Sheet Film Processing
Tubes
As I started playing with the 4x5 camera once I got it
working, I had to figure out how I was going to process the sheet film. I own
one of the Jobo sheet film processing tanks, and for those occassions that I
actually have 4 or more sheets to process the same way for the same time, it
works wonders. But if I'm not shooting volume, or trying to learn Zone System
fundamentals, I end up with one or two sheets at a given time/temp regimen,
and for this case the Jobo tank uses a lot more chemi than I would like. There
is a commercial product called the BTZS Film Tube that's gotten good reviews,
but at $130 for the set, my wallet flinched. I decided I would be willing to
accept a little more inconvenience to make a workable solution. The listings
below will walk you through how to make a set of passable tubes out of black
ABS pipe from the ahrdware store. Note: Since the inside of this pipe is relatively
smooth, you may find problems with uneven fixing. For my part, I pull the sheets
from the tubes after the first 30 sec or so of fix, and toss them into a tray
to finish fixing - makes it much easier to remove the antihalation dye and helps
avoid unevenness.