35mm Film Hangers Fro Deep Tank processing

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I have had no luck w/35mm Tmax 100 in Microdol X straight in a Jobo. I have worked extensively w/the Jobo folks and they have run out of suggestions. So to process a client's film, I need to use deep tanks since he is a high volume shooter. I have some 11x14 stainless tanks made to process film on hangers, and I'm wondering where I could get some baskets to hold 35mm reels. The inside dimensions of the tanks are 15 inches x 4 inches. A 35 mm reel is about 3.25 inches in diameter. Anyone know of a supplier that might have such a basket or be able to fabricate some?

Thanks!

Eric Nelson

-- Eric Nelson (emanmb@yahoo.com), May 25, 2002

Answers

Check with Midwest Photo www.mpex.com. You may need to call them; they may not list that kind of low-demand stuff on the website.

I'm curious; what do you mean "no luck?" What was the problem?

-- John Hicks (jhicks31@bellsouth.net), May 25, 2002.


Thanks for the suggestion. If I shoot a test roll of a white or grey card, road ruts are apparent as well as negative desities coming into the frame from the sprocket holes. We've tried 1500 series and 2500 series drums and reels, varied the rotation from 60 to 24 rpm, with and w/o presoak, distilled and filtered tap water for chemistry and presoak, added some bromide to the mic-x and nothing gets rid of the problem.

Jobo is sending me a couple of their steel reels to test with to see if that helps, but given the lack of results so far, I don't hold much hope for that and need to have my contigency plan (deep tanks) in place. Eric Nelson

-- Eric Nelson (emanmb@yahoo.com), May 26, 2002.


Jobo's usual suggestion is that the reels have been contaminated with wetting agent or stabilizer which is extremely difficult to wash off and that causes the development irregularities. I don't know how valid that is, but a brand-new 2502 reel might be worth a try if you haven't already done so.

Dilute developers often work better; you might try diluting the Microdol-X 1:3. About 1.5x the normal development time would be a reasonable starting point.

And that brings up a question; why Microdol-X?

-- John Hicks (jhicks31@bellsouth.net), May 26, 2002.


None of the reels have touched photo-flo so that wasn't the problem. The 2500 series reels and tank were given to me by Jobo brand new.

Mic-x w/ t-max 100 gives REALLY fine grain although you lose a stop. Processing in 1:3, or whatever the recommended dilution is, is an option certainly and you gain back the stop lost processing in straight Mic-x.

I may try the dilute version last to see if that helps at all before I commit to 3 1/2 gallons of mic-x in my deep tank. I did find a local supplier (chicago) of stainless steel tanks etc.....Leedal! =)

Eric

-- Eric Nelson (emanmb@yahoo.com), May 27, 2002.


I don't think you'll be very happy with that arrangement. How do you plan to aggitate? Raising and lowering the basket can potentially cause flow problems. And Kodak STRONGLY advises AGAINST gas burst agitation for long rolls in reels. I'd doing that now, but I'm using the special 6' length Nikor reels which provide extra spacing width.

-- Alec (alecj@bellsouth.net), May 27, 2002.


I'd suggest Microdol-X 1:3 if you really want to use it; otherwise D-76 or ID-11 1:1 or 1:3. D-76 1:3 works fine with TMX for me in all formats, no development artifacts or oddities.

Are you using the Jobo lift?

Also, fwiw, I give only a one-minute prerinse in the Jobo.

-- John Hicks (jhicks31@bellsouth.net), May 27, 2002.


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