Jobo Automated Developing Unit (ATL 2300)
When I started off with my large format work, I had a couple of things on my ‘dream list’. One of those was a drum scanner (which I’ll come back to in a future post) and the other was one of Jobo’s automated processing labs. Well it took me a couple of years before I finally started developing my own film in a completely manual Jobo unit and a few months after this a friend of mine, Baxter Bradford, told me he was selling his film gear and buying a Phase setup and one of the things he was selling was a Jobo ATL2300 with a load of extras and a whole host of spares. Well, fortunately I had a little cash and a campervan that would fit the thing in and so I became the pround owner of one of Jobo’s flagship processing machines.
For those of you who haven’t heard of the ATL 2×00 series, they consist of a thermostated bath, motor and lift – just like your usual middle of range Jobo systems, but they also have an automated chemical pumping system, a powered lift, a chemical heating system and program settings to automate all of these systems. It’s as close you can get to a ‘plug and play’ system for film developing with investing with a full dip and dunk, replenishment system.
Soo – what does this mean for film processing? Well – for me it means I can mix my chemicals, load the film into a Jobo drum, attach it to the ATL and press a button. The system then waits until chemicals and water bath are up to temperature and then starts processing, pumping water and chemicals in at the right time, finally ‘ping’ing when it’s all done (although it gives you a countdown too so you can set a timer and wander off). Once it’s done, it can either sit on a rinse cycle or just stop.
This isn’t too much of an advantage, although it’s nice not to have to sit next to the machine for most of the process – when you’ve a lot of film to develop this could come in handy. However, it will come in very handy soon when we don’t have any more 3 bath e6 process chemicals left (you did know that they have all been discontinued? Buy up the last stock from AG Photographic while you can), keeping an eye on a 6 bath process just adds more scope for mistakes and more attention.
To support all this excessiveness, I’ve also set up an osmosis unit (a small yachting one) so that I can get pure water on demand (150ml in two minutes) and a tempered water panel which mixes hot and cold to a set temperature for the Jobo’s rinse cycles (although this did contribute to a flood in our office – don’t use mixers like this on a gravity fed system without a one way valve on the hot water; otherwise you end up with cold water shooting back into your hot water system, overflowing your header tanks and if all things are OK, causing water to overflow outside the house – or if things in your plumbing aren’t OK, causing water to overflow into your office… DOH!).
Anyway – I had fun setting all this up in my garage (with some sweet talking of ever patient wife) using one of IKEA’s fantastic shelving systems. I also set up my recently purchased film dryer and had to solve a problem most people have in that most film dryers are configured to dry roll film and so trying to fit lots of sheets of film in a small space (about 12”x10”) is tough.
However, with my penchant for magnets (see my Lee filter adaptations in older blog posts) and some flexible craft aluminium rods, I set up some inserts into the body of the dryer to make sure each sheet is separate and won’t touch any other sheets. If anybody is intersted in this, drop me a line and I can send you some instructions.
A couple of things I’ve learned since I last posted about e6 processing wouldn’t go amiss at this point.
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If you can, use distilled or at least filtered water. I would recommend getting distilled water for the first and colour dev steps as this will prevent any pH problems which can cause colour issues. Also, filtered water is a really good idea for the final wash as any dust in the final step will become embedded in the emulsion. (be wary of using distilled water in a Jobo – they use water resistivity to monitor the flow and distilled water doesn’t conduct)
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Much disagreement on how long to leave the first dev in. Some documents (few) say 6 minutes, others say 7 minutes. I use 6’30” and a few people I know use 7’00”.
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Pushing and pulling variations are varied. My research and experience suggests -30% for a one stop pull, +30% for a one stop push and +130% for a two stop push. Pushing will exhaust chemistry so don’t reuse too much when doing so.
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It’s a good idea to ‘dab away’ the accumulating drops on the bottom of your sheets when drying. The concentrated stabiliser that will gather here otherwise will mark a corner of your film
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I like the little bulldog paper clips for holding film. No marks on the film and they work with my magnets! (and cheap!)
very jealous
really sad news about E6 chemicals, I found that an easier process than C41
I’ve not heard further news on the E6 3 bath stuff – lets keep our fingers crossed..
I’ve always wanted one of those. I had a Jobo years ago, great processors.
Sad to hear about Baxter … he was such a supporter of film. I haven’t heard from him in years.
Baxter seems happy with his digital system, and he really needed it for some of the professional, documentary stuff he’s been doing. He’s on flickr if you want to see some pictures!
Well, tell Baxter I said hello the next time you talk to him. I used to chat with him a lot on APUG and other places.
Looks like a great setup! Personally I’ve found string and paperclips to be a great drying aid with film that has a hole in the corner like pro160. How much do you charge per sheet?
I was doing fine with my coat hangers and paperclips but, you know, magnets..
And don’t talk about me processing other people’s film! Joe asked me if I wanted to process some of his and I don’t think I’ve said no so fast in my life!
This was a fascinating post to read even though it was over my head. It is impressive that you do all of your own processing. Even my father landscape photographer Philip Hyde, a student of Ansel Adams, Edward Weston and Minor White, never processed his own film. I’m sure he would have loved to because he sometimes had problems with the labs, but he never had the time or the financial resources for such a sophisticated set-up. Though he was known for his BW, dye transfer and Cibachrome printing.
Thanks for the comment David,
I’m sure your father would have managed had he known about the availability (they were expensive at the time however, I think they started around $10,000 over 10x what I paid), he mastered dye transfer after all – a process that would scare the living daylights out of me!!
Would love to feature an article on your father on a new landscape photography venture I’m working on. I’ll email you separately..
When I visited the Tetenal stand at the Focus show in March, the E6 3-Bath kit was on display, the rep seemed to imply they have no plans to stop production, I have not heard otherwise and there is still plenty about…
Hey Tim,
I’m in the same place as you were before you decided to buy this, I’ve a lot of 8×10 E6 film to shoot and process (150 sheets!) and now really want to get going with an ATL.
Any tips you have would be greatly appreciated – perhaps first of all starting with how to find one! I just can’t seem to locate one.
Cheers,
Ben
There are few of the buggers around and to be honest they are a bit of a pain as you have to build your own pumped water supply (i.e. a header tank with a thermostatically controlled heater plus a shower pump). Then prime the pumps before starting runs etc. If you’re doing a lot they’re great but if not then a CPA might be a better choice. I’ve got a search on ebay still and only seen one in the last three years..
I’m looking to be doing some big batches, so the faffing about would be worth it I think. Plus I like toys
Hoping to get some room at a local creative space to home it, and would then probably offer services to friends to keep it running.
Might have a lead on one at the moment, will keep you posted.