Filmwasters
Which Board? => Main Forum => : Pete_R February 22, 2026, 08:23:15 PM
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Anyone with experience of the Stearman Press dev tank for 4x5?
https://stearmanpress.com/sp-445.html (https://stearmanpress.com/sp-445.html)
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Anyone with experience of the Stearman Press dev tank for 4x5?
https://stearmanpress.com/sp-445.html (https://stearmanpress.com/sp-445.html)
I haven't, I'm afraid. But this made me remember a discussion I heard on a podcast recently where someone was raving about developing tubes for 4x5. I've not seen one, but it sounds like a simple tube that takes one sheet and you can float in a bowl of water (to stabilise the temperature). Because the film is curled around the outside of the tube it uses very little chemistry. Is this something common, that's new to me? For about ten years, I've toyed with the idea of buying a Graflex; this sounded like a low-cost route into 4x5 development, without a darkroom.
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I haven't, I'm afraid. But this made me remember a discussion I heard on a podcast recently where someone was raving about developing tubes for 4x5. I've not seen one, but it sounds like a simple tube that takes one sheet and you can float in a bowl of water (to stabilise the temperature).
Yes, tubes are common. There's a few ready made ones you can buy. Some have ends so, once the film is in you can use them in daylight, others are just a bit of pipe that you roll around in a tray of developer etc. in the dark.
I have some tubes I made some years ago when I first tried LF. They can be used in daylight which I need as I don't have a darkroom anymore. But I was looking at tanks that can process a few sheets at the time. Stearman make two, one takes four sheets and one takes 6. They can also be used for glass plates or tintypes, using different inserts, which is something I might try at some point.
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Peter
I haven't tried a Stearman 5x4 tank but have you had a look at a Paterson Orbital Colour Colour Print Processor, as the stearman 8x10 is roughly based on it. I have a Paterson orbital which I got to use with 5x7 and 1/2 half plate glass plates, which I must admit I judst haven't had the time to use it yet. They range from £100 - £130 on ebay mine was £100 a year or so ago.
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Peter
I haven't tried a Stearman 5x4 tank but have you had a look at a Paterson Orbital Colour Colour Print Processor, as the stearman 8x10 is roughly based on it. I have a Paterson orbital which I got to use with 5x7 and 1/2 half plate glass plates, which I must admit I judst haven't had the time to use it yet. They range from £100 - £130 on ebay mine was £100 a year or so ago.
They're a blast from the past. I'll check them out. Thanks Irv.