Combiplan 5x4 Developing Tank

[Joanna Carter]

Keith, it says on the bottom of the tank that 1litre is sufficient for 4x5, and I have found that is totally adequate. Barry, how do you manage to get the extra 250ml in ?

[BarryWilkinson]

That's interesting Joanna,

I usually put in 1200mL, however my Combi Plan is quite old, so I just had another look. Inside the lid it says: -

9 x12cm 1000ccm

10x15cm 1250ccm

I guess when I first got the tank I assumed I'd need somewhere near 1250mL 'to be sure'.

Barry

[Keith Tapscott]

Keith, it says on the bottom of the tank that 1litre is sufficient for 4x5, and I have found that is totally adequate. Barry, how do you manage to get the extra 250ml in ?

Thanks for that Joanna.

Cheers.

[Steve Bell]

I bought a Combi Plan tank just before Xmas when I visited Silverprint. I bought it to help work through the backlog of 4x5 B&W developing, but so far its still in its box. It'll get some use when I get back from spending 4 days based near Helston in Cornwall in a weeks time.

[dennis]

My experience with the Combiplan suggests that if you load it fully some of the negs are almost bound to touch & thus be ruined. Why has no one (?) designed/produced a simple round tank with a spiral to take 4x5 film? Dennis

[Joanna Carter]

My experience with the Combiplan suggests that if you load it fully some of the negs are almost bound to touch & thus be ruined

Well, this certainly hasn't been my experience. The film holders keep the sheets well apart and I have never had two sheets touch each other. Are you sure you're talking about the CombiPlan ?

Why has no one (?) designed/produced a simple round tank with a spiral to take 4x5 film? Dennis

They have! It's called a Jobo and the spirals can take 6-10 sheets at a time.

[Apple]

Dennis,

Jobo make a spiral for 4x5 film - AFAIR it's the 2500 series (2509 possibly).

I've never used one as I've got an expert drum - the best IMO, unfortunately not at the cheap end of the market but not going as far as the silly amounts of money needed for Jobo fully auto processsing.

Andrew

[BarryWilkinson]

The 2500 series Jobo sheet film tanks are very nice but are designed to be used on one of their rotary processors. You can use them as hand processing tanks and manually invert them, however they then need a large volume of chemicals.

I have never had my films touch together in my CombiPlan.

Barry

[keffs]

It is the Jobo 2500 series of tanks. The smallest, that takes 6 negs, uses 270ml chemistry, but requires continuous rotation.

The negs will touch in the combiplan if used incorrectly. If rotated as per the instructions, there should be no contact.

Steve

[dennis]

Yep, it's a Combiplan T - does that make a difference? I've definitely had sheets touch in it. Maybe it is just me. Don't let me put anyone off them tho. Dennis

[keffs]

There is a topic on the large format forum here that has some useful info. The guy who markets them in the US is worth reading, and usually has answers to most things relevant.

Steve