Developing B&W prints but not using print trays?

[MrDrizz]

Is the use of trays the only way to develop B&W prints? As my dark room is my bathroom having to setup trays each time is a bit if a pain plus I don't have that large a bathroom.

Can it be done using a tank and if so what are the cons apart from not being able to see the print develop.

 

[VirtualAdept]

Thats actually why I build my little tray rack thingy, so save space.

I recall Asha mentioning a Nova processor, but they're quite pricey in my opinion.

 

[StephenM]

Ignoring the wider question of what are all the alternatives to using developing dishes to produce prints (I can think of 4 off hand) and looking only at what would be the least effort, the only one that comes to mind is a print drum. I just gave my Paterson one away... I don't know if new ones exist, Jobo would be the only possible name that springs to mind.

The only downside to using a drum is not getting the magic of seeing an image appear. Prints should be developed for a specified time, and probably the biggest cause of bad prints is snatching them from the developer before they go too dark due to overexposure. The result is a muddy print. Having a fixed time forces you to remake if the exposure is off.

O.K. If you're using a dish you can stimulate development in specific areas by using warm water it neat print developer, but that's about all I can think of.

 

[StephenM]

I deliberately didn't mention Nova, because they are bulky, have a built in thermostatically controlled water bath and floating lids, so that they can be left set up with the chemicals. When full of water and chemicals, they are realistically too heavy to safely move, and the bulk and need for an electric socket make them unsuitable for a small bathroom.

A stabilisation processor would be hard to source, and even less suitable for a small bathroom.

 

[StephenM]

Mark - I was assuming that the main issue was setup/clearup time and effort, rather than space required. If space is the bigger factor, then other alternatives are available provided print size is reasonable, meaning 10x8 approx upwards.

 

[excalibur2]

I used to use a plastic round container something like pic below for large prints.....might have been from my Paterson thermo colour kit....... but wasteful in the use of chemicals, and can't remember if I had a problem with temp. Anyway I did some VG large prints.

 

[StephenM]

That's what I passed on. I used it for Cibachrome prints.

 

[Asha]

I’m possibly in a better position than the OP as I live alone , barring the cats , so although I do have very limited space in my small home, I can manipulate things around to suit myself.

When I set the darkroom up, I transfer the Nova , very slowly and carefully so not to spill chems or to have them mix with each other , from the shower room where I store it, into the darkroom where I require it. A distance of just a couple of meters.
The nova as can be seen is sat on wheeled trolley which also has the advantage of three large drawers for storing wet side accessories.

 

[Asha]

Novas are expensive new....ott in my opinion , but used ones can sometimes be had for a reasonable price. It’s a matter of being patient and dropping in one.

 

[StephenM]

I like the trolley idea. Mine stayed on the darkroom bench, and I only became fully aware of the weight when I tried to move it.

 

[AndrewFlannigan]

You really don't need that much space for a darkoom. I used black plastic draped over a frame of 2x2 wood to make a tent The bench was a wheeled trolley that had once carried a Xerox copier. The whole thing was 6 feet tall by 4 feet wide by 4 feet deep and contained a 5x4 Prolab enlarger with a 15x12 Nova 3 slot tank plus all the usual tools. Here's what the table looked like outside of the tent...

 

[excalibur2]

That's what I passed on. I used it for Cibachrome prints.

Ah so many quick posts before mine I've done cibachrome but can't remember if I fumbled in the dark using trays as it was so long ago , but for B\W in a drum I just rolled the drum backward and fwds and must have worked out what temp to put the dev chemical in to allow for cooling when doing it in the garage darkroom on a cold winter's night.

 

[Asha]

Returning to Stephens comment concerning the inability not to see the image appear on the print.
This for me is the magical part that I really enjoy tbh.
As he says , pulling the print out of dev too soon results in a muddy result.
My prints are always developed to exhaustion, for want of a better expression. That’s to say that whilst sat in the developer they will not darken / become more contrasty even if left for a further few minutes.
If the the result is not what I wish then adjustment is made at the enlarger stage with exposure.
Generally speaking if a test strip is done beforehand using different exposure times, then in principal the end print should be pretty darned close to the ‘strip’ result that was chosen ( ie the exposure duration)

Watching the print emerge and stopping the process when it arrives at the point that appears to be pleasing is of course feasible but I’ve found that under a red light , the result may look ideal, but then when viewed under white light it is less so.

 

[AndrewFlannigan]

My prints are always developed to exhaustion, for want of a better expression.

Indeed, That's the key to making good prints whatever you develop the sheet in.

 

[excalibur2]

My prints are always developed to exhaustion, for want of a better expression. That’s to say that whilst sat in the developer they will not darken / become more contrasty even if left for a further few minutes.

Ah so doing my very large prints in a drum is probably what I did and as long as the temp doesn't get too cold...it doesn't matter.

 

[Asha]

On occasion I have devd prints in extreme temps and still had ok results .... I was pleasantly surprised.

In summer, the ambient temp of the chems in the nova were 24-26C
Naturally I couldn’t reduce them without draining, chilling, replenishing or some similar process.
I took a gamble and devd anyway.
Very very quickly ( of course) thé image showed on the paper but as like mentioned I dev to exhaustion, it posed no problem whatsoever.

The opposite happened only last week where I had forget to plug the nova in and for some reason dived straight into deving without confirming chem temps.
It wasn’t until the image was taking considerably longer to arrive than at a typical 20C that I realised my error. Nonetheless the result did eventual arrive.
Checking the dev temp afterwards showed it to be 16C

 

[MrDrizz]

Great replies guys.
I might just stay with trays on a bit of ply propped on the toilet cistern [emoji4] that hold the Dev and stop. Fix tray is on the toilet seat [emoji57]