I would add this to the discussion: I acquired a 4x5 camera in May of
95'. One of my first concerns was how I was going to process the negatives
to insure a higher level of even development. I knew of JOBO-too expensive
for my tight budget. I seriously considered the BTZS tubes. before I made a
decision to purchase, I came across the article in the July/August 1995
Edition of D&CCT (now Photo techniques). After reading it, I decided the
price was right and worth a try.
I departed from the instructions Kachel supplied in that I had no
burning desire spending hours (I am decidedly an UNhandyman) hacksawing PVC
pipe and the subsequent sanding of the cut lengths of pipe. I went to a
hardware store and had them cut 1 1/2 inch pvc pipe into 6 inch lengths. I
ordered 24 of these 6 inch sections. I used schedule 40 pipe instead of the
schedule 125 pipe Kachel recommended (the only difference between the two
is that the schedule 40 pipe has thicker walls than the 125 pipe, it does
not effect results) because nobody carried the 125 pipe in Omaha. The cuts
were clean enough that I only needed to remove the "shards: from the edges
of the pipe. No additional sanding was needed, although it will give the
pipe a nicer finish.
I decided to give the open ended pipe in a tray method the ultimate
acid test by using PMK pyro developer. I figured if any developer would
show any artifacts of uneven development with the method, it would be this
one. I am able to run 6 tubes in an 11x14 tray with 3 liters of chemistry
(wearing gloves of course!) To insure good wetting of the film, I used a 2
minute presoak in a bath containing 10 grams of sodium metaborate in 3
liters of water.
The result:beautiful evenly developed negatives the very first try
with the method. To ease the removal of the antihalation dye, I used two
non hardening 1+3 dilution rapid fixing baths in sucession, followed by the
stain development in the spent developer, and the wash. I became a believer
in the method after this.
Sure, it may not be as "convenient" as the closed tube method since
you have to logroll the film in a tray of developer in the dark, and it is
not quite as elegant as the other rotary methods, but if the final
resulting negative is what matters. what the heck? Total cost for the 24
tubes-$8.40
Maxim M. Muir