the GAF tanks don't "leak". They are designed to be filled from the top, agitated only with the stick, then poured out through one of the three drain ports on the side. I prefer the Paterson System 3 or 4 tanks, but this GAF tank is rather clever. I have two of them, and both came with the stirring rod, which also doubles as a thermometer.
+ludwigvan66 That is all correct. When I did the video, I didn't know that GAF tanks weren't intended for inversion (having never used tanks not designed for inversion.) I agree, too, that they were clever little things.
The tank with the red cap also has a "twizzle" stick for agitation. I have that tank and it's fine. The small black 120 tank, if you find it hard to take off the top with the little cap on, then take the little cap off. There is a light trap in that lid; you don't need the little cap on it after loading. Put the big cap on, press it down, and THEN put the little cap on. Finally, you really don't need to invert the tank, especially the stainless steel one, to get good agitation. All you need to do is swirl it around, lid up. Developer has the consistency of water; it's not viscous.
You also can use the “Kodacraft” method. The plastic Kodacraft tanks couldn’t be inverted and you would briskly slide the tank back and forth about 10 inches on the countertop to agitate the solution.
The best way i have found is not to invert or turn just vibrate the tank with a motor and weight for 5 sec every minute. i got the idea from a friend who uses the technique to polish pebbles. i have been doing it this way for 15 years and get perfect negs every time.
@@DavidHancock Dear david it does not roll the drum just shakes it a jobo system will do that for you but they are constant agitation and a bid contrasty. all i use at the moment is a table fan upturned and a nut and bolt on one of the blades as a weight a 12x12 wood on top of the mesh as a table with a cup thing to place the tank into set in the dead middle . most fans have at least 3 speeds on them (i use top speed). the secret is the bolt just a small one will do (just enough to upset the balance and that makes the oscillations and frequency . It takes little time to make one and is well worth the effort. I did a test with it by putting a clear glass tumbler on it with a bit of thick food coloring and turned it on it immediately dissolved it evenly. I have also wondered about a ultrasonic system too . I have one somewhere i got for a fish tank that makes smoke on the top of the water but it think the freqwence would be to high . If you get the time have ago all my friends are using them now and they are happy too. I don't know if it's the best or the right way but it works better than any other way i have tried and i have been at this game for 40 years now. Hope it works for you too.
That ... is ... brilliant. I'm genuinely impressed. We don't have any fans in the house right now, but if I see one at a garage sale I'm going to give this a go. Thank you!
Just watched a video by a guy called Dave who used to be a chemist for Ilford's, he said that over agitation can detrimentally affect the sharpness of the negative. I’ve never heard that one before, I know it can create a lot of small bubbles that are harder to dislodge and give your image a mottled appearance. What was the name of the make of tank that had the thermometer in it please David? Another great video, that has stood the test of time.
The thermometer tank was made by GAF. The thermometer bits are increasingly uncommon now and most that I've seen have cloudy and unreadable numbering. But as a tool just for spinning the negatives, they're great. I had not heard that over-agitation reduces sharpness. That's incredibly interesting.
David Hancock This is the video David where he says about the agitation, or at least I think it is but I watched all five in the series one after the other. ruclips.net/video/RGCR-uMdxVY/видео.html Thanks for the info, I’ll keep an eye open.
The best way i have found is not to invert or turn just vibrate the tank with a motor and weight for 5 sec every minute. i got the idea from a friend who uses the technique to polish pebbles. i have been doing it this way for 15 years and get perfect negs every time. and definitely no bubbles can survive it.
Proper agitation increases contrast, but I didn't know agitation affects grain. Proper agitation gives you less grain.? Is a gentle agitation better than a more aggressive agitation, or doesn't it make a difference.? Thank you.
Personal experience, the ways that developer affects grain are developer concentration (dilute developers have lower grain), developer age (old developer chemistry yields lower contrast which has the effect of amplifying grain when printed or digitized), developer type (some chemicals yield higher grains than other), and agitation in that when developer is not agitated it sits on the film past when it should be moved and after the developer contacting the film has been weakened by the chemical interaction with the film. In that last case the developer results are similar to using old chemistry.
@@DavidHancock I'm new. It is so confusing to me.. what is meant by lower and higher grain? To me, logically it would be that high grain means a lot of grains per surface area, and so higher resolution, but from your comment it sounds like high grain is understood as "more visible grains" aka less silver grains per surface area. How is it?
+Tomi Beškovnik I miss the Efke films. A friend of mine who lived near the plant back them shot me an e-mail the morning they closed. I picked up a 100-foot roll of Efke 100 (all I could afford) and the next day the prices nearly doubled. Efke was my favorite family of film and I'm pacing myself as I use my last four rolls from that 100-foot roll.
Tomi Beškovnik Yeah, and they're all at or past their expiration. My Efke 100 expired in March 2015, I think, and it has started to age poorly, losing about a third stop in speed already.
You were obviously in a good position to make that call. I use and like stainless tanks, but was keen to try a non leaky plastic option (I LOVE Hewes stainless 120 reels but they don't work with plastic tanks with a central light trap tube). Cheers for responding.
True, if it were complete. However, a that time I had eight GAF tanks and not one had come with the twiddle stick. I've still never actually seen a GAF tank with a twiddle stick.
Sounds like you have some extra bits. The metal spiral probably won't work in the plastic tank. It may be worth picking up a small steel tank and giving it a go at some point.
![How Does Film ACTUALLY Work? (It's MAGIC) [Photos and Development] - Smarter Every Day 258](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/TCxoZlFqzwA/mqdefault.jpg)
These videos are 12y old. Wow! You basically taught a whole generation how to shoot and process film.
:D Thank you!
the GAF tanks don't "leak". They are designed to be filled from the top, agitated only with the stick, then poured out through one of the three drain ports on the side. I prefer the Paterson System 3 or 4 tanks, but this GAF tank is rather clever. I have two of them, and both came with the stirring rod, which also doubles as a thermometer.
+ludwigvan66 That is all correct. When I did the video, I didn't know that GAF tanks weren't intended for inversion (having never used tanks not designed for inversion.) I agree, too, that they were clever little things.
The tank with the red cap also has a "twizzle" stick for agitation. I have that tank and it's fine. The small black 120 tank, if you find it hard to take off the top with the little cap on, then take the little cap off. There is a light trap in that lid; you don't need the little cap on it after loading. Put the big cap on, press it down, and THEN put the little cap on. Finally, you really don't need to invert the tank, especially the stainless steel one, to get good agitation. All you need to do is swirl it around, lid up. Developer has the consistency of water; it's not viscous.
Thank you. Those are all excellent points.
You also can use the “Kodacraft” method. The plastic Kodacraft tanks couldn’t be inverted and you would briskly slide the tank back and forth about 10 inches on the countertop to agitate the solution.
Thank you! That's a great point and it works very well.
The plastic tank with the red lid is AP tank, made in Spain. Thanks for the video.
The best way i have found is not to invert or turn just vibrate the tank with a motor and weight for 5 sec every minute. i got the idea from a friend who uses the technique to polish pebbles. i have been doing it this way for 15 years and get perfect negs every time.
That is a great idea! I've been trying to work out a way to create a system that rolls the tanks for me. What does your system look like?
@@DavidHancock Dear david it does not roll the drum just shakes it a jobo system will do that for you but they are constant agitation and a bid contrasty. all i use at the moment is a table fan upturned and a nut and bolt on one of the blades as a weight a 12x12 wood on top of the mesh as a table with a cup thing to place the tank into set in the dead middle . most fans have at least 3 speeds on them (i use top speed). the secret is the bolt just a small one will do (just enough to upset the balance and that makes the oscillations and frequency . It takes little time to make one and is well worth the effort. I did a test with it by putting a clear glass tumbler on it with a bit of thick food coloring and turned it on it immediately dissolved it evenly. I have also wondered about a ultrasonic system too . I have one somewhere i got for a fish tank that makes smoke on the top of the water but it think the freqwence would be to high . If you get the time have ago all my friends are using them now and they are happy too. I don't know if it's the best or the right way but it works better than any other way i have tried and i have been at this game for 40 years now. Hope it works for you too.
That ... is ... brilliant. I'm genuinely impressed. We don't have any fans in the house right now, but if I see one at a garage sale I'm going to give this a go. Thank you!
It took 6 mins to get to the point, which was how to properly agitate the film!!!
That sounds about right.
Thank you! I would never have guessed that, since it had basically no markings.
Just watched a video by a guy called Dave who used to be a chemist for Ilford's, he said that over agitation can detrimentally affect the sharpness of the negative. I’ve never heard that one before, I know it can create a lot of small bubbles that are harder to dislodge and give your image a mottled appearance. What was the name of the make of tank that had the thermometer in it please David? Another great video, that has stood the test of time.
The thermometer tank was made by GAF. The thermometer bits are increasingly uncommon now and most that I've seen have cloudy and unreadable numbering. But as a tool just for spinning the negatives, they're great.
I had not heard that over-agitation reduces sharpness. That's incredibly interesting.
David Hancock This is the video David where he says about the agitation, or at least I think it is but I watched all five in the series one after the other.
ruclips.net/video/RGCR-uMdxVY/видео.html
Thanks for the info, I’ll keep an eye open.
The best way i have found is not to invert or turn just vibrate the tank with a motor and weight for 5 sec every minute. i got the idea from a friend who uses the technique to polish pebbles. i have been doing it this way for 15 years and get perfect negs every time. and definitely no bubbles can survive it.
Proper agitation increases contrast, but I didn't know agitation affects grain. Proper agitation gives you less grain.? Is a gentle agitation better than a more aggressive agitation, or doesn't it make a difference.? Thank you.
Personal experience, the ways that developer affects grain are developer concentration (dilute developers have lower grain), developer age (old developer chemistry yields lower contrast which has the effect of amplifying grain when printed or digitized), developer type (some chemicals yield higher grains than other), and agitation in that when developer is not agitated it sits on the film past when it should be moved and after the developer contacting the film has been weakened by the chemical interaction with the film. In that last case the developer results are similar to using old chemistry.
@@DavidHancock I'm new. It is so confusing to me.. what is meant by lower and higher grain? To me, logically it would be that high grain means a lot of grains per surface area, and so higher resolution, but from your comment it sounds like high grain is understood as "more visible grains" aka less silver grains per surface area. How is it?
Fotokemika was from Croatia, but unfortunatly closed in 2012
+Tomi Beškovnik I miss the Efke films. A friend of mine who lived near the plant back them shot me an e-mail the morning they closed. I picked up a 100-foot roll of Efke 100 (all I could afford) and the next day the prices nearly doubled. Efke was my favorite family of film and I'm pacing myself as I use my last four rolls from that 100-foot roll.
+David Hancock There are still available some EFKE films on ebay. Well, the price is not so convenient like it used to be.....
Tomi Beškovnik Yeah, and they're all at or past their expiration. My Efke 100 expired in March 2015, I think, and it has started to age poorly, losing about a third stop in speed already.
Who makes the second tank? The plastic one that takes stainless reels?
I don't recall if those had a logo on them or not. I sold those a number of years ago when I went all steel.
You were obviously in a good position to make that call. I use and like stainless tanks, but was keen to try a non leaky plastic option (I LOVE Hewes stainless 120 reels but they don't work with plastic tanks with a central light trap tube). Cheers for responding.
Your GAF tank uses a plastic 'twiddle' stick to agitate film.
True, if it were complete. However, a that time I had eight GAF tanks and not one had come with the twiddle stick. I've still never actually seen a GAF tank with a twiddle stick.
fluit ounces..
What a stupid unit
Avoirdupois for life!
:D
Another miss spell word....
Good catch. Thank you.
so I bought the tank with the rec cap on ebay and it came with 3 plastic spirals and 1 metal and also had the piece at 4:30... lol
Sounds like you have some extra bits. The metal spiral probably won't work in the plastic tank. It may be worth picking up a small steel tank and giving it a go at some point.
+David Hancock yeah I knew when I opened the package the metal one wouldn't work, thought about getting a metal tank