In 2000 I had 2 rolls/week rolls of film (mostly Tri-X, HP5 and Superia) processed and printed (or contact printed), at a cost of $11-$14 a roll. For roughly what that cost me I could buy a Jobo CPE-2 and Jobo lift.

I've never processed my own film but obviously this got me thinking about buying a Jobo setup and contact-printing my own film.

So I'm wondering, what experience have people had with the low-end Jobo film processors? Are there any similar systems I might want to consider? What problems might I encounter? Can I easily process color negative film with dependable results?

-- Baily Seals (zigzag@gtemailNOSPAM.net), January 01, 2001

Answers

I've bought a used Jobo CPE2 with a lift. This setup can develop 5 films at a time. Chemicals are stored in bottles in the waterbath. I use it at room temperature 20-24°C for b+w films (135/120). I used it also for C-41 but it takes quite some time to heat up to 38°C, so I would rather empty the CPE and fill it with 40°C water and use the heatcontrol to keep it at 38°C.

Only problem, it became noisy after a while so I added some water resistant ball bearing grease to the outer gears.

Regards,

Wolfram

-- Wolfram Kollig (kollig@ipfdd.de), January 02, 2001.

I have a CPE2+ with lift.

I use it for E-6 processing and color printing.

For B&W, I use either a Patterson or Jobo tank, but with normal hand inversion. Mainly just tradition, and I only do a couple of rolls at a time.

For C41, I take it to a lab. But I have a good, fairly cheap lab that I pass twice a day (actually across the street from work).

The only real difference between the CPE2 and the larger CPA/CPP models (other than the capacity) is that the larger models actively circulate the water, versus using the motion of the drum with the CPE. In reality, this is not a problem, in the the bath is small enough that the drum motion keeps the temps +/- a couple of tenths of a degree.

I know of no other system that is comparable at a reasonable price.

If you take a reasonable amount of care, you will not have any problems. Handling and exposing your contact sheets will require some work, but the Jobo works very well anywhere you can set it up.

I have not bothered with C41 color film, but have had excellent results with E-6 processing. I did a test suggested by Ctein that consisted of a roll shot of a gray card then processed. The results, on a densitometer are very consistent across the roll, much less variation than is allowed in E-6 processing.

-- Terry Carraway (TCarraway@compuserve.com), January 02, 2001.