Single-roll developing tanks

[jolefler]

I used one fairly regularly when I did 35mm a lot in the past few years. I chose it for portability. I also had a two reel tank, and used them at the same developer time with no noticable difference in density or contrast.

You can also just half-fill your two reel tank, with no noticable changes.

(just my humble first hand finding using one-shot chems, not to come off anti-scientific).


Jo

[ITD]

Just found the Kodak reference I was after - Tech Pub J-78, 2002:

"If you use D-76 Developer diluted 1:1 ... [y]ou can develop one 135-36 roll (80 square inches) in 473mL (16 ounces) or two rolls together in 946mL (one quart) of diluted developer. If you process one 135-36 roll in a 237mL (8-ounce) tank ... increase the development time by 10 percent"

That was always my finding when I was trying to test for development time when using the single-reel tank - the time was always longer than the manufacturer's recommendation, which fact always seemed counter-intuitive to me. Once I doubled the volume, times made more sense.

[Ronald Moravec]

Been using 8 Oz tanks for 50 years without a problem other than when I deviated from best practices.

1 Drop film reel into tank already full of developer. Second best- Pour in developer with the tank tipped 20 degrees. Do not rotate around as you pour or you will get marks. But the time you get to 4 reel tanks, dropping the reels into full tank is a must. Two reels tanks can still be done by pour in, but again it is not best practice.

2 Use no more developer than it takes to cover the reel. Over filling limits developer movement and you get marks.

3 Agitate 5 to seven inversions in 5 sec, Place on table and rotate 60 degrees. Alturnate - twist and rotate to inversion, twist and rotate back. Twice in 5 sec. Plave in water bath and rotate 60 deg.

4 oz D76 + 4 oz water. No more no less.

Plastic tanks are more foregiving for filling and inversion, but plastic reels can be harder to load. Trim leading edge corners 45 deg cuts 1/8" in back. Use twisty stick for first agitation immediately after filling. All subsequent agitation is by inversion ( Patterson instructions, not mine, follow them ).
I believe 320 ml is correct amount, not 500. Again do not fill to the top. Only cover the reel.

You can not over agitate the fix so give lots.

Plastic tanks fill thru a funnel from bottom up and film never get marked so long as you do not stop and start.

[Venchka]

Been using 8 Oz tanks for 50 years without a problem other than when I deviated from best practices.

1 Drop film reel into tank already full of developer. Second best- Pour in developer with the tank tipped 20 degrees. Do not rotate around as you pour or you will get marks. But the time you get to 4 reel tanks, dropping the reels into full tank is a must. Two reels tanks can still be done by pour in, but again it is not best practice.

2 Use no more developer than it takes to cover the reel. Over filling limits developer movement and you get marks.

3 Agitate 5 to seven inversions in 5 sec, Place on table and rotate 60 degrees. Alturnate - twist and rotate to inversion, twist and rotate back. Twice in 5 sec. Plave in water bath and rotate 60 deg.

4 oz D76 + 4 oz water. No more no less.

Plastic tanks are more foregiving for filling and inversion, but plastic reels can be harder to load. Trim leading edge corners 45 deg cuts 1/8" in back. Use twisty stick for first agitation immediately after filling. All subsequent agitation is by inversion ( Patterson instructions, not mine, follow them ).
I believe 320 ml is correct amount, not 500. Again do not fill to the top. Only cover the reel.

You can not over agitate the fix so give lots.

Plastic tanks fill thru a funnel from bottom up and film never get marked so long as you do not stop and start.

...for diffeent folks. Variety is the spice of life.

My mileage varies.

[pentaxuser]

I have a Jobo 35mm tank that is designed to hold only 240ml for inversion agitation and a Durst 35mm tank that is the same. Hadn't heard of problems with small tanks before using them. Ignorance is bliss as they say and in this case it prevented me from thinking there would be any problems with a small tank, so no inhibitions and guess what? There wasn't any problems.

pentaxuser