Digitaltruth Photo

Could anyone tell me where i might still find stainless steel tanks in the UK?It seems both Process Supplies and Silverprint no longer stock them.I'm looking for the ten inch one that does five rolls of 35mm.Not sure of the make but it's the type with the black rubber top.Many thanks in advance.

Pity you didn't mention this SOONER as I got rid of that tank ( I had been given) in the Brentwood Photographic club annual auction last September! If it comes up in this year's one I'll let you know! My wife keeps on to me to get rid of 'all that old rubbish in your darkroom'; I hang on to it as long as I can in case somebody can make use of it, but the Boss always wins !

B&H photo. NYC. Get it delivered. I got an 8 reel stainless steel tank and its gold! Get the English reels though, and not the taiwanese ones, a bit more exe but worth it... you wont find a better price anywhere (eventhough its from the USA). Forget the five reel!

hewes is the brand you are looking for

Thanks for the advice.I've looked on B&H site and found an eight film tank of the type i want.That said, it's a little too big for me, as i do worry about the time it takes to fill it and the processing time implications.
I'll probably make do with that if i can't find a six film tank [in which i do five films].
If anyone knows where i might find one of these i'd be grateful to hear.I think the make is ISE and is made in Japan.
Once again thanks,
Justin.

The best made St. Steel tank made is probably the German Made Kindermann. I don't have a 5 reel capacity tank, but do have a 2 reel tank, including two St. Steel 35mm/36exp reels. If you're interested email me at: foto@cogeco.ca

Justin,

I had the same problem with using the large capacity SS tanks for reel development. It took so long to pour the developer into the tank that the rolls of film on top ended up getting streaks on them from uneven development. Try pouring the developer into the tank before putting in the film. It must be done in the dark, of course, so if you don't have a darkroom, this step may be difficult. Anyway, if you add the film to the developer in the tank, you completely eliminate the streaking of your film. Just drop the film in, put the lid on the can, top off the developer to eliminate any air in the tank, and agitate as normal. Good Luck!

Thanks for the tip, Mike. Unfortunately since i'm developing in my kitchen it's difficult to drop the spirals into the dev.
I've never really noticed bad streaking on my films though i have been prone to uneven development occasionally. I seem to have sorted this out now with a pre-soak and fairly long dev times [eight or nine minutes] plus good agitation.
Just out of interest what dev times were you using when this was happening to you and what did the streaking look like.
As i said in my previous post, i wanted the five reel tank so i could leave one birth free to faciliate more even development but maybe smaller tanks are not such a bad idea!

Justin

This answer may be a little late for you, but you can get Kindermann stainless steel tanks at Retro. They are pricey, the 250ml one for 1: 35mm spiral is £35.99 and the 450ml one for 2: 35mm or 1: 120mm is £39.99. They do another make of spirals, which are £12.45 for the 35mm one and £13.75 for the 120mm. And I think this is plus VAT!
Their web address is www.retrophotographic.com

Regards

Mahombi