A while back, I bought a busted Jobo Autolab 1000 for $400US. Repairs cost $30US. The weak point in the Jobo is the cog wheel that drives the tank rotation. The shaft breaks off this plastic part. I 3D printed a new cog wheel in polycarbonate and machined an stainless steel shaft. I added a roller thrust washer and lubed everything with Superlube. It is till working flawlessly and does a fine job doing C41.
That's the drag of buying and using Jobo equipment. The processors are designed, and the materials used, are of the cheapest sort. This results in Jobo units used regularly of failing in much fewer years than their prices would suggest. That, and a disorganized lack of repair parts and maintenance services, put Jobo in bankruptcy some years ago. I think these problems are marginally repaired today, but the general lack of quality and durability remains.
If you look at the bellini instructions amd the ntphotoworks site carefully, the warming step is meamt to be done with the reels in the tank, dry, to get everything up to temp. The first liquid to wet the film should be the developer. Also, the stabiliser should be in a jug or bucket rather than in yoir tank, which will in the case of plastic reels, make aubsequent loading of film more difficult. The tank should stay in the water bath as much as possible to maintain the temperature as closely as possible. The best thing to do is to do some experimenting with the water bath temperature and measuring the temperature of liquid in the tank - for wxample when im doing ecn2, the target temp is 41C, if i have the bath at 41.2, the sous vide has a hysteresis of +-0.5C, and that keeps the contents of both bottles and tank at between 40.8 and 41.2
Haven't done colour for a while, but I find using the twiddle stick stops leakage and an old Smiths mechanical lab timer - easier to start/stop/reset than a bloody mobile!
Thanks for the comment 🙂 I've always associated the 'twiddle stick' with uneven development (especially with super short dev times like 3m 15 seconds) this may be just a paranoia my father drummed into me when he was showing me how to develop my first B/W films as a kid. That was back in the days when people used to be up to their elbows in toxic chemicals with hardly a glove in sight 🙂 I'll give my twiddle stick a a bash on the next one (ooooer)
Hi Ash, Nice video. One recommendation though, keep the tank in the water bath while developing, fix and bleach since the max temperature tolerance of the C41 process is ± 0.2 C and use the stick for agitation - also avoids mess 😉
Great recommendation ... love to know how you keep the tank from floating off mind ... I couldn't stop the bottles from bobbing about and upending like psychopathic channel swimmers!
@@ashsphotolounge I use a smaller water box than you. Approximately 30x20 cm which is enough space for the suave and 3 bottles - the stabilizer only requires room temperature. If space is tight then keep the bottle with the current chemical in use out of the box. A benefit to the smaller size box is that heating is considerably faster and uses less energi/power 😉
@@michaelrasmussen3347 All good comments Michael 🙂 I was generally taking the in use chemicals out ... but filming myself caused several brain short circuits! I fill the tank in the kitchen from the hot water tap (monitored with my trusty thermometer) so generally use the temperature control unit just to keep the solutions at their given temp. Interesting you say the stabiliser can be at room temperature - the Bellini kit doesn't say that - but I will give it a go as that simplifies things a lot!
Interesting to see. I'll be attempting my first home dev this week (I hope) - I just need a few more funnels, and I will have to decide what tank to use - I wonder if the Jobo tank would be better, than the Patterson and AP tanks. Oh, and note to self - keep towels available for drying off the outside of the bottles, when taking them out of the water bath - just to reduce the mess...
Thanks for your comment :-) Those concertina bottles have a tendency to dump all the water collected in the 'ribs' all over your feet as you pour - so paper towels are a must! I've not tried Jobo dev tanks - but I would find it amazing that in 2022 we can't make leak proof ones that fill fast. It's hardly rocket science.
I have both the Jobo 1500 series and the Patterson tanks. I tend to prefer the Jobo because when you pair them with the Jobo bottles you can pour the chemistry from the tank into the bottle. I also feel the Jobo tends to fill and drain faster. Also the lids are water tight and can be replaced. You can push in the center of the lid to accommodate for gas build up during c-41 processing and the Jobo reel makes it simple to load 2 rolls of 120 onto a single reel. There is a small red clip the you push down after the first 120 film is loaded and that stops the second film from over lapping the first. That said Jobo is more costly and I love to use my Patterson for specialty developing like stand for black and white.
The Cinestill unit is just one of the common kitchen appliances, adapted to add some small feature (like a timer?) with a 25% price mark up. If the unique add-ons with the Cinestill are useful, it's a one time purchase and probably worth the extra price. If not, then pay a bit or a lot less for a plain old kitchen unit. I started doing E-6 at home with a Unicolor kit in 1976, using hot water in a sink. When I bought a home and built a darkroom in 1980, I solve temperature control with a water bath, using an isolated plastic, six-pack beer cooler warmed with a fish tank heater. Years later, I got a great deal on a regulated tank heater made specifically for the darkroom, which I put in storage pending failure of my fish tank heater. It's still in storage.
Fully agree Cinestill put a markup on what is essentially a Sous Vide - but you do get a warrantee which will be valid if you are using this for photographic work ... and a timer pre set for colour processes ... you pays yer money and you takes yer choice. 🙂
A while back, I bought a busted Jobo Autolab 1000 for $400US. Repairs cost $30US. The weak point in the Jobo is the cog wheel that drives the tank rotation. The shaft breaks off this plastic part. I 3D printed a new cog wheel in polycarbonate and machined an stainless steel shaft. I added a roller thrust washer and lubed everything with Superlube. It is till working flawlessly and does a fine job doing C41.
That's the drag of buying and using Jobo equipment. The processors are designed, and the materials used, are of the cheapest sort. This results in Jobo units used regularly of failing in much fewer years than their prices would suggest. That, and a disorganized lack of repair parts and maintenance services, put Jobo in bankruptcy some years ago. I think these problems are marginally repaired today, but the general lack of quality and durability remains.
If you look at the bellini instructions amd the ntphotoworks site carefully, the warming step is meamt to be done with the reels in the tank, dry, to get everything up to temp. The first liquid to wet the film should be the developer. Also, the stabiliser should be in a jug or bucket rather than in yoir tank, which will in the case of plastic reels, make aubsequent loading of film more difficult. The tank should stay in the water bath as much as possible to maintain the temperature as closely as possible. The best thing to do is to do some experimenting with the water bath temperature and measuring the temperature of liquid in the tank - for wxample when im doing ecn2, the target temp is 41C, if i have the bath at 41.2, the sous vide has a hysteresis of +-0.5C, and that keeps the contents of both bottles and tank at between 40.8 and 41.2
All I can say is that considering I was less than exact about things the kit is remarkably tolerant! The results were great!
Haven't done colour for a while, but I find using the twiddle stick stops leakage and an old Smiths mechanical lab timer - easier to start/stop/reset than a bloody mobile!
Thanks for the comment 🙂 I've always associated the 'twiddle stick' with uneven development (especially with super short dev times like 3m 15 seconds) this may be just a paranoia my father drummed into me when he was showing me how to develop my first B/W films as a kid. That was back in the days when people used to be up to their elbows in toxic chemicals with hardly a glove in sight 🙂 I'll give my twiddle stick a a bash on the next one (ooooer)
Hi Ash,
Nice video. One recommendation though, keep the tank in the water bath while developing, fix and bleach since the max temperature tolerance of the C41 process is ± 0.2 C and use the stick for agitation - also avoids mess 😉
Great recommendation ... love to know how you keep the tank from floating off mind ... I couldn't stop the bottles from bobbing about and upending like psychopathic channel swimmers!
@@ashsphotolounge I use a smaller water box than you. Approximately 30x20 cm which is enough space for the suave and 3 bottles - the stabilizer only requires room temperature. If space is tight then keep the bottle with the current chemical in use out of the box. A benefit to the smaller size box is that heating is considerably faster and uses less energi/power 😉
@@michaelrasmussen3347 Duly recorded and taken on board
@@michaelrasmussen3347 All good comments Michael 🙂
I was generally taking the in use chemicals out ... but filming myself caused several brain short circuits! I fill the tank in the kitchen from the hot water tap (monitored with my trusty thermometer) so generally use the temperature control unit just to keep the solutions at their given temp. Interesting you say the stabiliser can be at room temperature - the Bellini kit doesn't say that - but I will give it a go as that simplifies things a lot!
Interesting to see. I'll be attempting my first home dev this week (I hope) - I just need a few more funnels, and I will have to decide what tank to use - I wonder if the Jobo tank would be better, than the Patterson and AP tanks.
Oh, and note to self - keep towels available for drying off the outside of the bottles, when taking them out of the water bath - just to reduce the mess...
Thanks for your comment :-) Those concertina bottles have a tendency to dump all the water collected in the 'ribs' all over your feet as you pour - so paper towels are a must!
I've not tried Jobo dev tanks - but I would find it amazing that in 2022 we can't make leak proof ones that fill fast. It's hardly rocket science.
I have both the Jobo 1500 series and the Patterson tanks. I tend to prefer the Jobo because when you pair them with the Jobo bottles you can pour the chemistry from the tank into the bottle. I also feel the Jobo tends to fill and drain faster. Also the lids are water tight and can be replaced. You can push in the center of the lid to accommodate for gas build up during c-41 processing and the Jobo reel makes it simple to load 2 rolls of 120 onto a single reel. There is a small red clip the you push down after the first 120 film is loaded and that stops the second film from over lapping the first. That said Jobo is more costly and I love to use my Patterson for specialty developing like stand for black and white.
@@ralphstark9961 thanks for your comment. I may try and get hold of a Jobo to do a side by side comparison 🙂
@@ralphstark9961 Thanks Ralph, must try and get my hands on a Jobo
The Cinestill unit is just one of the common kitchen appliances, adapted to add some small feature (like a timer?) with a 25% price mark up. If the unique add-ons with the Cinestill are useful, it's a one time purchase and probably worth the extra price. If not, then pay a bit or a lot less for a plain old kitchen unit. I started doing E-6 at home with a Unicolor kit in 1976, using hot water in a sink. When I bought a home and built a darkroom in 1980, I solve temperature control with a water bath, using an isolated plastic, six-pack beer cooler warmed with a fish tank heater. Years later, I got a great deal on a regulated tank heater made specifically for the darkroom, which I put in storage pending failure of my fish tank heater. It's still in storage.
Fully agree Cinestill put a markup on what is essentially a Sous Vide - but you do get a warrantee which will be valid if you are using this for photographic work ... and a timer pre set for colour processes ... you pays yer money and you takes yer choice. 🙂