Tag: daylight tank

Making sense of Jobo daylight film processing tanks

Nicolai Grossman 1 Comment

The Jobo daylight film processing system seems confusing at first, and their web site is an unhelpful mess, but IMO it’s worth working through, because the stuff is good and does what it says it’s going to do well. Here’s what I have (all link to B&H):

#2561 tank with magnet base, holds 2 x 4×5 reels (12 sheets total), or 4 reels of 120, 220, or 127, or 6 reels of 135. You can get extension tubes for this tank to make it huge if you want to. There is a variant of this tank with a cog, which I’ve heard sucks for inversion and roller base processing, so unless you’re going to get the fancy temperature controller processor, stick with the magnet.

#2509N sheet film reel, holds up to 6 sheets. (Also holds 9x12cm.)

#2502 adjustable reel, fits 135, 127, 120, and 220 (you can gang up 2 rolls of 120 onto a single reel).

#1509 manual roller base, not necessary if you opt to use more chemistry and do inversion.

This gives me a nice, flexible system that will handle 135 through 4×5 in the same tank for not a lot of money. I’ve been really happy with it so far, I like it better than the Paterson system I was using for 135 and 120 and the dreaded Combi-Plan (of which I wrote a very profane review and follow-up).

There’s also the #2508 sheet film loader base (requires a film guide), which is meant to make loading sheet film easier, but I’ve never used it.

If you want to go fancier, there’s the Jobo expert drums, which are for sheet film only. I’ve heard they’re unbelievably easy to load, people seem to really love them, but they are more expensive, and I haven’t used them and can’t comment on them, either.

First thoughts on Jobo 2500 daylight processing tank

Nicolai Grossman 6 Comments

I’m helping my friend Jonathan get set up to do his own black and white film processing, so I made him a shopping list. I suggested the Jobo 2500 daylight tank because it looks good on paper, and I can’t recommend my Paterson Multi-Reel 5 Tank/Super System 4 kit.

The Paterson is a plastic tank and reel system that would be great except for the little BBs that grip the film to advance the film into the reel for loading. They’re not a problem for me with 35mm, because the film is so narrow that it’s still pretty rigid. Medium format is another story, though: if there’s even the slightest bit of moisture on the BBs, they tend to jam and not release the film while you’re loading. This means that you have to take the reel apart and start all over again, sometimes making crimping the film unavoidable, which makes a nice big white mark over your photos. What’s worse is that sometimes the BBs will fuck up the edges of the film, creating a place where it will jam almost no matter what you do. Not good.

I went over to Jonathan’s the other night to show him how to load everything up and got to play with the Jobo. Its reels adjust to accommodate 35mm, 120/220, and 127 just like the Patersons do, but they don’t have the stupid film-jamming BBs! They are larger in diameter, which may a problem for people with smaller hands, but they actually just work. No jamming, no ruined frames, just easy loading. Hell yeah!

The tank itself is nice, too. It’s part of a whole system, so you can get extension tubes should you need to increase capacity at a later date, or chop it down for smaller batches.

But wait, there’s more! There aren’t many options for daylight 4×5 processing, and as I’ve written previously in this review and follow-up, the Combi-Plan 4×5 daylight tank sucks. I’ve heard good things about the Paterson Orbital processor that does four sheets at a time and uses almost no chemistry, but they’re discontinued. Having been a UK product, they’re nearly impossible to get in the US. Jobo to the rescue again—you can get reels for 4×5! I haven’t handled them yet, but the idea of having a single, good system that can handle 135 through 4×5 is extremely appealing. I’m about to order a setup for myself and will report back on the 4×5 reels once I’ve tried them.

I can’t wait to get my hands on this thing… hopefully I’ve lost my last frame to crappy reels!