Hi all,
There's been some talk on this list about 250 film backs and how one goes
about getting the film developed. One way to do it yourself is to use whats
called a G-3 developing tank. I think these things date to the '50's or
perhaps even earlier and were originally used to develop 16mm and 35mm movie
film. G-3 is the original military procurement model designation of these
things.
How do they work you are asking yourself about now? Well, basically, they
are daylight tanks a little smaller than a toaster oven with two adjustable
reels inside. You fix the film ends to either reel, close up the tank, dump
in the chemicals then begin cranking via handcranks the film from one reel to
the other and back again until development time has expired. I know the
darkroom perfectionists are agast at the idea but it actually works pretty
well. I think the tank is best used (assuming black and white film) with a
compensating developer that is not very time or temperature dependant,
Diafine for example is perfect for this application. Color film is
manageable in this contraption if you are already comfortable with hand
inversion tank processing this type of film but whether color or black and
white it does take some effort to make this tank work for you, I won't kid
you.
Now for the sales pitch ;^) I've got an extra one of these tanks, a later
Arkay version of the G-3 updated with plastic reels which make the cranking a
little smoother than with the older metal reels, IMO. Also comes with an
instruction book containing the processing numbers for various (older) film
and developer combos.
First 250 film back devotee that would like to send me $60 can have it
postpaid in the US. Contact me via private mail. Thanks.
Carl
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