Double 8mm developing tanks?

[highinfidelity]

Good morning gentlemen.

As I've found a source for the Foma reversal developing kit, I think it's time for me to give home developement of double 8mm a try.

Aside from the LOMO spiral tanks that I see often mentioned, are there any brands or type of tanks (quite) easily available at a (quite) reasonable price? Which pros and cons has each of them?

Generally speaking, how hard is it to load 10 m of film into a spiral? I have a long-time experience with still films, but never tried with cine film.

Thanks for your insight!

[granfer]

The loading worried me,too, when I thought of the spiral in terms of the traditional "grooves in both faces" of the spiral requiring a "pushing" action to load.
This wouldn't work with long lengths, so the Lomo tank (which is absolutely ideal for double 8mm has a groove in ONE face only, the other is flat. Loading is done by anchoring the end of the film and turning the spiral, holding the film spool at an angle of about 45 to 90 degrees. It works beautifully! It takes 10M of film, which is more than a 25ft Double 8 camera spool. However, the standard spool will actually hold 10M (33ft) but I would then recommend loading and unloading the camera in a changing bag. 100ft will provide three such loads.
Transparent spiral tanks are best for reversal; second exposure is difficult to get right with "rewind" tanks.
I have such a tank (see my posts...
viewtopic.php?f=15&t=20996

The tank will be going on Ebay (UK) this pm at GBP 75 "Buy it Now" plus shipping (GBP 4.66 in UK). If you want it, contact me via the Forum and if it hasn't sold by then, you can have it at that price... and I'll throw in the Splitter as a Bonus!

[highinfidelity]

Hello granfer, and thanks for your reply. If you refrain from putting it on ebay, it is very likely that we may strike the deal. I seem to see that there are practically no alternatives to the lomo tank, and the guarantee that the tank will arrive functional and complete is valuable to me.

I am only thinking about those models with two spirals one on top of the other. Is there any reason why I may want to buy one of those instead of the single spiral model perhaps?

[aj]

There are 4 models of LOMO;

-100ft two deck very large (very rare)
-50ft two deck rather large (most common)
-30 ft bulky one deck (rare)
-30 ft simple one deck two halves trays (rare)

Main advantage of 30ft is that they need less juice to cover the reel

Then there are hard to find long roll JOBO (Germany) tanks
and there are very rare daylight loading ones from Superior (USA)

For 1,75 or 3,5 meter clips you can find many more brands. As there are 35mm tanks which can adjust to 16mm (or 60mm roll) .


Furthermore there could be more manufactures. But there are also built-it-yourself things. Plans on line.

[wahiba]

It is some time since I did home processing. I have a Foma kit, but it has got lost in the loft. Film awaits in fridge!

The double spiral tank is straight forward so long as you are methodical. I have managed to load two full length films into one sitting at the kitchen table with the tank in a large dark bag. Basic technique is to keep the film in tension and hold it at an angle to the spiral so it it does not catch at the edge.

Double 8mm is easier than super 8mm as the 16mm film seems to go in easier. The secret I found with super 8 is to wind it out of the cartridge onto a 50' spool and load it into the tank from that.

Have not tried any reversal procesing for years. My last efforts were all of negative film with the reversal being carried out onthe computer. I used PanX double 8 and Pan X and Tri X in super 8. I tried processing a short length of FOMA to negative without success.

I did this bit on my site ages ago: http://www.siltec.co.uk/0_chapter_links.html

It is ripped from an old small book on home processing. If you have the space it is possible to process the film without a tank. No expereince though.

Have fun, and I must clear the loft out.

[ewanuno]

i just looked at the prices of these tanks on ebay, and promptly started to rethink the idea to develop my own films to save money!

maybe i should go to moscow to look around flea markets to sort myself out a pension plan by stocking up on film tanks and selling them on ebay!

[BMasson]

I picked up a reg-8 film processing tank at a camera swap on Sunday. Their is no identifying mark on the tank, so I don't know who made it. Unlike the Lomo, this tank is fairly flat, only a couple inches high. The spiral reel is similar to the Lomo, it fits in the tank, and their is a small compartment where the 25 ft. spool is placed right next to the larger reel. You hook the film end onto the spiral reel, place the lid on, and start winding the film on via a crank on the outside of the top lid. Once I figured out how to do this, it worked fine. I have yet to do any processing with it. Does anyone know the name of this tank? By the way, my cost for this item: $1.00!!!! Take that you Russians.

[aj]

Seems like the brand : Superior model for R8

It is a daylight loading and processing model. If the cover is still there


Allegedly there is a Super-8 version too. Seems almost impossible to be daylight loading but possibly the designed somehting working.