5x7 sheet home developing

[alegalle]

Hi all,

This might be a long shot in this forum 😀 , but does anyone know of
an economical way of developing multiple sheets of 5x7 film at he same
time? I would prefer to do it in some kind of closed tank in daylight.
I know about the Paterson orbital processor but have never used one,
all the references to it mention 8x10 of 4 sheets of 5x4 but there is no mention
of 5x7.

Cheers,
Andy

 

[David Goldfarb]

HP made a 5x7" version of the Combi-Plan tank, but they discontinued it, and I don't think I've ever seen one come up used. There are Jobo expert tanks, but they are expensive.

Another option is to use print drums. There is an article on this, I think, at lfphoto.info. I suspect you could do 4 or more sheets of 5x7" in an 11x14" print drum, perhaps with some modifications to keep the sheets separate. There are print drums up to 20x24", and if you were ambitious, you could set one up with plastic rails and separators to process a lot of 5x7" sheets.

I'd recommend just figuring out how to make a dark space and do it in open trays or using tanks and hangers. I do both in my dark/bathroom.

Check out this thread on APUG for many ideas for adapting all kinds of spaces for a darkroom (mine included)--

http://www.apug.org/forums/showthread.php?t=10966

 

[denishr]

Andy, I just recently jumped into 5x7, after tasting the LF waters for a few months with my 4x5 Speed Graphic.

My situation is such that I already have a Jobo CPE 2 processor (older one) with the lift, and a large film drum for it (255x something, takes 5 35mm reels at the same time). I made a DIY film adapter for it, so that I can develop 3 sheets of 5x7 format at the same time. Check details on apug.org - my posts are under the user name "Denis P." There are also several photos of the rig. Look for the thread "5x7 film processing (JOBO with print drum)?"

Another (cheap) solution is to get a used Unicolor roller base and a Unicolor drum - I have a smaller (about 8" in height) drum, and it accomodates 2 sheets of 5x7. Larger ones wil take 4 sheets. The whole shebang could be had for about $30, I think, used and in good working order, in the used market (think ebay) in USA. I got mine for about $20 plus postage on another forum.

Regards,

Denis

 

[alegalle]

Thanks for the replys guys, very helpful.
I do have a dark room that I use for prints, not sure
if it would be light tight enough to handle film though.
However the main thing I was thinking of is economy
of chemicals, so obviously deep tanks and the like are out
of the question.

The print processing drums from jobo look quite interesting
however, has anyone had experience with these?
I have never seen one, how do you put the prints (film) in?
Do the sheets touch the sides or are they held off? And
if they touch the sides will that matter too much with film?

Thanks,
Andy

 

[plexi]

You have two options, Jobo tubes or tray development. A lot of people use the Jobo`s with great results, so don`t worry.. You of course have to load them in complete darkness...
Your darkroom is probably dark enough, darkness is overrated 🙂 But you should use one sheet and check, just to be sure..
With tray development you could get a dark green safelight and develop by inspection and really gain control 🙂

 

[plexi]

Oh, I just remembered your third option: Developing in tubes http://www.jandcphoto.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=27
(get extra caps)

Get a large changing bag, and you`re off to go 🙂

 

[David Goldfarb]

Deep tanks can be pretty economical if you use replenishable chemistry, and having them ready at all times makes development a breeze. The smallest 5x7" tanks hold 1 gallon. I keep a tank filled with Acufine and a tank filled with TF-4, and I have others that I can use as rinse tanks or for other developers. I can also develop rollfilm in them with reels and lift rods or 4x5" with 4x5" hangers.

Trays of course use less chemistry for one-shot development, but once you have the technique down for tray development, you can easily process any format, and you've already got the trays. I can develop 2x3" through 11x14" this way.

 

[Dracotype]

I recently got a Cibachrome drum to process 5x7 film. It is very economical (only 200ml of chemistry, a heaven sent for one shot developers), light tight, and works nicely. I have heard that if you don't keep the sheet off the wall, the anti halation backing won't come off completely. I am entirely sure about this. I did mine without problems. You would have to see for yourself if you did it that way. As for cost, if I remember right, $40 total for two drums and a motor base.

Drew

 

[alegalle]

That sounds fantastic, any idea where I can get one? (Also how many sheets does
it take?)

Cheers,
Andy

 

[plexi]

That`s yet another option, how could I forget 🙂 I even have one myself...
Often found on eBay i various sizes...

 

[alegalle]

?que?.......

 

[plexi]

Cibachrome and Unicolor print drums...

 

[dont45]

btzs tubes

btzs tubes

Check out the viewcamera store's btzs tubes. I have these for 4x5 and 5x7. Each tube holds one sheet of film, and the cap holds the developer. You first fill each cap with the desired quanty of developer. Then in the dark, you load the film into the tube, hold it vertical, and screw the filled cap on the bottom. Then set the tube into the rack, always keeping it vertical so the film stays dry. The cap sits in water in the tray so the temp can stabilize if necessary. Now lights on, and prepare to develope. I use masking tape and grease marker to mark dev time. This is great for n+x or n-x development for different sheets. To begin development, pick up all the tubes and shake for initial agitation, then they go into the water tray. You slowly roll them likes logs continuously. Since lights are on, you can read the time written on the tape, and remove them as necessary. This gets a little tricky since you must keep the others rolling, grab one, remove its cap, dump the developer, and plop it into the stopbath or water tray, and roll it with one hand to stop while the others continue to roll. I can do six tubes at a time. If they all are to get the same developer time, I add them in at 30 sec intervals and remove them with the same delay so they all get the same dev time. I've used all kinds of development systems for 4x5, and I think this is the best. It's the only way I've ever developed 5x7. The downside is the price of the tubes, especially the 5x7 are very high. You can make these yourself, so they say. Since you must have a good seal, you need o-rings and the tubes and caps need t o be threaded, so you'd need quite a setup to make these yourself.
Take alook at http://www.viewcamerastore.com/product_info.php?cPath=27_74&products_id=36

 

[kaiyen]

Don,
Since that process is continuous, wouldn't it be more affordable to just get a unicolor system? I got an 8x10 and 11x14 _print_ drum set with the roller for $20 on ebay. I can put 2 5x7 in the former, 4 in the latter. Because they are print drums, there are ridges that hold the film away from the wall.

The View Camera Store doesn't even list the 5x7 tubes, but a set of 6 4x5 is $130. You can get tubes from J&C that are big enough for 8x10 that are $17 each. Either way, that's more than a Unicolor set, even if you assume (justifiably) that I got a better-than-average deal.

For now, though, since I'm not completely sold on the idea of continuous agitation at all, I'm using the "tortilla method" in a 3-reel 35mm paterson tank. I curl the film, emulsion-side in, and put a rubber band around it. I can then fit 2 sheets into the tank easily, and 3 if I try 🙂. I can then use intermittent agitation. It does use up quite a bit more chemistry, though - close to a liter, rather than only 200-300ml. I've been using ID-11 1+3 so the actual quantity of developer used per run isn't that high.

allan

 

[JoshRoot]

I don't use 5x7. But the HP CombiPlan 4x5 tank is great. So if you can fine a 5x7 one, it's worth looking into.

Not to drive people away from here. But you might have better luck posting in the forum at www.largeformatphotography.info