Need a tank

[einolu]

Hey, I decided to finally start developing my own negatives, since it sounds like fun and I will have a lot of time on my hands this summer. I got some diafine from amazon (of all places) and am now looking for a easy to use tank. Tips on were to buy one and which ones are good brands would help.

Besides this what else will I need? Diafine seems fairly straight forward to use, but it almost seems to easy. Am I missing something?

 

[back alley]

real men use stainless steel tanks & reels. 😉

but if you want easy, get a patterson tank and patterson plastic reels.
make sure the reels are dry before you try to load film onto them.
joe

 

[Stephanie Brim]

I love steel. I just love metal in general, really. I think it's why I don't like modern cameras.

 

[einolu]

so i guess ebay is my hunting ground?

so Im not forgetting anything? I just need a tank (with reel) and the diafine?

 

[Stephanie Brim]

And a changing bag, really, if you're not going to be working in a dark area.

 

[Fedzilla_Bob]

Hanging clips and squeegee sponge(s), Glascene negative sleeves, a clothesline for your shower and an apron, vinyl coated will work well.

 

[Stephanie Brim]

Hehe, an apron. I keep on picturing someone in a pink frilly apron hanging negatives. Interesting mental imagery.

 

[T_om]

...Tips on were to buy one and which ones are good brands would help.

Besides this what else will I need? Diafine seems fairly straight forward to use, but it almost seems to easy. Am I missing something?

I will give you some recommendations based on being 'in the business' for 32 years. BUT PLEASE NOTE, they are 'recommendations', not carved in any stone tablets (at least to my knowledge 🙂 )

1. eBay has some GREAT deals on darkroom stuff as so much of it is being set aside by casual users.

2. Buy quality now, once. It will save you the cost of buying junk and tossing it, THEN buying quality.

3. You will need a tank. Resist the urge to get the small one or two reel tanks. Start with a tank that will take 4 35mm reels or 2 120 reels. This is the smallest you want. It is commonly called a "one liter tank" because it holds 900 to 1000 ml. of solution.

4. Buy stainless steel tanks and reels. There are a host of reasons why and I will happily go into them if you like. Yes, there is a learning curve but it is NOT difficult to learn. It is especially easy with quality reels (see #2 above). Nikkor and Honeywell are two old line brand names that make very good tanks. I MUCH prefer Kindermann reels, but Nikkor and Hewes are VERY good too.

5. Get a changing bag. Do not skimp on size. Mine is 36" by 36". I didn't skimp on size and I can load two 8 reel tanks with plenty of room. You can get by with smaller but this is one case where bigger is better.

With the above and a pair of scissors, you will be in business. Diafine is a great developer and is as trouble free as any film developer could possibly be.

Learn your tools. Practice makes the master.

Tom

 

[einolu]

negative sleeves, who needs em! Dark place, I have. hanging clips, clothes line and apron, check check check. Yay!

 

[einolu]

Just saw your post Tom, thanks for the advice!

I will start hunting ebay soon. It seems like a good time to buy this stuff because of all the digital stuff.

Do most photo stores carry changing bags?

 

[T_om]

negative sleeves, who needs em! Dark place, I have. hanging clips, clothes line and apron, check check check. Yay!

I left out sleeves and they are one of the most important considerations you must address.

Dust on negatives appear like magic, no matter how fastidious you are. Dry the film in the bathroom, then put the film in sleeves IMMEDIATELY.

I use these: http://www.adorama.com/FSN35625.html

Tom

 

[T_om]

Just saw your post Tom, thanks for the advice!

I will start hunting ebay soon. It seems like a good time to buy this stuff because of all the digital stuff.

Do most photo stores carry changing bags?

Photo stores carry changing bags, but you can pick one up on eBay for 1/10th the price.

Tom

 

[Honu-Hugger]

I respectfully disagree on the tank size advice. I have both one liter tanks and single reel tanks -- I use them about equally. I'll of course do a batch of four rolls in the large tank if I have them ready and waiting, but just as often I'll do a single roll and really appreciate the small tank to do it in. For just starting out I recommend a single reel tank -- it will always be useful even if you buy a larger tank later.

 

[T_om]

I respectfully disagree on the tank size advice. I have both one liter tanks and single reel tanks -- I use them about equally. I'll of course do a batch of four rolls in the large tank if I have them ready and waiting, but just as often I'll do a single roll and really appreciate the small tank to do it in. For just starting out I recommend a single reel tank -- it will always be useful even if you buy a larger tank later.

But what's the point? I do single rolls quite often. Tonight in fact. But I just developed it in the 4 reel tank.

There is no functional difference in doing one reel in a one reel tank or one reel in a four reel tank. The only difference is that when you DO have more than one reel to develop, you are stuck if all you have is a one reel tank.

Tom

PS: But it all boils down to preferences, doesn't it? 🙂

 

[Honu-Hugger]

What is the point of doing one roll in a huge tank? This makes much less sense to me than doing a single roll in a single roll tank -- am I missing something obvious here? My suggestion is to start with a single roll tank and then add a larger tank later. Your advice quoting from above is "Start with a tank that will take 4 35mm reels or 2 120 reels. This is the smallest you want." Your statement seems rather absolute -- in over thirty-five years of doing my own film processing I have never wanted a tank larger than four rolls. It does boil down to preferences; I am offering another perspective for a first-time developer to consider.

 

[RayPA]

Hey, I decided to finally start developing my own negatives, since it sounds like fun and I will have a lot of time on my hands this summer. I got some diafine from amazon (of all places) and am now looking for a easy to use tank. Tips on were to buy one and which ones are good brands would help.

Besides this what else will I need? Diafine seems fairly straight forward to use, but it almost seems to easy. Am I missing something?

try Craigslist. search 'darkroom' you'll be surprised how much you can find and at what price. 🙂

 

[Doug]

I have Kindermann SS tanks in 8 oz (single reel), 16 oz (two reels), and 32 oz (4 reels) sizes, and by far I use the single and two-reel sizes most often. The 4-reel tank takes so long to fill and empty, I'm considering buying another one or two of them so I can just line 'em up and dunk the whole stack of reels into each in succession with no pouring.

Hey, don't forget a nice accurate dial thermometer for that darkroom!

 

[ddutchison]

I'm surprised no one's mentioned a thermometer.

http://www.google.com/search?q=reticulation film temperature

Besides your developer, you'll also need stop-bath (some just use a water rinse after developing, so it's optional), and fixer (not optional), to clear the negs, and make them permanent. Any air-tight container will do to store them as long as they don't have metal caps or lids.

 

[Seele]

Let's get back to the original issue here: choice of tanks for someone starting out from square one.

While I agree that stainless steel tanks and reels can be very serviceable, they are also with limitations.

First of all, aquisition: I have seen too many users who sell off their damaged stainless steel reels so as to pass on their problems to someone else: do remember this: if you drop a stainless steel reel, the tiniest misalignment will render it useless, but a good plastics reel will keep working til it is physically destroyed.

Second, they are with some functional limitations too, such as the slowness of the ingress and egress of solutions, and unless you use the Jobo system, useless for rotary processing; the Kindermann rotary system is touch and go at best. Moreover, they are not modular in size.

I have use many different tanks over the decades and I have finally settled on the Jobo 1500 and 2500 systems. Being convertible and modular, I can add extension modules to make it as long as I like so as to take more reels, and by adding a magnetic coupler I can use them for rotary agitation by machine. By replacing the funnel in the cap with a cup, it becomes a print drum as well, and the standard spiral has a separator clip so as to take two rolls of shorter film per spiral, so it makes it very economical, no need to duplicate purchase.

And a point for Honu:

If you use inversion agitation, a tank should not be used to its full capacity. For instance, I develop a single reel in a two reel tank, with the reel held down with a clamp or another reel, and use just enough solution to cover the film. When I invert the tank, the reel is drained of the developer, the solution mixex completely to disperse the resultant bromide, and then as a homogenous whole, plonked back into the film. This ensures completely even development free from bromide streaks; sure I have a Jobo single-reel 35mm tank but I use it for rotary processing only, and of course as the base for the extension modules.

 

[rover]

Nobody has mentioned fixer yet either. With Diafine you don't use a stop bath, but you need a fixer.

On the tanks, I have 3 Paterson System 4 tanks. I started off with a larger tank as Tom suggests, 3 35mm reels or 2 120 reels mostly for the capacity to do 2 120 rolls at a time. I was then gifted a single reel 35mm tank and picked up really cheap what Paterson calls the Universal Tank, 2 35mm or 1 120 reel.

I rearly have 3 like rolls (not that big of a deal if you only use Diafine) of film waiting to be developed. I would start with a larger tank if you are going to get one, but keep an eye out for a bargain on a smaller tank. If doing only one roll the smaller tank is easier to handle, a little, though any tank will work fine. I use the tank that matches my need right now.