, it'll be Dec.
:-)


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Professional Shop Rat: 14,481 days in a GM plant.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
all the best.

My most recent attempts have been with 2 BZTS tubes bought on eBay. The
best so far. But I realized that 3 of my favorite shots are messed up
because, for about 10-20 seconds, the tubes were not moving. Yep...uneven
development even though total time was 8 minutes.

The tubes need to be kept moving more or less constantly. With only two
tubes the easiest way to do that is to put them in a water jacket, which can
be any tray 8x10 or larger filled with water at about the same temperature
as your developer, put the two tubes next to each other in the water, and
then spin them by "pinching " them with your thumb and another finger.
Switch them around periodically so that each tube isn't moving in the same
direction all the time (I switch every ten seconds but there's nothing magic
about that number).

The BTZS tubes are, IMHO, the best and easiest way to develop small
quantities of film at a relatively small cost for the tubes (six tubes,
twelve caps, and the BTZS water jacket tray costs about $150). The Jobo
system is better for large quantities since with it you can develop ten
negatives at a time, whereas the BTZS system limits you to about six at a
time, but Jobo is considerably more expensive and takes up much more space.
Also requires separate runs for N, N plus 1, N minus 1, etc. times. With
BTZS you work in daylight once the tubes are loaded with film and developer,
you don't have to stand around shuffling film in the dark and inhaling
chemicals for ten or fifteen minutes as you do with trays, your chemical
costs are minimal (one or two ounces of developer per tube), you can develop
different sheets for different times in the same run, and you'll never get a
scratch if you handle the film properly. I've been using the BTZS tubes for
about 10 years in both 4x5 and 8x10 and have been very pleased with them.


"PGG" wrote in message
newsan.2004.09.29.04.39.14.715000@NO_SP_A_Myahoo .com...
I've gone through my first 25-sheet pack of film. I've figured out how to
operate my view camera just fine. I can take a decent picture-- exposing
and focusing properly. But I had no idea how difficult developing it
is...I thought that would be the easy part

first 5 sheets I fumbled around with a color processing tube that didn't
work out due to the film not staying flat against the tube

next 3-5 sheets I tried using my own PVC tubes. They leaked all over the
place and I got uneven development

next 10 sheets I tray developed. At least these were evenly developed but
all scratched up. Plus I fumbled around in the dark spilling crap all
over the floor.

My most recent attempts have been with 2 BZTS tubes bought on eBay. The
best so far. But I realized that 3 of my favorite shots are messed up
because, for about 10-20 seconds, the tubes were not moving. Yep...uneven
development even though total time was 8 minutes.

Sigh.... Frustrated but I haven't quite given up yet.

Shelley wrote:


The BTZS tubes are, IMHO, the best and easiest way to develop small
quantities of film at a relatively small cost for the tubes (six tubes,
twelve caps, and the BTZS water jacket tray costs about $150). The Jobo
system is better for large quantities since with it you can develop ten
negatives at a time, whereas the BTZS system limits you to about six at a
time, but Jobo is considerably more expensive and takes up much more space.


$150 is almost enough to get you a brand new Jobo 2 reel kit. Add $20 for
a motorbase and you're set for 1 to 12 negatives. Downside is you need to use
at least 600ml of solution no matter what. OTOH you can use a lot more if
you need to. If you buy used the whole setup will be much cheaper.

Nick

Nick Zentena wrote:
Shelley wrote:


The BTZS tubes are, IMHO, the best and easiest way to develop small
quantities of film at a relatively small cost for the tubes (six tubes,
twelve caps, and the BTZS water jacket tray costs about $150). The Jobo
system is better for large quantities since with it you can develop ten
negatives at a time, whereas the BTZS system limits you to about six at a
time, but Jobo is considerably more expensive and takes up much more space.



$150 is almost enough to get you a brand new Jobo 2 reel kit. Add $20 for
a motorbase and you're set for 1 to 12 negatives. Downside is you need to use
at least 600ml of solution no matter what. OTOH you can use a lot more if
you need to. If you buy used the whole setup will be much cheaper.

Nick

Or $150 will buy the materials to make about two dozen of the daylight
fill tubes I use for my 9x12 cm. They're made from ABS drain pipe ($5
or so for ten feet) and fittings (about $4 per tube for caps, PVC fill
tube, cap for the fill tube, and ABS sheet light baffle), and because I
fill them with enough liquid to fully cover the film, I can use
inversion agitation cycles like what I'd use with a roll film tank.
Highly dilute developer, or a reusable soup like Diafine, made them
economical, though I could (at the cost of more materials and effort)
make cores for them to reduce their liquid capacity if needed. I could,
if I chose, bind them together in sets of 3 or 7 if I want/need to
process a lot of sheets at a time, fill during inversion lulls, and
still do N- and N+ in the same batch with N. No water bath tray needed.
If I get unions, I can even join two tubes with a single set of caps
and process twice as many sheets.

Oh, and what do you do with BTZS tubes when your dev time is up? Turn
out the lights and try to pour stop bath in the dark, IIRC...

--
I may be a scwewy wabbit, but I'm not going to Alcatwaz!
-- E. J. Fudd, 1954

Donald Qualls, aka The Silent Observer
Lathe Building Pages http://silent1.home.netcom.com/HomebuiltLathe.htm
Speedway 7x12 Lathe Pages http://silent1.home.netcom.com/my7x12.htm

Opinions expressed are my own -- take them for what they're worth
and don't expect them to be perfect.

In article ,
says...

I've gone through my first 25-sheet pack of film. I've figured out how to
operate my view camera just fine. I can take a decent picture-- exposing
and focusing properly. But I had no idea how difficult developing it
is...I thought that would be the easy part

first 5 sheets I fumbled around with a color processing tube that didn't
work out due to the film not staying flat against the tube

next 3-5 sheets I tried using my own PVC tubes. They leaked all over the
place and I got uneven development

next 10 sheets I tray developed. At least these were evenly developed but
all scratched up. Plus I fumbled around in the dark spilling crap all
over the floor.

My most recent attempts have been with 2 BZTS tubes bought on eBay. The
best so far. But I realized that 3 of my favorite shots are messed up
because, for about 10-20 seconds, the tubes were not moving. Yep...uneven
development even though total time was 8 minutes.

Sigh.... Frustrated but I haven't quite given up yet.

Don't bother with tubes, or trays. Get SS (stainless steel) hangers and tanks
for those hangers. You should be able to find a set of hangers and tanks on e
-bay.

Hunt

In article ,
says...

I've gone through my first 25-sheet pack of film. I've figured out how to
operate my view camera just fine. I can take a decent picture-- exposing
and focusing properly. But I had no idea how difficult developing it
is...I thought that would be the easy part

first 5 sheets I fumbled around with a color processing tube that didn't
work out due to the film not staying flat against the tube

next 3-5 sheets I tried using my own PVC tubes. They leaked all over the
place and I got uneven development

next 10 sheets I tray developed. At least these were evenly developed but
all scratched up. Plus I fumbled around in the dark spilling crap all
over the floor.

My most recent attempts have been with 2 BZTS tubes bought on eBay. The
best so far. But I realized that 3 of my favorite shots are messed up
because, for about 10-20 seconds, the tubes were not moving. Yep...uneven
development even though total time was 8 minutes.

Sigh.... Frustrated but I haven't quite given up yet.

Don't bother with tubes, or trays. Get SS (stainless steel) hangers and tanks
for those hangers. You should be able to find a set of hangers and tanks on e
-bay.

Hunt