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Hi folks

Well, having recently acquired a Jobo ATL 1500, last night I processed my first batch of E6 in it.

I had ummed and aahhed for some time, about how to supply the tempered water for rinsing and eventually went for the option of a 5 gallon bucket, a Novatronic submersible heater and a Whale caravan pump; thus avoiding the hassle of plumbing in a thermostatic mixer valve and having tho keep the hot water running at all times to avoid our combi boiler from running cold water every time it switches on. Many thanks to Brian for his help in assuring me about this stuff.

After a couple of false starts, the biggest of which was not realising that the tempering bath in the processor wasn't full enough to allow the heater/pump to start working (that wasted an hour), The process ran and completed and I was greeted by six, slightly milky looking, transparencies, with visible detail!

Tetenal supply a stabiliser which they advise using without using the tank or reels, so I used my Paterson Orbital as a dish that would allow the meagre 300ml of liquid to cover the sheets of film.

After stabilisation, I felt the film looked like it was "dirty" but could have just been minute air bubbles; so I used my CombiPlan tank to immerse them in a bath with a drop of wetting agent.

I used my usual hairdryer to gently dry the sheets of film and, around an hour after the processor had started, I had six perfectly processed sheets of E6 film; four of which will be stitched into a panorama

Hi Joanne, well done on getting a processor, back to the future I say!
Just to say that once you have put the chromes in the stabiliser don't rinse and/or photo flow them, just let 'em dry. They will look quite a bit darker and quite milky when they are wet but they clear when dry.
Numerous discussions about rinsing on the LFF and APUG and the man from Kodak says no.

Happy dipping.

Gari

gari wrote:Just to say that once you have put the chromes in the stabiliser don't rinse and/or photo flow them, just let 'em dry.

The only reason I gave them a (very) quick dunk in water with about two drops of wetting agent was because there appeared to be, either dust or minute bubbles on the film, that were starting to dry on it. After four minutes in the stabiliser, I thought it wasn't going to do too much harm to simply dip them and lift them out straight away. Anyway, the chromes are gorgeous and, as long as I scan them quickly enough, then at least I should have a permanent copy. (only joking )

gari wrote:They will look quite a bit darker and quite milky when they are wet but they clear when dry.

Fortunately, I was aware of the milkiness from someone else's description of the process. This morning, they look even better than they did last night, after I had just dried them.

This could get addictive; it brings back memories of watching the image appear on a sheet of paper when wet printing

Hey Joanne, it is very liberating doing your own processing, the loss of many labs and the cost of going through a lab can be a real burden. I went down this road when some chromes went missing for several weeks, I thought that they had been lost bye the posties but in fact the lab had them, had gone on vacation and not mentioned it, when I started to email and phone them I got no response for another few weeks... They finally contacted me and all was sorted but the scare was enough.

I like that I can have an A and B sheet and push or pull as apropriate. and let' not forget that at the end of the day, if I have shot enough sheets(not usually an issue) I can process and see what I have the same day. mmmm nice... Jobos rule as far as I am concerned.

Enjoy

Gari

Congratulations Joanna—I wish I had the time to do the same. Show us your stitched pic, please. If you happen to have spare room in your tank for any 5x7's, do let me know…!

I have found that I can get away without the tempering bath when doing up to 4 sheets 5x4 in modified print tank.
Use the pre soak to get the drum and film up to temp and keep all chemicals at temp in a waterbath, the wash between stages keeps the drum temp stable and as it is only the first dev that is temp /time critical all is well provided you look at the clock
I donot know which I get more excited about the tranies or the negs but it surly is a great feeling when you do it all, congrats Joanna I know how you feel.

Regards Paul.

Congratulations Joanna!

I aspire to do the same one day when I have enough wisdom, space, courage and my beard is very, very long indeed! It will be white by then!

I'd quite like to see a picture of what this "Jobo" looks like as I haven't the slightest idea what this beastie is!

DJ wrote:I'd quite like to see a picture of what this "Jobo" looks like as I haven't the slightest idea what this beastie is!

There's one here...



...and his cousin...

Here is the Calumet page for it http://www.calumetphoto.co.uk/item/593-256X/

Holy crap that's an expensive bit of kit!

Looks very clever though, but an Ebony will be on my shopping list way before one of those

DJ, you can pick the ATL 1500 up for a few hundred quid, just make sure you check it out fully before parting with the dosh.

For another £1K you could buy yourself the Ebony 45SU!

Thingy wrote:For another £1K you could buy yourself the Ebony 45SU!

So, which end of the Ebony does the developer go?

Joanna Carter wrote:

Thingy wrote:For another £1K you could buy yourself the Ebony 45SU!

So, which end of the Ebony does the developer go?

Through the lens panel once you've fitted the bag bellows to hold more film. Because Ebonies are organic they do all the magic themselves