Running the Jobo

Back in March I set up my Jobo processor in the darkroom.  At that time I ran a couple of batches of C-41 chemistry.  That is the process for developing color negative film.  There are also some chromogenic black and white films that require the same process.

When I returned from Nordegg in early May I mixed up a batch of E-6 chemistry.  This is the chemistry for developing color transparency film.  It includes a first developer, color developer, and bleach/fix, with numerous water rinses in between.  I ran a big batch of 30 sheets of 4"x5", 5 sheets of 8"x10", and three rolls of 35mm.

Once that was completed, I also ran some Black and White film.  This was two batches of Kodak Tri-X Pan 320 in PMK, some 4"x5" and some 8"x10".  This is a staining pyro developer that requires continuous agitation.  The Jobo works very well for this.

The Jobo processor has a water bath with a circulating pump.  There is a heat element and a cooling solenoid in the water bath and this maintains perfect process temperature.  For Black and White work this is not really a big deal as process temperatures are typically 20 to 24 degrees C.  And the process is not overly affected by a minor fluctuation.  But color developing requires a much higher process temperature, usually around 37 to 40 degrees C, so the Jobo is a must for this.

Once the last of this processing is completed I will dry everything out and put the Jobo away until the next time that I build up some batches of film that require it.  This will allow me to move on to some hand processing of some other black and white films, and some printing.  I particularly want to get after some of the recent images from Beer Parlour Project outings.