Thanks Todd

Great post for us folks considering 4X5 - Thanks for taking the time to do such a througrough run through.

As always, your video is very helpful with lots of practical knowledge. Thank you for sharing your expertise.

Thanks! I've been usinge the Stearman Press, which works well for the tank, too. And it's as easy developing colour as B&W. I only warm the chemicals in a basin within the sink with warm water and thermometer. Easy peasy.

Thank you, for another great video. Comes in very handy as I'm building my darkroom. Love your channel!

Great video Todd!!!!!!!

Hi there Todd! Thanks for creating this video. I've been wanting to learn how to develop my 4x5 but with the pandemic it's been impossible to find an in person class that I can take. You've layed out everything I need to know about developing. Once again, Todd, thanks for creating these excellent tutorials! May you & your family continue to have great health!

Hi Todd, just now I discovered your channel and let me tell you that the information that you gave is priceless. I'm 21 years old and really love shooting film, while I was on film school I got to learn how to develop 135 and 120 b/w and colour film, and I love it. Recently, with my girlfriend we got the idea of opening a small film lab, because where I live there are almost no options and the service sometimes it's not good, and your channel it's a great help for that, your way of teaching it's incredible, and your really precise and left no questions, this is the best information about a not so popular film format (at least where I live), so yeah, thank you for giving this information for free. Greetings and much love from Valparaiso, Chile.

Very informative video. Thanks for taking the time to produce it. Cheers from Nova Scotia...

thank you for sharing your knowledge. These videos are very fun and a great help for people looking to get into large format. I myself cannot wait to get my hands on a toyo 45a. This channel definitely helped me get there! Keep it up!

Thank you so much for uploading this video and providing this information.

Really cool thanks for sharing

This is really helpful Todd, many thanks. I'm going through all of your videos from the start now having started at the top! Very much appreciate your tutorials as I'm starting my 4x5 journey. Fantastic images too! Cheers from the UK

Very practical will be a Combiplan tank plus three extra containers with covers, bought in a shop for houehold items. The insert with sheetfilms must fit in the three +/- 1,5 liter containers. Containers filled with stopbath, fixer and water. After having developed the films; in total darkness place the insert into the stopbath; move 60 seconds. Bring the insert into the container with fixer and move ? minutes. Put the insert into the last container for washing ?? minutes. When washing is finished; 1500 cc + wetting agent for 60 seconds Drying in a dustfree room.

Thank you!!

I just got my Intrepid 4x5 today. Perfect timing. 😁

Super vidéo et explications. Thanks you

Thanks Todd. Based on your video I’m going back to presoaking my film.

Hi Todd, Thank you for these great videos! I would soo love to see your enlarging process as well! Cheers!

Hi Todd, Thanks so much for your videos and sharing your passion. Thought I would pass along a tip on loading your expert drum. Leave the sheets up about a half an inch out of the cylinder until you have them all loaded then push them all in. This avoids losing track. Chase the Light

Sheet films developing in a Combiplan tank is very easy. In a Combiplan tank with a non leak proof, plastic cover; not suited for upside down movements. The insert must be lifted and dunked in total darkness. In a Combiplan T tank with a leak proof, rubber cover; suited for upside down movements. In a 4 x 5 tank fits six 4 x 5 inch films or six 9 x 12 cm films or six 6,5 x 9 cm films. In a 5 x 7 tank fits six 5 x 7 inch films or the double amount of the smaller sized films.

So glad to see you made this. I need tray skills.

Push and pull processing of black and white sheet films. The best way is to put your negative in a stainless steel Kodak sheetfilm developing frame. Hang the frame in a tank to do a lift and dunk processing. You can keep full controll over time and agitation in this way. Series of films to push and pull, can hang together in one tank, just joined in two seperated series. Stainless steel frames cannot cause scratches. The temperature of the developer can not rise because the fingers stay out of the developer in the tank. Jaco van Lith, Rotterdam The Netherlans.

Thank you very much for this video. I did not need this information yet but today I have bought a 4x5 so I will return to this video a lot of times the upcoming months. :-)

Great KZfaq channel.

G'day Todd. I'm Trev from Australia. I just found your channel tonight, subscribed, and I want to thank you. It's 2022 and I turned 70 three weeks ago, BUT you just took me back 40 years and reminded me of some wonderful times. I used to be a forensic document examiner in the NSW police force in the 1980s and in my early days my job was to take and develop photographs for the senior people in the section. I used a 5 x 4 Linhof camera on a copy stand and then hand processed the negatives. My darkroom for processing the negatives was smaller than yours but productive. I loved your comments and advice about using gloves. In my day O, H, + S (Occupational Health and Safety) were just three letters in the alphabet and I eventually found that I was allergic to the developer, which caused blistering on my skin! Love the format and saw one of your other videos about using the double dark slides (that's what we called them) in the field. Great advice. Thanks for the memories.

The massive dev app gives you all the time data plus a great timer and the ability to keep your own times.

thanks!

Really nice... Hope some day to be able to buy a 4x5 camera...

Please do a tour of your darkroom!

Nice vidéo ! I use a Combiplan for developping my 4x5, and without possibilities for a darkroom, I must use the long filling system (around 30 seconds), so I fear that pre-washing must be counter-effective, even with long-time developpment . Never seen zoning, in fact. Pre-wash is recommanded by Ilford for rotating developpment, not necessary for inverting, so perhaps it is the explanation…

So incredibly helpful! You removed the “mystery” of film development and have given me the confidence to jump in and try it myself. Many thanks!

I tried tray development. Not for me. Scratched my films nicely. I am now with the jobo drums which works great for me. very good overview.

Hello Todd,I use one tank Durst Codrum 304(rotative processing) for developer 2 sheets 8x10 with only 150ml of developer and it's ok, very good!

Thank you. Learned not to slip top sheet to bottom. I now carefully bring bottom to top. Very rarely do I mar the emulsion. And before video, was not wearing gloves because I couldn’t feel film (I still use just my fingers to carefully remove film from negative carriers to initial water bath). With thin gloves, I can feel film and hopefully not raise temp. I keep gloves on throughout process, but rinse in running water to avoid cross contamination. I used to work in an operating room, so practicing “sterile technique” applies here with film. I am not sure what to do with an 8 x 10 sheet of film because I do not have an enlarger this big and I like to print big 32 x 42.

As a Washington native, I need to get that Seattle Times Apron!

Great have you considered a video on silver recovery 😎

Would it be a good idea to use distilled water when mixing up chemicals - especially the last photo flow dip? Great show and tell - thank you.

I've been doing photography for 50 years. Your points are dead on to be successful in developing. Consistency across the board is so important. You're asking for problems when you change things especially more than two things. Pre-wash is important. Great recommendations on apps and web sites. The only thing I disagree with is that you missed the best way (IMO) to develop your film is using the Stearman SP-445 developing tank. I've used every method out there (including Jobo) and I've found it to be the best and most economical. For newbies this is the best method. Also, color is easy to do especially with Cinestill processing kits. Great video

Hi Todd I heartily appreciate your video. It is fantastic and has helped me a lot to clarify my ideas on film processing in trays. Where did you buy the negative washers? Thanks a lot

Hi, thanks for posting this. How did you wash the films before you got the film washer ? Just with a paper tray washer ?

Highly agree about the prewash for sheets, it puzzles me that Ilford highlyrecommends to not prewash their films.

Thank you so much for this great and very informative video! I would like to start large format photography after shooting 35mm for ages and having started medium form a while ago. My dad was given a 5x7 camera from the 1970s some years ago and he also has a wooden 4x5 from 1910 inherited from great-grandfather, and I may use both. My dad is a passionate photographer too but has never shot LF. So all your videos most helpful for me! I have a question about the prewash: would you also recommend it for medium format film? I have never prewashed and never had any issues with 35mm. Now that I am developing MF I sometimes have some dots on the edge which I have never had with 35mm film. My guess was that is was due to the different tank I use for MF but now I am wondering if I better prewash my MF rolls.

Thank you, very informative. Please what is the last bath after film washing?

Great Video and just in time of me having issues developing c41 4x5 from 1984 and I’m not sure if it’s my developer/blix or the film itself. I am getting what looks like water marks all over the sheet.

Did you mention temperature? I have the CPP 2 JOBO, so I can control the bath temperature to within 1 or 2 degrees. I always develop my negs at 20 degrees. + or - 1 degree.

Thank you Todd. You mentioned your fixer disposal method. Can you explain that? Also, name brand of the wash tank you used? Greatly appreciate your videos.

Just got a 9x12cm plate camera the other day, hopefully this method still works! Sadly I might need to cut down some 4x5 sheets to actually fit in the plate holder.

Talking of digital scan, I have an expensive Epson scanner, which I used to scan my negatives and slides on. Alas, I have not been able to use it for several years now because it connects to the computer via Firewire, but since my desktop computer died, I have been using laptops and small “desktops” that neither have a Firewire interface nor do accept PCI cards.

Hola, pero hay algun video de como psitivar ampliar 9x12.

Hi Todd for a beginner how long do you develop for with d76 10 mins. Then how do you agitate, how long do you use stop and fixer. I guess what is a simple film recipe for a beginner with any black and white sheet film?

My school had those siphon wash tanks, but I can't find it anywhere on the internet.

I have a Anniversary Speed Graphic which uses 3.25x4.25 sheet film, how would you recommend I have that developed?

You only use all the chemicals for one development? Or can you reuse like I do for my 120? Also what is Hypo Clear for 2 minutes like it says on the app? And why is the final wash 10:30 or what you said 15:00 vs 120 I only did it for 2-3 minutes?

Hi Todd: Just got a Jobo 3005 tank for 8x10 film processing and am a little confused about the amount of developer needed (D76 diluted 1:1). Is 200ml of DILUTED developer really enough for each sheet of film? Or should you actually need 400ml per sheet (200 water; 200 developer)? Everything out there I'm reading says 200ml of diluted developer is not enough. If I try to use 400ml per sheet for sheets, I've exceeded the capacity of the tank. Could you please clarify? Thank you!

At what point do you turn back on the lights?

Great video, Todd. What is the name of that app again?

How much is the chemistry cost for 1 (or 4 or 10) 4x5 sheet film developping in B&W? My lab is so expensive and slow in Paris... And for color ? Thank you for the amazing video ❤️ Love your channel Romain

Instead of a stop bath, what do you think about using water instead? I use it for my 120mm film.

I am shooting one or two sheets more and more. Problem is my film tank holds four so kind of a waste of chemicals. I think I need to use a small tray. Oh and i shoot 4x5.

Just curious. I can’t imagine tray developing sheet film. I always used tanks. Much easier to control development in my opinion. What does tray development offer you in contrast.

The pre-wash: is it in distilled water?

The Pre Wash for B&W negative film developing of 35 mm, roll film, sheet film and glass plates has never been mentioned in the job sheets of Kodak, Ansco, Agfa, Ilford, Gevaert, Adox, Perutz, Ferrania, Forte, Efke, Foma, Orwo, Sakura or Fuji.

Why do you use ilford rapid fix over D76 fixer?

Thank you for the tips. You said 200ml developer for 2 5x7 sheets?? I develop one roll of 120 in kaiser tank with 590ml of developer. 200ml for two 5x7 is it really enough?

The name from the app please. thank you

What about 8x20

I over exposed my film while shooting how can I fix it with developing

Amazing round up Todd. Thanks for a great vid. The Jobo expert drum is expensive. I use the MOD54 (mod54.com/) with a Paterson tank. A great budget proof solution.

These jobo stuff are well made but with regret the prices are a but of rip off for what they are.

Dear Sir, Pre wash of the sheet film has never been advised to do by any film brand or photo chemical brand. The 1947 american book on the Speed Graphic camera did not mention the pre washing of any 4 x 5 sheet films. The pre wash of the negative glass plates, sheet films, roll films, 35 mm, 16 mm and miniature films, made by Agfa, Ansco, Adox, Orwo, Gevaert, Forte, Ferrania, Foma, Tura, Sakura, Konica, Fuji, Kodak or Ilford had never been advised by the film brands, the phot labs, the photographers and the photo amateurs. There is no need of running water in the negatve and positive darkrooms. Beware of any power shut down; the elctric film developing tank will stop rotating and the process can not proceed. Be smart, do not prepare in the kitchen your own photochemical liquids by dissolving the powders of the developer, stopbath and fixer. Buyinguy the concentrate liquids to be dilluted by plain water is much easier to do. World's best film developer is Agfa Rodinal / Adox Adonal. Rodinal is a one shot developer to be dilluted 1: 25 and 1 : 50. For special purposes mix Rodinal / Adonal to 1 : 10 or 1 : 100 and 1 : 200. Rodinal works well for all brands of 35 mm film, roll film and sheet film; it is the soup for all seasons. Be prepared of water shortage; have a jerrycan filled with 5000 cc water. Finding the correct temperature by running hot water from the heater is not wise. Just mix some hot water to the cold water. Tray developing can cause a lot of damage to the sheet film: 1.Spots of fog will occure by the fingers because of pressyng down the sheet film. 2. The heat of the fingers will rise the temperature of the developer. 3. Over developing of the film will happen, where the film is touched by the heat of the fingertips. 4. Moving the films to the next tray will spoil the previous liquid. Tray developng of sheet film will need six trays: pre wash, developer, stopbath, fixer, washer, wetting agent rinsing. Our family is in photography for more than a century and is knows Agfa Rdinal for ages. Never put the bottles with the photo chemicals on a shelf; just put them in a plastric container on the floor. Greetings, Jaco van Lith, Rotterdam - The Netherlands

To dry your sheet films the professional way, you need stainless steel clips; made Germany.

Pre-wash ? We are in photography in four continents since 1885 and developing glass plates and sheet films all the time. We never did, do or will do pre wash. Kodak, Adox, Ilford, Agfa, Gevaert, Ferrania, Forte, Foma, Lumière, Konishiroku, Fuji never wrote in their information and job sheets anything about pre-wash.

Do not shake your wet gloves; the darkroom and your apron will get wet and dirty. Use a paper towel.

Developing like this is not the way I would recommend for amateurs. If you dish develop, one at a time is safer.

Your tray developing is no good. The heat of your fingers will cause a rise of the tempeture of the developer and the film at the two spots where you touch the film. Pressing on an emulusion during the developing of it will cause fog.