Re: [Leica] plastic or metal tank

[chefurka@magma.ca (Paul Chefurka)]

On Sat, 05 Sep 1998 22:06:32 -0500, you wrote:

>If you never do more than 2 rolls of film at a time then I'll admit
>there's a certain elegance to the stainless reels and tanks that the
>plastic don't have, but when I come back from vacation with 20 rolls to
>process I'd probably go nuts if I could only do 2 at a time.

When I was souping a lot of B&W I always used four-reel SS tanks, but
without tops.  I used three open tanks set in a water bath which
provided a thermal mass.  The reels went on a stainless T-rod, and I
processed them much like 4x5 - open tanks, compete darkness till the
end of the fix.  The fill/drain time is reduced to a second or two,
and agitation control is a breeze (i used a Gra-Lab timer).

Speaking of volume processing, I once did 16 rolls by this method in
two batches, by loading each reel with two rolls back-to-back.  I
couldn't have done this with plastic.  I will admit to being a bit
nervous about the outcome, but it worked fine, and saved me 30 whole
minutes :-)  (Press deadlines are the mother of invention - or at
least the mother of risk acceptance).  Don't try this unless you
absolutely have to...

I've always used stainless, and I always will.  Good reels are fast
and reliable once you do your first hundred rolls.  The only problem I
ever had was with "crescent moon" pressure marks on 120 film due to
kinks, and this was only a problem for the first 20 rolls or so.  35mm
is never a problem on stainless steel.

Paul Chefurka