Tank size. And agitation.

[Goodyear]

After using 2-roll (wrt 35mm) tanks, I bought myself a 3-roll tank last week, both because I have a bunch of film waiting to be souped, and because my wife and I are both shooting more and more MF and it takes 2 rolls of 120.

Takes nearly a litre of chemistry, though 😱

Logically enough, it slows down my agitation dramatically, and I'm unsure how - or even if I need - to compensate. I've only used diafine in it so far, so it hasn't been an issue yet, but:

Whereas I'd normally do 3 inversions in ten seconds, with this thing if I'm waiting for the gurgle to end I can cram two into 10 secs if I'm lucky. But the solution is still moving for all that time. So do I invert longer for the same number of inversions, or the same time for fewer inversions?

I intend to experiment, but I'm curious what more experienced bods here reckon would be more consistent.

While I'm here, anyone else using bigger-than-usual tanks? It's good for the old arm muscles 🙂

 

[kiev4a]

I do most processing with a 4-roll SS tank and I'm usually using D-76 1:1 so processing times are up around 9 minutes. I agitate every 30 seconds, normally inverting twice, while turning the tank upside down and on its side while also turning it. I try not to get too aggressive because if the tank isn't totally full of solution you run the risk of getting "hot" streaks on the film caused by the developer rushing past it. It has been my experience that the longer the development time the more uniform the negatives will be. I don't like to use any dillution that cuts the time under seven minutes.