'Mod 54' film holder for Patterson tank - Any experiences?

[Neil Baigent]

Hi

Does anyone have any experience with the Mod 54 film holder? I'm very interested in getting one but have seen a few concerns about sheets coming loose with too much agitation..

http://www.mod54.com/

Thanks a lot

Neil

[Joanna Carter]

Unless you've already got the Paterson tank, you might be better off getting yourself a CombiPlan tank.

[zoikes]

I suppose the advantage of the 'Mod54' is that the fill / drain times are fairly short (15 seconds?)
The combiplan takes about 30 seconds. I have so far worked on the assumption that with dev times less than 10 minutes or so this may give uneven densities, but if you ignore the instructions and drain upside down you can counteract this.

If you shake the combiplan too much the films will come loose as well - nice gentle inversions!

Ian

[Neil Baigent]

Thanks guys

I've looked at the combiplan but had a few reservations. I really want a sealed system, primeraly to cut down on fumes but also to stop wastage of chemicals. Im currently using a home made tank that I'm happy with (an old steel daylight tank with two slots from a yanke tank glued in) but want to process more sheet at once but I don't have the bits to make this myself..

I think I'm going to get the Mod but just wanted to know if many people have issues with sheets coming loose, or other issues, before I went ahead.

Neil

[Joanna Carter]

I've looked at the combiplan but had a few reservations. I really want a sealed system, primeraly to cut down on fumes but also to stop wastage of chemicals

The CombiPlan is a sealed tank. Perhaps you are confusing with the awful Yankee tank?

[Neil Baigent]

I knew they were different things but obviously got my facts crossed at some point! Thanks Joanna..

[Collas]

I have a MOD 54 and have used it a few times for black and white work. I've ended up with scratched negatives, but this has been my fault as I've put them in the wrong way round and they've rubbed the emulsion off against the "fingers". I've also found it fiddly to load with the negatives going into each other's slots. As with all film holders or reels, patience and practise will cure this. The perspex used feels brittle, but I haven't had any of the "fingers" snap off, yet. This is the area that needs to be looked into first, in my opinion, as a more flexible plastic would possibly prevent this, and give a feeling of longevity.

I tried developing FP4+ in Ilford ID-11 stock diluted 1 to 7 and this gave me a development time of 20 minutes for Normal (30 minutes for Normal +1, so it's a slow process). Initially I tried using the twizzle stick (10 seconds agitation every minute), but this has no purchase on the central column, even with the C-clip in place. I would prefer to use this method as I feel it works better with the probe from the RH Designs ProcessMaster, if at all possible. So I need to find something to hold the MOD in place on the column that isn't permanent (so superglue is out). I've now tried the inversion method, and haven't found the negatives moving around.

I also have access to both the CombiPlan, and Jobo 2500 series tanks, so I'm not short of options. All three methods have their problems, particularly getting the sheets of film to go into the correct slots. The plastic used for the orange slot guides for the CombiPlan is very brittle and will break rather too easily, though thankfully they are available as spare parts. Using the Jobo loader is an, expensive, option and in the end it's still not that straightforward I've found.

In all this, patience is the one thing to stress, otherwise you'll be stressed and hurling the damned things across the room!

Nick

[Valerio Trigari]

Using the Jobo loader is an, expensive, option and in the end it's still not that straightforward I've found.

I bought one of those and when I got it, I thought "this is definitely not worth that much money...". Also, instead of making things easier, it made them more cumbersome! Though I suppose it would be better to use it outside a light-tight tent.

Val

[Joanna Carter]

Using the Jobo loader is an, expensive, option and in the end it's still not that straightforward I've found.

I bought one of those and when I got it, I thought "this is definitely not worth that much money...". Also, instead of making things easier, it made them more cumbersome! Though I suppose it would be better to use it outside a light-tight tent.

I had a Jobo loader and found it to be more trouble than it was worth; fortunately, it came as part of a job lot, so I didn't feel like I had wasted any money.

If you do get a Jobo 2500 tank, whatever you do, don't get the 2509 (without the "n") reels; the 2509n reels are just so much easier to load. I offered to help a friend load some reels, only to find they were the older type; instead of taking the usual 5-10 minutes to load, I was still struggling after 20 minutes; and that was in a darkroom instead of my usual dark box

[Yassen Roussev]

I did get one of the MOD54 directly from Morgan's website and I have to say there have been quite a few occasions when sheets have come off in agitation, with resultant scratches.

Morgan needs to improve the design by adding grooves for the film on the bottom and top plates... I emailed the guy this week, and hopefully he'll improve the design in the future, but maybe stay off the "processor" for now.

[Valerio Trigari]

Using the Jobo loader is an, expensive, option and in the end it's still not that straightforward I've found.

I bought one of those and when I got it, I thought "this is definitely not worth that much money...". Also, instead of making things easier, it made them more cumbersome! Though I suppose it would be better to use it outside a light-tight tent.

I had a Jobo loader and found it to be more trouble than it was worth; fortunately, it came as part of a job lot, so I didn't feel like I had wasted any money.

If you do get a Jobo 2500 tank, whatever you do, don't get the 2509 (without the "n") reels;

I think I might sell the reel loader on eBay at some point... It seemed a very useful tool, but it's not as practical as it should be. I have the 2509N reel and it's quite easy to load. I just wish I had a larger tent, my Calumet is very small when filled...

[Neil Baigent]

If you shake the combiplan too much the films will come loose as well - nice gentle inversions!

I guess all the systems have their flaws. im going to take a punt on the MOD as nobody seems too apposed to it..

Thanks for your replys!

Neil