First time using daylight developing tanks

srichards said:
My first film is some kodak 200 that is dated 2008 that was probably £2. The poundland Vista is quality in comparison ;) There is a chunky film guide thing that looks like it would prevent any kind of wonky winding.

It's very similar to the Rondinax. Not sure whether to use the whole pouch of 500ml at a time or to just put in half as it uses only 200ml of chemicals. The video on firstcall's site has him plonking the whole lot in as they show them being used with a rondinax.
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Excellent, the expectation is killing me, I'm hoping for great things Suz so no pressure :D
 
RaglanSurf said:
Excellent, the expectation is killing me, I'm hoping for great things Suz so no pressure :D
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+1
I'm really interested in how you find these kits as I'm tempted to try them myself.
 
Put it this way. If I can operate it with my sausage fingers and fumble brain then they have to be idiot proof!

Temperature control is another issue. There isn't any with these so I don't know whether to do always just dev at whatever the ambient room temp is?
 
The video on the Firstcall site has been removed. I did watch it a week or so ago and I think that the guy on it heated up the chems with an electric hot air heater to the usual temp for C41 developing. I'd be inclined to try that myself for a first go.
 
He heated it up to 38C and I think that might damage the in built thermometer that is on the tank. I was going to try 25c as a compromise and have a hot water bottle handy to warm it up if it cools too quickly. Plus the hotter it is the more you have to be careful with over and under times.
 
Well as it's advertised as being usable between 20-45c I suppose you have nothing to lose trying it out at 25c. Let us know how it comes out.
 
Sanity check time:

Load film into reel
Rinse/soak with plain warm water for few mins to reduce issues with air bubbles etc and warm tank too.
Drain.
Add developer.
Remove developer and add bleach.
Remove bleach.
Wash with plain warm water again or straight to fix?
Fix.
Wash a lot and add a bit of fairy. Remove from reel and hang where cats won't try swing from it...

A few sites mention the use of a stabiliser. I don't have that. The 3 pouch thing doesn't mention it so I have no idea whether I need to get stabiliser as well or it is the same as the fix in the digibase ready mix.

Feet temperature currently 10c!
 
It separate bleach and fix? Are you sure the last bath is stabiliser and the second blix?
 
No stab, I don't think it's really necessary it'll be fine... says the guy with the kit and 10 films to do...
 
Well that was an unmitigated disaster. Belt snapped. I now have a bakelite paperweight :crying: Fortunately it snapped straight away so I can send the film off still.

Wondering about a trip to the Fab Lab to see whether a new belt and clip over system could be made to fit a normal film tongue and wind it on. Or even if there is a way of producing a whole new one in normal plastic that is easier to use and has a better winding mechanism. I was thinking some kind of clock work timer you could set so that it would agitate for you would be brilliant!
 
The belt should be easy to replace, if its anything like the one in my Rondinax it's only a piece of rubberised cotton.
 
Think this is vinyl judging by the way it split. It's very brittle.

Cassette area is also very loose and doesn't seem to fit well either.
 
Anything will do as long as it's pliable and not liable to break. There must be loads of Livestrong wristbands knocking around, something like that would do fine.
 
The cancer research shops have those things at the moment.
 
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