Graflex.org

[monkeykoder]

Everywhere I go I see people hating on the Yankee cut film daylight tank. If my first round of negatives through it are any indication I'm going to love this thing.

[David A. Goldfarb]

I suspect that success with the Yankee tank depends largely on what developer you use. The manufacturer's recommended side-to-side agitation method produces uneven development problems in many cases. It's much less vigorous than shuffling sheets in a tray, inverting a daylight tank, or lifting a hanger out of a deep tank. But maybe some developers are less sensitive to agitation issues, so some people manage to do okay with these things.

Using three of these tanks in the dark as you would use a regular tank line seems to be a better alternative, and since darkroom stuff is cheap and plentiful these days, it's not unaffordable. Or if you've only got one, you might try turning off the lights to agitate by lifting the rack out of the tank and draining as you would do with the tank and hanger method.

If you want to use a daylight tank, I quite like the old stainless steel Nikor tanks. Some people have problems with them, because they haven't read the instructions or haven't figured out how to adjust and load them properly. I've posted the instruction sheet over on apug.org in this thread--

http://www.apug.org/forums/forum43/30192-nikor-cut-film-tank.html

[minox59]

I used yankee tanks and at first they were great. Then I started getting uneven developing so now I'm back to the tray.

[Jim23]

I get outstanding results with open 64 oz. tanks (total darkness required) and stainless hangers. HC110 Dilution B or D76 1:1 are favorites. I reuse the HC110, stop, and fix. I immediately pour it back into the bottles from the hard rubber open tanks when thru. The D76 1:1 I only use for one session then discard. The disadvantage is that I can only process six sheets at once (luckily a Grafmatic full!). I get great even results following the Kodak-recommended lift-and-tilt agitation method once per minute. Once the film is in the fix for a minute or so, I turn on the lights. I wash the films for 30 minutes, then treat with wetting agent and hang to dry.

[Henry]

For tank-and-reel development of 35mm stock, I used hypo clearing agent and it really cut down on the final rinse time, i.e., lower water bill and resource use.

[Jim23]

Henry,

I fully agree. I actually use Hypo Clearing Agent or Orbit Bath myself to cut wash time and save a lot of (this time of year - hot) water!

Jim23